Modeless dialogs

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated March 11, 2025
  • 12 minutes to read
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    Summary of Modeless dialogs

    Modeless dialogs in ServiceNow Yokohama release provide overlay windows within workspaces that allow agents to interact simultaneously with the main window content and the dialog. These dialogs support creating and posting comments, work notes, and managing emails without blocking access to the underlying case record. This enhances agent productivity by enabling reference to case details while drafting communications.

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    Key Features

    • Compose Activity Dialog: Enables agents to create comments and work notes that post to the activity stream. Agents can draft one comment and one work note at a time, minimize dialogs to the In-process Actions menu, and discard drafts as needed. Drafts are local to the browser and cleared on page reload.
    • Compose Email Dialog: Allows creating, saving, sending, replying to, and forwarding emails directly from the Front-line case page. Emails sent are posted to the activity stream. Agents can apply email templates, attach files, and add links to knowledge articles. The dialog supports minimizing, maximizing, resizing, and opening drafts in subtabs. Draft management features include viewing, discarding, and deleting drafts.
    • Email Header Controls: The email header fields (To, Cc, Bcc, Subject) can be expanded or collapsed for convenient editing and viewing.
    • Auto-Loading of Drafts: The system automatically loads the latest saved email draft when opening the Compose Email dialog, configurable through UI Builder properties.
    • Form Templates Integration: Templates can prepopulate comments and work notes in modeless dialogs, allowing agents to post templated content to the activity stream efficiently. If both comment and work note content exist, separate dialogs open for each.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Improves agent efficiency by enabling multitasking—agents can draft communications while referencing case details without losing context.
    • Streamlines communication workflows with integrated email drafting, template application, and attachment capabilities within the workspace.
    • Enhances case tracking and collaboration by posting comments, work notes, and emails directly to the activity stream.
    • Provides flexible draft management to prevent loss of work and supports easy recovery or discarding of drafts.
    • Allows customization of dialog behavior and draft loading to fit organizational needs via component properties in UI Builder.

    Modeless dialogs are windows that overlay the main window content. Modeless dialogs enable for creating and posting comments and work notes to the activity stream, as well as composing and sending emails.

    A modeless dialog is a window that appears in a workspace as an overlay on top of the main window content. This overlay enables users to interact with the window content and the overlay content at the same time. Agents can use modeless dialogs to do the following:
    • Create comments and work notes to post to the activity stream.
    • Create and send emails and reply to or forward emails.

    After opening a modeless dialog, agents can move it around the screen and put it where they need it. This feature enables agents to reference information from the main window while drafting text in the overlay window.

    The Front-line case page includes the following modeless dialogs:
    • Compose Activity - for creating and posting comments and work notes
    • Compose Email - for creating and sending emails

    Create comments and work notes

    Agents can use the Compose Activity modeless dialog to create comments and work notes and post them to the activity stream. See the following table for more information about creating these activities.
    Note:
    This feature is available with the Front-line case page in CSM Configurable Workspace.
    Table 1. Using the Compose Activity modeless dialog to create comments and work notes
    Task Description
    Create a comment or work note To create a comment or a work note:
    1. Select one of the following actions from the action bar to open a Compose window:
      • Compose > Compose Comments
      • Compose > Compose Work notes (Private)
    2. Add the text to the Compose window.
    When creating comments and work notes:
    • Agents can create one draft comment and one draft work note at a time before posting the text to the activity stream.
    • Agents can open one Compose window at a time. If an agent opens a second window, the previously opened window is minimized.
    Post a comment or work note to the activity stream To post a comment or work note, select one of the following actions from the Compose window:
    • Post Comment
    • Post Work Notes (Private)

    The Compose window automatically closes after the text is posted to the activity stream.

    Saving the case record also posts the comment or work note to the activity stream and closes the Compose window.
    Minimize a Compose window Composed windows can be minimized and moved to the In-process Actions menu in the action bar. Minimized comments and work notes appear in a list in the In-process Actions menu.
    Compose windows can be minimized in the following ways.
    • Select the Minimize button in the Compose window header.
    • One Compose window can be open at a time. If an agent opens another Compose window, the first window is minimized.
    Open a minimized Compose window Select the In-progress Actions menu in the action bar and then select an item from the list to open the window.
    Items in the In-process Actions menu appear in a list with the action type (email, comment, or work note) and an abbreviated title.
    • For email, the title is the email subject.
    • For comments and work notes, the title is the first line of text.
    Discard a comment or work note To discard a comment or work note:
    1. Select the Close button in the Compose window header.
    2. Confirm the Discard action by selecting Discard in the confirmation pop-up window.

