Create a portal theme

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Create a portal theme

    ServiceNow allows customers to create custom portal themes for advanced customization beyond what the Branding Editor offers. Custom themes require CSS knowledge and are configured through the Service Portal > Themes module. This enables you to fully control the look and feel of your portal by associating headers, footers, CSS, and JavaScript resources.

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    Theme Configuration

    When creating a theme, you complete a form to specify key settings:

    • Name: Internal identifier for the theme to link it to a portal.
    • Turn off SCSS compilation: Option to disable SCSS processing and serve plain CSS.
    • Application: Defines the scope; header/footer and other resources must share the same scope.
    • Header/Footer: Select widgets from the spheaderfooter table to display consistent headers and footers.
    • Fixed header/footer: Options to lock the header/footer in place during scrolling.
    • CSS variables: Define CSS custom properties to control colors and styles. Use this field only for variables, not general CSS rules.

    CSS rules should be added via CSS Includes, not in the CSS variables field.

    CSS Includes

    You can associate multiple CSS Includes with a theme to manage stylesheets, either internal or external:

    • Name and Application: Identify and scope the CSS Include.
    • Source: Choose internal style sheets (uploaded to the spcss table) or external URLs.
    • Lazy Load: Optionally load CSS asynchronously to improve page load times. However, using lazy load is discouraged if it causes unstyled content flashes.
    • RTL CSS file URL: Specify an external stylesheet for right-to-left language support (e.g., Hebrew).

    JavaScript Includes

    You can also add JavaScript resources to the theme to extend portal functionality:

    • Display Name and Application: Identify and scope the JS Include.
    • Source: Select internal UI scripts (client-side JavaScript reusable across the platform) or external JavaScript URLs.
    • UI Script or JS file URL: Provide the script reference depending on the source selected.
    • Package: Automatically populated to indicate the Service Portal package associated.

    Practical Benefits

    By creating custom portal themes, you gain precise control over portal appearance and behavior, ensuring consistent branding and user experience. Incorporating CSS variables and includes allows for modular and maintainable styles, while JavaScript includes enable enhanced interactive features. This flexibility is essential for ServiceNow customers who require tailored portal designs that align with corporate identity or specific functional needs.

    If you need more customization than Branding Editor can provide, you can create your own custom theme.

    Only users with an understanding of CSS should create custom themes.

    1. Navigate to Service Portal > Themes, then select New.
    2. Complete the form fields and then from the form context menu, select Save.
      Table 1. Theme form fields
      Field Description
      Name Name of your theme. Use this name to associate the theme with your portal. This name is not visible to users, you should know it to apply the correct theme to a portal.
      Turn off SCSS compilation Turns off compiling SCSS and sends the plain CSS file directly to the client.
      Application

      The record scope. The header menu record and the source table must have the same application scope.
      Header List of headers and footers from the sp_header_footer table that you can associate with a portal theme. Headers and footers are widgets and can be configured the same way.
      Footer List of headers and footers from the sp_header_footer table that you can associate with a portal theme.
      Fixed header Locks the header at the top of the page so that when a user scrolls the header remains on the screen.
      Fixed footer Locks the footer at the bottom of the page so that when a user scrolls the footer remains on the screen.
      CSS variables CSS custom properties that you can use to change the color and styles in a portal. For example, the stock theme uses some of the following variables:
      $sp-logo-margin-x: 		15px !default;
$sp-tagline-color:		$text-color !default;
$navbar-inverse-bg: 	#3a3f51 !default;
      Note:
      Use the CSS variables field to define CSS variables only. Use CSS Includes to define CSS rules. As of the Madrid release, Sass and LESS can be used within CSS Includes.
    3. To add a style sheet to the theme, in the CSS Include related list, select New.
    4. Complete the style sheet form fields and select Submit.
      Table 2. Style sheet form fields
      Field Description
      Name Name of the CSS Include. Remember this name to associate the CSS Include with the theme.
      Application The record scope. The header menu record and the source table must have the same application scope.
      Source Select one of the following options:
      • Style Sheet: Add an internal style sheet that has been uploaded to the CSS table [sp_css]. For example, ng-sortable.min.css. Internal style sheets use standard CSS in the CSS field.
      • URL: Link to an external style sheet. Use external style sheets to use the same CSS as a corporate website or other online resource.
      Style sheet An internal style sheet to associate with the theme.
      CSS file URL A URL to an external style sheet to associate with the theme.
      Lazy Load

      Option to load the CSS Include asynchronously to improve page load time. This option should be set to the same value for all CSS Includes of a theme. Enabling asynchronous loading for only some CSS Includes associated with a theme isn’t recommended.

      Note:
      Enabling Lazy Load isn’t recommended for portals with flashing of unstyled content.

      The CSS Includes with Lazy Load enabled are listed in the Lazy load CSS includes related list in the theme record.
      RTL CSS file URL

      A URL to an external style sheet for mirroring the direction of a portal when the session language is a right-to-left language, such as Hebrew.

      For information about support for right-to-left languages, see Styling for right-to-left languages in portals.
    5. To add a JavaScript include to the theme, in the JS Include related list, select New.
    6. Complete the JS Include form fields and select Submit.
      Table 3. JS Include form fields
      Field Description
      Display name Name of the JS Include. Remember this name to associate the JS Include with the theme.
      Application The record scope. The header menu record and the source table must have the same application scope.
      Source Select one of the following options:
      • UI Script: Add an internal UI script that has been uploaded to the UI script table [sys_ui_script]. UI scripts allow you to create client-side JavaScript and reuse it in multiple locations. For more information on UI scripts, see UI scripts.
      • URL: Link to an external JavaScript file. Use external URLs to use the same JavaScript as a corporate website or other online resource.
      UI Script or JS file URL Associate an internal UI script or JavaScript file URL, depending on which option you select in the Source field.
      Updated Date and time that the JS Include was last updated
      Package The Service Portal package that the JS include is associated with. For example, Service Portal Configuration Pages. This field is populated by default.