Content types

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Content types

    Content types in ServiceNow's CMS provide site-specific control over how system data defined by templates is rendered and displayed. Each content type corresponds to a specific table and defines how lists and detail views of records from that table appear on pages within a site. This enables different pages to display varying content such as knowledge articles, catalog items, or incidents, each with potentially different user interactions and themes.

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    Key Features

    • Table Association: Each content type corresponds to a database table, determining how records from that table are displayed.
    • Page and Detail View Control: Content types define the appearance of links to documents, how list entries look, and which detail page is used to display a document.
    • Site-Specific Customization: Different sites can associate different content types or override default content types to control the user experience uniquely per site.
    • Integration with CMS Components: Content types govern how content is displayed in search results, Current Document blocks, and links within lists, ensuring consistent navigation and presentation.
    • Predefined Content Types: The base system includes common content types for tables like Service Catalog Items ([sccatitem]), Gauges ([sysgauge]), and Pages ([contentpage]).
    • Content Type Configuration: Users with the contentadmin role can create or customize content types, including modifying templates with Apache Jelly scripting if advanced changes are needed.
    • CMS Gauge Support: Content types support graphical gauges to visually represent instance data.

    Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding and configuring content types allows you to tailor how different types of content appear and behave across multiple sites within your CMS. This ensures that users experience intuitive navigation and consistent presentation whether they are browsing knowledge articles, catalog items, or other records. By leveraging content types, you can:

    • Control which detail pages display content when users click links in lists or search results.
    • Customize the look and feel of lists and individual record views with different themes and templates.
    • Assign specific content types per site to provide site-tailored content experiences.
    • Manage content presentation securely and efficiently, with settings that support performance monitoring and instance security hardening.

    To modify or create content types, ensure you have the appropriate role (contentadmin) and familiarity with Jelly scripting for advanced customizations. Use the Content Types related list on the site record to override default settings for individual sites.

    Content types provide site-specific control of how system data defined by templates is rendered.

    In the site, one page displays a list of knowledge articles, and another page displays catalog items or incidents or a combination of the two. Different themes can be used for types of content and each theme can provide different user interaction. Content types define the pages that display content from a table. Each content type corresponds to a table.

    Every type of document that the CMS displays has an associated content type. Changing the content type requires knowledge of Apache Jelly scripting. However, the common content types (such as service catalog or knowledge base) come in the base system. Content types can be associated with particular sites. This association allows different sites to use different detail pages for the same content type.

    Content types define three features of associated documents.
    • What does a link to one of these documents look like? For example, if a list of these documents is displayed on a page, how does each entry appear?
    • What does a detailed view of one of these documents look like?
    • What detail page is used to display the document? This decision is important and is often an area of confusion for new CMS users.

    The document content type determines the page that a list of documents points to, the list itself does not determine the page. The content from a link is displayed in a detail content block on a page. The content type determines in which detail block on a page the document content is displayed.

    For example, the list block Catalog Top 5 displays the top five items in the Service Catalog table [sc_cat_item]. Because the table is [sc_cat_item], the content type sc_cat_item controls how the Catalog Top 5 list is displayed. Clicking any item in the list displays the Service Catalog Detail page with the item displayed on it according to the detail template script. These content types are applied:
    • in search results to link to the correct page.
    • in the Current Document block to display the current record.
    • in links on lists and other places that link to record types.

    Several content types are available by default for tables such as Catalog Item [sc_cat_item], Gauge [sys_gauge], and Page [content_page].

    Content type defaults that are set for CMS can be overridden for individual sites. Use the Content Types related list on the site record to customize content types.

    Note:
    To learn more about the properties that affect use of content types, see the following topics in Instance Security Hardening Settings:
    • Performance monitoring IP restriction (instance security hardening)
    • Downloadable file types (instance security hardening)