Team Wastes 88 Hours Weekly Searching Docs? Use Odoo 18 Knowledge Module

Your team's "company knowledge" lives in 47 different places: Google Docs, Confluence, SharePoint, Notion, someone's desktop folder, Slack threads, email chains. New hire asks "How do I process a refund?" Support lead sends link to Google Doc. Link is broken. Doc was moved 8 months ago. Nobody knows where.

Onboarding takes 6 weeks because new employees spend 40% of their time hunting for documentation. Your operations manager rewrites the same "How to handle returns" procedure 3 times because she can't find the official version. Different teams follow different processes because nobody knows which doc is current.

Cost: 11 hours per week across team searching for information = 572 hours annually = $15,900 wasted. Plus the errors: Wrong procedures followed because outdated docs found first. Customer complaints because support gave incorrect info from 2-year-old article.

Odoo 18 Knowledge module centralizes everything. Create articles, organize by category, share with specific teams, version control built-in. No more "which doc is correct?" Here's how to stop losing 11 hours weekly to documentation chaos.

What Odoo 18 Knowledge Module Does

Internal wiki + documentation platform inside Odoo. Create articles with rich formatting, organize by category, control who sees what, search everything instantly. Integrates with Helpdesk (insert KB articles into tickets), Projects, and all other Odoo apps.

Step 1: Access Knowledge Module

1. Go to Apps menu
2. Search: "Knowledge"
3. Click Install
4. Module appears in main menu

Dashboard Overview

The Knowledge dashboard organizes articles into 4 main categories:

Step 2: Create Your First Article

Option 1: Start from Blank

1. Click New Article (top-right)
2. Enter article title: "How to Process Customer Refunds"
3. Start typing content
4. Use / command to add elements (see below)
5. Click Save

Option 2: Use Template (Faster)

1. Click New Article
2. Click Load Template
3. Browse categories:
   • Productivity (Meeting Notes, Project Plans)
   • Sales (Proposal Templates, Pricing Guides)
   • Marketing (Campaign Briefs, Brand Guidelines)
   • Company Organization (Org Charts, Policies)
   • Product Management (Roadmaps, Feature Specs)
4. Select template → Click Load Template
5. Customize content for your needs

Rich Content Formatting (The "/" Command)

Type / anywhere to open content block menu. Here's what you can add:

Step 3: Organize Articles (Categories)

Create a hierarchy to keep documentation organized.

Example Structure

📁 Workspace
├── 📁 Customer Support
│   ├── 📄 How to Process Refunds
│   ├── 📄 Handling Complaints
│   └── 📄 Escalation Procedures
├── 📁 Sales
│   ├── 📄 Product Pricing Guide
│   ├── 📄 Discount Approval Process
│   └── 📄 Quotation Templates
├── 📁 Operations
│   ├── 📄 Warehouse Procedures
│   ├── 📄 Quality Control Checklist
│   └── 📄 Shipping Guidelines
└── 📁 HR & Onboarding
    ├── 📄 New Employee Checklist
    ├── 📄 Benefits Overview
    └── 📄 Time-Off Policies

Create Category

1. Create new article
2. Name it: "Customer Support"
3. This becomes a parent category
4. Child articles nest under it

Step 4: Control Access (Who Sees What)

Share articles with entire company or specific teams only.

Access Levels

Share Article with Team

1. Open article
2. Click Share button (top-right)
3. Set Default Access:
   • Can Edit (for doc owners)
   • Can Read (for all internal users)
   • No Access (make private)
4. Set Visibility:
   • Everyone: Shows in sidebar for all users
   • Members: Only visible to invited users
5. Click Invite to add specific users

Real-World Example: Support Team Knowledge Base

Advanced Features

1. Command Palette (Quick Find)

Press Ctrl+K (Windows) or Cmd+K (Mac) anywhere in Odoo to search all articles instantly.

2. Article Templates (Reusable Formats)

Create your own templates for repeated documentation needs.

1. Create article with desired structure
2. Use as template for future similar articles
3. Example: "Bug Report Template" with predefined sections

3. Integration with Helpdesk

Insert Knowledge articles directly into support tickets (covered in separate tutorial).

Common Mistakes That Break Knowledge Bases

Migration from Existing Tools

Quick Implementation Checklist