Docs for planning items in Portfolio Planning

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Docs for planning items in Portfolio Planning

    ServiceNow’s Portfolio Planning Workspace enables product and portfolio managers to store and manage documentation for planning items centrally using the Docs feature. Each planning item—such as an Epic—can have one or more dedicated doc pages to capture essential information like business objectives or technical requirements. Predefined templates (Project Brief, Product Requirements, Brainstorming Ideas, Meeting notes) and blank pages facilitate organized documentation of key artifacts.

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    Key Features

    • Auto-save and live user presence: Content is automatically saved, and you can see who is currently viewing or editing a doc page.
    • Rich text and block-level editing: Supports headings, lists, alignment, text block repositioning, inline tagging of team members, and table insertion via the / command.
    • Image insertion: Add images by uploading files or using web URLs (Google Images links may not work reliably).
    • Real-time collaboration: Multiple users can concurrently edit a doc with colored cursors indicating each editor’s position. Live presence indicators can be toggled on or off. Note that extensive simultaneous editing on the same content block may impact performance.
    • Dynamic data linking: Reference any ServiceNow application record directly in Docs, automatically reflecting the most current data without manual updates. This includes linking to entire records or specific fields (e.g., “Assigned to” on a Project record). Hover popovers show record details, and clicking references opens the full record form for edits.

    Key Outcomes

    By using Docs in Portfolio Planning, ServiceNow customers can centralize and streamline documentation for planning items, enabling better organization and collaboration across teams. The dynamic linking feature minimizes context switching and ensures documentation stays aligned with the latest data from ServiceNow records, fostering a reliable single source of truth. Real-time collaboration capabilities support efficient team workflows, while templates and rich editing tools enhance document consistency and quality.

    Store and manage all kinds of documentation for planning items from a centralized location of Portfolio Planning Workspace.

    Docs overview

    Product and portfolio managers can store information for planning items using the Docs feature.
    • Each planning item can have a separate doc page to capture the information related to it.

      For example, for an Epic planning item, you create a doc page for high level business objectives or technical product requirements.

    • Each planning item can have multiple doc pages associated to it to help you effectively organize key artifacts.
    • Predefined templates such as Project Brief, Product Requirements, Brainstorming Ideas, and Meeting notes are available. Create doc pages for your planning items using one of these templates or start with a blank page.

    Features of Docs

    The following are the key features of Docs:
    • Auto-save content.
    • See who is viewing or working on a doc page using the feature of live user presence.
    • Create documents using pre-defined templates.
    • Use rich text paragraph formatting, which includes headings, lists, alignment, and others.
    • Move text blocks to change their placement using block-level editing.
    • Tag team members inline or insert tables using the / command.
    • Add reference to other ServiceNow AI Platform tables to connect work across teams.
    • Insert images by uploading files or using web URLs.
      Note:
      The experience of inserting Google Images links might not work.

    Real-time collaboration within planning item Docs

    With the feature of real-time collaboration, edit a doc page concurrently with multiple other editors. Colored cursors denote the current location of each editor on the page. You can choose to show or hide these live presence indicators based on your preference while working on or reviewing the content of the page.
    Docs real-time collaboration.
    Note:
    Huge number of users editing the same block of content simultaneously might result in issues with application performance.

    Dynamic data linking in Docs

    Keep record information in your documentation always current and reduce manual effort with the Dynamic data linking feature in Docs. You can now reference any ServiceNow application record and Docs will automatically reflect the latest updates from those records.

    For example, if you add a reference to a Project record, the reference shows the latest field information of the project in Docs without requiring manual edits. Selecting the project reference opens up the project form so that you can view the full details of the project and make any necessary changes.

    A hover popover displays the details of the mentioned record, providing quick access to additional information without leaving the current context.

    Dynamic linking a project record in SPW Docs.

    Dynamic linking also enables adding references to a particular field of a record, such as Assigned to of a Project record.

    Dynamic linking the Assigned to field of a project record in SPW Docs.

    You can add references from any ServiceNow table you have access to, with no setup or configuration needed.

    This feature reduces the need to switch between multiple ServiceNow applications within your instance and helps maintain a single, reliable source of truth for collaborative work, making it easier for teams to stay aligned and informed.