Advanced Portal Navigation

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Advanced Portal Navigation

    Advanced Portal Navigation (APN) enhances the design and configuration of navigation within the ServiceNow platform, focusing on intuitive information architecture and improved topic discovery. This feature allows you to manage portal topics and menu items based on employee needs, enabling better content visibility and user experience.

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    Key Features

    • Customizable Navigation: Design and display options for the primary navigation bar tailored to employee needs and content priorities.
    • Sync Functionality: Instantly sync root-level topics and menu items across the hierarchy, simplifying updates to taxonomy.
    • Navigation Options: Choose between top navigation for complex hierarchies or simplified side navigation for easier access to key topics.
    • Mega Menu Management: Admins can configure a mixed hierarchy of service portal and APN menu items, enhancing the browsing experience.
    • Accessibility Features: Supports external links and mega menu configurations that include tooltips read by screen readers.

    Key Outcomes

    With Advanced Portal Navigation, you can:

    • Streamline navigation to content, reducing the number of clicks required to access information.
    • Utilize a user-friendly design that enhances content discovery and consumption.
    • Maintain control over the display preferences for custom topics and menu items.

    Note: Ensure activation of the APN record after upgrading to the latest release, as it is inactive by default for existing customers.

    Advanced Portal Navigation (APN) helps you design and configure an intuitive navigation for better information architecture and topic discovery. You can manage the topics and service portal menu items based on employee needs. Use the enhanced navigation experience that helps you with better content discovery.

    Using the advanced portal navigation, you can design the primary navigation menu and configure the navigation setup based on employee needs and content priorities. You can manage topics, SP menu items, and a mix of both.
    Note:
    When you enable Advanced portal navigation, you can manage the root-level topics and menu items from this table itself and not from the taxonomy or the SP menu items.
    Here’s a quick summary of what you can do:
    • Configure and control the design and display of the primary navigation bar.
    • Sync across the hierarchy to fetch the menu items, root topics, and child topics.
    • Simplify taxonomy updates by enabling single-click sync across all APN hierarchy levels, replacing manual level-by-level sync.
    • Use the base system information architecture or customize based on your business needs.
    Note:
    Only the active portal record and its menu items are shown in the navigation.
    Use the guided tour that provides a feature explainer to help understand what APN is and how you can configure it.

    Top navigation and side navigation

    Create an APN record and select one of the following navigation options.
    • Top navigation: Supports up to four levels of hierarchy and surfaces a broad set of topics and quick links directly at the top of the portal, helping employees to navigate to deeper levels. This navigation is the existing mega‑menu in the header that supports deeper and more complex hierarchies. For more information, see Configure advanced portal navigation.
    • Simplified or side navigation: Use the new layout for simple visual access, iconography, and quick access to key destinations, helping employees browse topics with less effort and reduced visual complexity. Side navigation in Employee Center is a new left‑hand, icon‑driven, two‑level menu meant to simplify browsing. For more information, see .
    Both options help define and navigate to root and subtopics, assign icons, and enable faster access.

    Advanced portal navigation benefits

    You can offer a simplified navigation to the content.
    • Use the base system structure for better discovery and consumption.
    • Customize the design and structure based on your preferences using the taxonomy or SP portal menu.
    • Navigate to the right content with minimal clicks.
    • View the topics and menu items on the primary navigation bar.
    • Consume the display preferences for the root-level topics or menu items that are custom-served to suit your needs.
    Note:
    External link and mega menu are supported for accessibility. Fields include a tooltip icon and screen readers read the tooltip.

    Mega menu configuration

    Admins can manage the information architecture and navigation. You can configure the mega menu to show a mixed hierarchy of SP menu items, APN menu items, and topics with flexible layout options. Create a mixed hierarchy and enable a consumer-grade browse experience. For more information, see Configure Mega menu.
    • Organize the content into standard layout and expanded layouts.
    • Configure the root items position to the left or the right.
    • Invoke an interactive modal window from the mega menu.
    • Sync the hierarchy to fetch the menu items, root topics, and child topics.
    Note:
    By default, the APN record for EC and EC Pro is inactive for existing customers. When you upgrade to the latest release, ensure you activate the APN record.