Configure the GOV.UK Design System (GDS) Service Portal

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 1, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Configure the GOV.UK Design System (GDS) Service Portal

    The GOV.UK Design System (GDS) Service Portal is a configurable ServiceNow portal that aligns with the GOV.UK design principles and patterns, providing a consistent user experience for constituents. It includes a library of widgets and pages such as catalog, case list, case details, knowledge articles, and record producers. The portal is delivered as part of the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit, and its default URL extension is/ukgds.

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    This portal framework enables ServiceNow customers to customize branding, page layouts, navigation menus, security roles, and search capabilities to fit their organizational needs while adhering to GOV.UK standards for accessibility and responsive design.

    Key Features

    • Portal Record Configuration: Defines the portal’s URL extension, knowledge base, catalog, homepage, header menu, and branding settings.
    • Branding and Theming: Use the Branding Editor to customize the portal’s look and feel with real-time previews. The default theme includes GOV.UK-compliant color palettes, typography, and component styling.
    • Prebuilt Pages and Widgets: The Developer Toolkit provides a library of preconfigured pages and widgets that follow GOV.UK guidelines. Customers can customize these or create new pages and widgets using Service Portal Designer.
    • Search Configuration: Configure search sources to pull data from tables or external sites and enable AI-powered search for improved query results within the portal.
    • Access Management: Control access by making pages or widgets public, requiring authentication, or restricting content based on user roles or advanced criteria. Supports login and single sign-on (SSO) integration.
    • Service Catalog and Knowledge Base Integration: Use catalog and knowledge base widgets to manage service catalog items and knowledge articles within the portal.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Rapid Deployment: Quickly launch a GOV.UK-compliant portal with prebuilt components that can be tailored to organizational requirements.
    • Consistent User Experience: Ensure accessibility and usability by leveraging GOV.UK design standards embedded in the portal’s theme and widgets.
    • Flexible Customization: Modify branding, navigation, content, and security settings to align with your agency’s identity and operational policies.
    • Enhanced Search and Navigation: Provide users with intelligent search capabilities and clear navigation menus to improve self-service efficiency.
    • Role-Based Security: Manage user access effectively to protect sensitive information and personalize content delivery.

    Next Steps

    After installing the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit, configure your GDS Service Portal by modifying the portal record, adjusting branding and themes, customizing pages and widgets, setting up search sources, and managing access controls. Use the provided libraries as a foundation to tailor the portal for your agency’s needs while maintaining compliance with GOV.UK design principles.

    Customize and modify the GOV.UK Design System Service Portal to meet your needs.

    The GOV.UK Design System Service Portal (/ukgds) is a Service Portal with a library of configurable widgets and pages (catalog, case list, case details, knowledge articles, and record producer​) that resemble the GOV.UK design system, and follow the patterns that GOV.UK dictates. The GOV.UK Design System Service Portal comes default with the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit.​

    A portal is the engine that contains all references to the content that constituents will see in their end-user experience. The portal record defines the URL extension for a site, the portal's knowledge base, its catalog, and its homepage. The portal record can also be used to define the header menu and portal branding. With the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit, you can use the base system GOV.UK Design System Service Portal that is provided for you, or you may add any number of GDS-adherant portal widgets and pages provided with the Developer Toolkit to an existing portal. For a list of widgets included in the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit widget library, see GDS Service Portal Widget Library

    After installation of the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit, you can customize the default GOV.UK Design System Service Portal to add or change widgets, themes, and branding, and can configure page and widget access by role.

    Some of the components that you can customize include:

    • Branding: Configure the portal branding to give your GOV.UK Design System Service Portal its own look and feel. For example, you can give your portal a name, add your logo, and customize the colors.
    • Menus: Configure the portal header menu to set up the main menu, one of the main navigation controls for your users.
    • HomepageConfigure the portal homepage.
    • Widgets: Use Service Portal widgets to define the content and behavior of your portal.
    • Roles: Configure page/widget security by role to either set up pages or widgets to be public (no authentication required), or to filter them by user role. By default, all pages in the GDS Service Portal, except the login and registration pages, require authentication to be accessed.

    Configuration Overview

    This workflow provides a high-level overview for configuring the GDS Service Portal, after you have installed the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit.

    1. Configure the base-system GDS Service Portal record

      A base system GOV.UK Design System Service Portal is provided with the installed the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit that can be modified using widgets and pages to fit your needs. The portal record defines the URL extension for an agency's portal site (which for the GDS Service Portal is, by default, /ukgds), and things like the knowledge base, catalog, record producers, and homepage. You can also use the portal record to define the header menu and the portal branding.

    2. Configure the portal branding and theme

      With the Branding Editor, you can configure the styles and theme of the GOV.UK Design System Service Portal with real-time updates, allowing you to see how your portal appears to users. By default, the GDS Service Portal theme adheres to standards set forth by the UK government for branding, accessibility, and responsive design. The default portal theme supplies standardized color palettes, typography, and styling for GDS Service Portal components, and styled headers, footers, search widgets, breadcrumbs, and knowledge pages, aligned with Gov.UK standards.

    3. Configure portal pages and widgets.

      Pages are the centerpiece of the end-user portal experience. By default, the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit provides a library of already-configured portal pages that contain the neccessary components that are set forth by GOV.UK Design System guidelines, and can be customized to fit your needs. You can also use any existing base system pages as examples when creating new pages from scratch.

      Widgets are what define the content of your pages. By default, the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit provides a library of already-configured widgets that adhere to GOV.UK Design System guidelines, display relevant information, and can be customized to display different variations of information. You can use the base system widgets provided with the GOV.UK Developer Toolkit to get started configuring portal pages.

    4. Configure search in the portal

      Search data displays within a widget on the search page. To make data searchable from a portal, create a search source that fetches data from a single table within your instance, from multiple tables, or from an external site. Enable AI Search to allow constituents to take advantage of intelligent query features and find the answers they need.

    5. Manage access to the portal

      Manage who can access the GDS Service Portal by making pages or widgets public, configuring login and single sign-on (SSO), or limiting page access by role. You can also use advanced user criteria for access to pages, widgets, and more.