    The system closes the Compose window and discards the comment or work note.
    The following guidelines apply to Compose windows:
    • Draft comments and work notes are local to the browser. If the browser page is reloaded, they are cleared.
    • Comments and work notes stay synchronized on the form and in the modeless dialogs.
    • The Compose window can be resized.

    Create emails

    Agents can use the Compose Email modeless dialog to create and save email drafts and to send emails. This feature increases the speed of drafting emails while referencing record information.

    Emails that are sent from a Compose Email window are posted to the activity stream. Agents can reply to and forward emails from the activity stream. See the following table for more information about creating and sending emails.
    Note:
    This feature is available with the Front-line case page in CSM Configurable Workspace.
    Table 2. Using the Compose Email modeless dialog to create and send emails
    Task Description
    Create and send an email To create and send an email:
    1. Select Compose > Compose Email from the action bar to open a Compose Email window.
    2. Fill out the fields:
      1. To, Cc, Bcc
      2. Subject
      3. Email body
    3. Select Send email.
    When creating emails and sending emails:
    • The Compose Email window automatically closes after the email is sent.
    • The email is posted to the activity stream.
    Reply to or forward an email To reply to or forward an email:
    1. Expand an email in the activity stream.
    2. Select one of the following buttons to open the Compose Email window:
      • Reply
      • Reply all
      • Forward
    3. Add the desired text.
    4. Select Send email.

    The Compose Email window automatically closes after the email is posted to the activity stream.
    Add a link to a knowledge article To add a link to a knowledge article:
    1. Select the Agent Assist tab in the contextual side panel.
    2. View the list of knowledge articles or search for an article.
    3. Select the More Actions menu on the knowledge article card.
    4. Select Add link in email.

    The system adds the title of the article with a link in the body of the email.
    Apply a template to an email
    To apply a template to an email:
    1. Select the Apply templates icon (Compose email apply templates icon) in the Compose email modeless dialog footer to display a list of available templates.

      The Template preview modal displays the available email templates. It does not display quick messages or response templates.

    2. Select a template from the list. You can also search for a specific template.
    The system adds the contents of the template to the body of the email.
    Note:
    If no templates are available, the icon does not appear in the footer.
    Minimize a Compose Email window Minimized emails appear in a list in the In-process Actions menu in the action bar.

    Select the Minimize icon (Compose email minimize icon) in the Compose Email window header to move the email draft to the In-progress Actions menu.
    Open a minimized Compose Email window Select an item from the In-progress Actions menu to open the Compose Email window.
    Items in the In-process Actions menu appear in a list with the action type (email, comment, or work note) and an abbreviated title.
    • For email, the title is the email subject.
    • For comments and work notes, the title is the first line of text.
    Maximize a Compose Email window Select the Maximize icon (Compose email maximize icon) in the Compose Email window header to expand the Compose Email window to the full screen.

    Select the Maximize icon again to exit the Maximize mode.
    Open a draft email in a subtab Select the Pop out icon (Compose email pop out icon) in the Compose Email window header to open the draft email in a subtab.

    The Compose Email window closes when the email opens in the subtab.
    Close a Compose Email window Select the Close icon (Compose email close icon) in the Compose Email window header.

    The system saves the text as a draft email and closes the Compose Email window.

    View a list of draft emails
    Select the View drafts icon (Compose email view drafts icon) in the Compose Email window footer. Selecting this icon displays a list that includes the most recent email drafts. The list also includes the following actions:
    • Manage drafts: Displays the Manage drafts pop-up window. From this window, you can view a list of all draft emails. You can also delete email drafts from this window.
    • Create new email: Creates a new email in the Compose email window.

    Select an email draft

    Select the View drafts icon (Compose email view drafts icon) in the Compose Email window footer. Selecting this icon displays a list that includes the most recent email drafts. You can select a recent draft from this list.

    To view a list of all email drafts:
    1. Select the View drafts icon and then select Manage drafts.
    2. Select a draft from the list in the Manage drafts pop-up window.
    The system saves the current draft email and opens the selected draft email in the Compose Email window.
    Select an email draft from the Draft Emails related list
    1. Select the Related Lists tab in the contextual side panel.
    2. Expand the Draft Emails related list.
    3. Select the Open draft icon on the desired draft email card.
    The system opens the selected draft email in a subtab.

    Discard the current draft email
    1. Select the Discard draft icon (Compose email discard draft icon) in the Compose Email window footer.
    2. Confirm the Discard action by selecting Discard in the confirmation pop-up window.
    The system displays a message that the draft email has been discarded.

