SharePoint Wiki: Build a Knowledge Base on Modern Pages

A SharePoint wiki today means a set of modern pages on a communication or team site, linked through navigation and found by search, not the classic Wiki Page Library. Modern pages give you templates, co-authoring, comments, news and optional page approval. Draft in OneNote or Loop; publish the settled answer to a SharePoint page.

Small businesses ask for a wiki when the same question has been answered in email three times. SharePoint can be that place, but the classic wiki most people picture is not where Microsoft is investing. This guide compares the options, then walks through building a knowledge base on modern pages that stays accurate. It assumes the sites exist; if not, read how to set up SharePoint for a small business first.

What is a SharePoint wiki?

Microsoft defines a wiki as "a site that is designed for groups of people to quickly capture and share ideas by creating simple pages and linking them together." In classic SharePoint that meant a Wiki Page Library, added through Add an app, where you link pages by typing their names in double square brackets, such as [[Onboarding]], and a link to a page that does not exist yet shows a dotted underline until someone clicks it and creates the page. A full Enterprise Wiki needed the publishing infrastructure feature and, Microsoft says, "should be created as its own site collection." The telling detail is the Applies To line: Microsoft's wiki article now lists SharePoint Server 2019 and 2016 only (Create and edit a wiki, Microsoft Support, checked on November 7, 2026).

In SharePoint in Microsoft 365, the equivalent is modern pages. Microsoft's page documentation covers templates, co-authoring, comments and publishing, and notes that modern pages can be created only in the Site Pages library and that a page's URL cannot be changed after creation (Create and use modern pages on a SharePoint site, Microsoft Support, checked on November 7, 2026).

Classic wiki pages vs modern pages vs OneNote vs Loop: which fits?

	Classic wiki page library	Modern SharePoint pages	OneNote	Microsoft Loop
What it is	A library of free-form pages linked with [[brackets]]	Structured pages built from web parts in the Site Pages library	Notebooks of sections and pages, stored in OneDrive or SharePoint	Workspaces, pages and components that stay in sync wherever they are pasted
Microsoft's direction	Documented for SharePoint Server 2019 and 2016	The current publishing model for SharePoint in Microsoft 365	Active, for notes	Active, for working drafts
Publishing control	Edit and save	Draft, publish, republish; optional page approval; news	None	None
Comments and co-authoring	Versions only	Co-authoring on by default; comments and likes at the foot of the page	Co-authoring	Live co-editing
Search and navigation	Site search	Site, hub and Microsoft Search; hub and site navigation	Search inside the notebook	Search within Loop
Use it for	Legacy content only	The knowledge base: policies, how-tos, FAQs	Meeting notes, personal and project scratch notes	Agendas, task lists and drafts that several people shape at once

The pattern that works: think in Loop or OneNote, publish in SharePoint. A page that has been through approval, carries an owner and appears in navigation is an answer; a Loop component in a chat is a conversation.

How do you build a knowledge base in modern SharePoint?

1. Pick the site. Company-wide knowledge belongs on a communication site, usually the intranet home, where a few authors write for everyone. Team-internal procedures belong on that team's site. Do not make a separate "wiki" site unless a department needs its own permissions.
2. Agree the categories before the pages. Ten to fifteen top-level topics (HR, IT, Finance, Clients, Office) are enough. Each becomes a navigation heading or a hub link; SharePoint's navigation allows 500 child links at each level, so the ceiling is not the problem, consistency is (SharePoint limits, Microsoft Learn, checked on November 7, 2026).
3. Make a page template. Create one page with the layout every article should follow (Summary, Steps, Owner, Last reviewed), then save it as a template so authors start from it. Microsoft's page documentation has you choose a template whenever you select + New > Page.
4. Write the pages. Site members with edit permissions can add pages; a title is required to save; Save as draft keeps it private until Publish, and later edits need Republish before readers see them (Create and use modern pages, cited above). Keep one question per page so search lands on the answer.
5. Link them. Add each page to site or hub navigation under its category, and link related pages in the body. Pages you want to announce can also be promoted as news after the first publish.
6. Turn on page approval where it matters. For policies and anything legal or HR, configure the page approval flow on the Site Pages library. Microsoft notes it is available on communication sites and modern team sites, adds an Approval Status column with the values Draft, Pending, Accepted and Rejected, and means "new and updated pages will not be published directly" until an approver accepts them (Configure page approval using Power Automate, Microsoft Support, checked on November 7, 2026). The same approvals engine runs our document approval workflow.
7. Schedule the review. Add a Last reviewed line to the template and a reminder for each page owner. A knowledge base nobody reviews becomes a liability within a year.