    Delete an email draft from the Manage drafts pop-up window
    1. Select the View drafts icon (Compose email view drafts icon) in the Compose Email window footer.
    2. Select Manage drafts to display the Manage drafts pop-up window.
    3. Select an email to delete by enabling the check box.
    4. Select Delete in the pop-up window.
    5. Confirm the action by selecting Delete again.
    The following guidelines apply to the Compose Email window:
    • An agent can create multiple email drafts.
    • An agent can have one Compose Email window open at a time. The system displays a message if an agent tries to open another Compose Email window while the first Compose Email window is still open.
    • An agent must manually close a Compose Email window before opening a new window.
    • The Compose Email window can be resized.

    Collapsing and expanding the email header

    The email header includes the following fields:
    • To
    • Cc
    • Bcc
    • Subject
    You can expand and collapse the email header as needed by selecting the expand header (Compose email expand header icon) and collapse header (Compose email collapse header icon) icons.
    When the email header is expanded, you can edit the information in these fields. When the email header is collapsed:
    • The names in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields are combined into one line. If there is a long list of recipients, some of the names are replaced with "and more".
    • The subject is displayed in a second line.
    • The fields are not editable.

    When you create a new email or forward an email, the header is expanded by default and displays the To and Subject fields. If you expand the Cc and Bcc fields, the collapse header icon is displayed.

    When you reply to an email, the header is collapsed by default. Expanding the header shows all the fields that contain information.

    Compose Email modeless dialog footer icons

    Several icons appear in the Compose Email modeless dialog footer that you can use when creating email drafts.
    Table 3. Footer icons
    Icon Description
    Discard draft (Compose email discard draft icon) Select this icon to delete the current draft. Then confirm the delete action in the resulting confirmation message.
    Apply template (Compose email apply templates icon) Select this icon to display a list of available templates. You can select a template from the list or search for a specific template. The list can display up to 10 templates. Selecting a template applies that template to the draft email.
    Note:
    If no templates are available, the icon does not appear in the footer.
    View drafts (Compose email view drafts icon) Select this icon to display a list with recent draft emails as well as email-related actions.

    You can select an email draft from the list to display that draft in the Compose Email window.

    Email-related actions include:
    • Manage drafts: Displays the Draft Management pop-up window which includes a list of email drafts. Select a draft to display the contents in the Compose Email window. You can also delete email drafts from this pop-up window.
    • Create new email: Creates a new email draft in the Compose Email window.
    Attach file (Compose email attach file icon) Select this icon to attach files to an email draft From computer or From record. After attaching one or more files, you can hide or show the attachments.

    Auto-loading the latest email draft

    The Compose Email modeless dialog opens with the last saved email draft. When a user selects Compose > Compose Email, the Compose Email modeless dialog opens and displays this latest draft. If there are no recent drafts for the current case, the system loads a new draft. This feature is enabled by default.

    Note:
    This feature is controlled by component properties in UI Builder. These properties are located in the Configure tab in the Advanced section:
    • Load latest draft: When enabled, the system loads the latest email draft.
    • sys ID: Set this property to -1.
    When the property is enabled and a specific sys_id is passed to the email client, the system can load the email draft in the Email Compose modeless dialog.

    Using form templates to create comments and work notes

    You can create and use form templates that add content to the Additional comments and Work notes fields on a case record and then post that content to the activity stream.

    Content to add Description
    Comment If a template includes content to add to the Additional comments field on the case record, the system does the following:
    • Displays a modeless dialog for composing a comment.
    • Adds the content to the Comments field in the modeless dialog.
    Selecting Post Comments adds the content to the Additional comments field on the case record and to the activity stream.
    Work note If a template includes content to add to the Work notes field on the case record, the system does the following:
    • Displays a modeless dialog for composing a work note.
    • Adds the content to the Work notes field in the modeless dialog.
    Selecting Post Work Notes adds the content to the Work notes field on the case record and to the activity stream.
    Comment and work note If a template includes content to add to both the Additional comments and Work notes fields on the case record, the system does the following:
    • Displays two modeless dialogs, one for composing a comment and one for composing a work note.
    • Adds the content for the comment to the Comments field in the comment modeless dialog.
    • Adds the content for the work note to the Work notes field in the work note modeless dialog.

    Selecting Post Comments adds the content to the Additional comments field on the case record and to the activity stream.

    Selecting Post Work Notes adds the content to the Work notes field on the case record and to the activity stream.

    If text already exists in the Additional comments or Work notes fields, applying a template opens a modeless dialog and adds the template content. Selecting Undo removes the template content from the modeless dialog and replaces it with the existing text from the fields on the Case record.