How do you keep a SharePoint knowledge base accurate?

Three habits. First, every page has a named owner in the page itself, not just in metadata. Second, comments stay on; Microsoft's documentation notes readers can leave comments and likes at the bottom of a page, which is how you learn a procedure is out of date. Third, measure: the site's usage reports show which pages are read, and pages nobody opens in a year are candidates for deletion rather than another review. If you plan to put a SharePoint agent over the knowledge base, this discipline matters doubly, because the agent will quote the stale page with the same confidence as the current one.

Where do OneNote and Loop fit?

OneNote is for notes that one person or one meeting owns: capture now, tidy later. A practical limit to know is that Microsoft caps OneNote notebooks saved in OneDrive or SharePoint at 2 GB, so a department notebook that collects screenshots for years will hit it (Restrictions and limitations in OneDrive and SharePoint, Microsoft Support, checked on November 7, 2026). Loop is for things several people are shaping at once. Microsoft describes Loop pages as "flexible canvases," Loop components as "portable pieces of content that stay in sync" wherever they are shared, and workspaces as shared spaces for a team; components currently work in Teams, Outlook, OneNote and Whiteboard, and Microsoft's getting-started page states that Loop "currently doesn't support external sharing for guests or external users" (Get started with Microsoft Loop, Microsoft Support, checked on November 7, 2026). Neither has publishing, approval or navigation, which is why the final answer still goes on a SharePoint page. For dates and schedules that belong beside the knowledge base, see SharePoint calendar options.

Should you move an old wiki page library to modern pages?

Yes, but as a rewrite, not a copy. There is no button that converts a wiki page library into modern pages, and most old wikis are half outdated anyway. Export the list of wiki pages, mark each as keep, merge or drop, and rebuild the keepers from the page template with a current owner. Leave the old library read-only for a quarter with a banner pointing to the new pages, then delete it. Permissions on the new site should follow the permissions worksheet, since a knowledge base read by everyone and edited by a few is the textbook case for the Visitors and Members groups.

What this does not do, and the limits to plan around

• Modern pages live only in the Site Pages library and keep their URL for life; name the page carefully before you publish.
• There is no converter from classic wiki pages to modern pages.
• Page approval is available on communication sites and modern team sites, and turning off content approval in the library does not delete the flow.
• Loop and OneNote have no publishing or approval step, and Loop does not support external sharing per Microsoft's current page.
• A knowledge base is a content commitment; the tooling is the easy part.

Frequently asked questions

Does SharePoint still have a wiki?

The classic Wiki Page Library is documented by Microsoft for SharePoint Server 2019 and 2016, and you may still find it on older sites in Microsoft 365. New knowledge bases should be built on modern pages, which have templates, co-authoring, comments, news and approval.

Is SharePoint a good knowledge base for a small business?

Yes, when the content has owners and a review cadence. It is already included in Microsoft 365, searchable alongside your files and Teams, and permissions follow the site. The risk is cultural, not technical.

What is the difference between a page and a news post in SharePoint?

Both are modern pages in the Site Pages library. A news post is a page promoted as news, so it appears in news web parts and feeds. Promote a page after its first publish when you want people to notice it.

Can I require approval before a page is published?

Yes. Configure the page approval flow on the Site Pages library; pages then carry an Approval Status of Draft, Pending, Accepted or Rejected, and changes are visible to readers only after approval.

Should I use OneNote or SharePoint pages for procedures?

Draft in OneNote if that is where the team already writes, but publish procedures as SharePoint pages so they have an owner, navigation, approval and site-wide search. Keep OneNote for meeting and personal notes.

Can people outside the company read our SharePoint wiki?

Only if they are guests with access to the site, within your sharing settings. Loop content cannot be shared externally at all, according to Microsoft's current guidance.

Sources

Checked on November 7, 2026.

• Create and edit a wiki, Microsoft Support: the classic wiki definition, bracket links and Enterprise Wiki requirements; applies to SharePoint Server 2019 and 2016.
• Create and use modern pages on a SharePoint site, Microsoft Support: templates, Site Pages library, URLs, co-authoring, publishing, comments and news.
• Configure page approval using Power Automate, Microsoft Support.
• Get started with Microsoft Loop, Microsoft Support: pages, components, workspaces and external sharing.
• Restrictions and limitations in OneDrive and SharePoint, Microsoft Support: the 2 GB OneNote notebook limit.
• SharePoint limits, Microsoft Learn: navigation limits.