Available question types in Creator Studio

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 5 minutes to read
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    Summary of Available question types in Creator Studio

    In Creator Studio, you can design forms using various question types to gather information from requesters. There are two main categories of questions: General questions, which offer simple input options like text fields or predefined choices, and Reference-based questions, which pull answer choices dynamically from specified tables. Selecting the question type adjusts the settings available for configuration, enabling tailored data collection for your applications.

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    General Question Types

    General questions provide straightforward input methods, including:

    • Short answer (Single-line text): For brief user input such as names or emails.
    • Multi-line text: Allows longer responses over multiple lines.
    • Dropdown: Single-selection list from predefined options.
    • Radio button: Single-selection from visible options.
    • Checkbox: True/false type input; placing two checkboxes side-by-side forms a section that cannot contain other question types.
    • Yes/No: Simple binary choice.
    • Date and Date and time: Selection from a calendar, with or without time.
    • Question set: Preconfigured groups of questions created in Service Catalog, which cannot be modified once added.

    Reference-Based Question Types

    These questions retrieve their answer options from external data tables, offering dynamic and filtered choices:

    • Record choices: Answers come from a specified table filtered by defined conditions; useful for linking related records such as incidents.
    • Field choices: Answers are drawn from a particular field within a table according to filters, like selecting countries.
    • Multi-select: Allows selecting multiple answers from filtered table data, suitable for referencing multiple records.

    When using Record choices, you can enable an auto-fill feature to populate other questions automatically based on the selected record.

    Question Configuration Details

    Each question type supports various configurable properties to customize user interaction and data capture:

    • Question label: The text prompting the question.
    • Help text: Tooltip guidance for users.
    • Visibility: Option to show or hide the question on the form (hidden questions can store data behind the scenes).
    • Required: Makes answering mandatory before submission.
    • Read-only: Prevents editing, useful for default or system-generated values.
    • Default value: Pre-populate answers; for reference-based questions, wildcards () can be used in searches to find matching records.
    • Choices: Customize and reorder selectable answers for dropdowns and radio buttons.
    • Include “None” option: Adds a “None” choice where applicable.
    • Default to first choice: Sets the initial selected option for radio buttons.
    • Source table and field: Specify where reference-based answers come from.
    • Filter conditions: Define criteria to limit visible choices using the condition builder tool.

    These features empower you to build intuitive, dynamic forms that efficiently capture and manage data in your ServiceNow applications.

    Build apps using different types of questions on a form in Creator Studio.

    You get to pick the questions to ask requesters. Creator Studio provides two types of questions you can ask:
    • General questions are where you give requesters an empty box to write a short answer (think name or email) or a list of choices to pick from (like a dropdown menu or those little circles you fill in).
    • Reference-based questions are where you provide a list of choices that you define in a table.

    The type of question you select from the Content type field in the Question details panel changes the question's settings that appear.

    Types of general questions

    Table 1. General question type form elements
    Content type Description
    Short answer (Single-line text) Single-line question.
    Multi-line text Longer option that provides space for a question multiple lines in length.
    Dropdown Question with a list of pre-defined answers that users select from a dropdown menu. Users can select only one answer.
    Radio button Question with list of pre-defined answers that users select from radio buttons. Users can select only one answer.
    Check box True or false question that users answer by selecting the relevant check box.
    Note:
    If you put two checkbox questions side-by-side on a form, they make a section. You can't add other types of questions to that section.
    Yes/No Question where users select Yes or No as their answer.
    Date Question where the answer is a date that users must select from a calendar.
    Date and time Question where the answer is a date and time that users must specify.
    Question set Preconfigured questions that you can't change.

    Admins create question sets in Service Catalog. For more information, see Service catalog variable sets.

    Note:
    • You can't change an existing question into a question set. To include a question set on a form, you must newly add it to the form.
    • If you put two checkbox questions side-by-side on a form, they make a section. You can't add other types of questions to that section.

    Types of reference-based question types

    Reference-based questions pull their possible values from the table that you must designate as the Source table.

    Table 2. Reference-based question form elements
    Content type Description
    Record choices Question where the answers are retrieved from an additional specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.

    Use this question on a form that references data from another form, such as a form that uses the Incident table. "Choose the related incident" is an example Record choices question, which could use a filtered list of incidents as possible answer selections.

    If you have a Record choices question on a form, you'll see an Add auto-fill option when you configure other questions on the form. Select the Add auto-fill option to choose a value from the Record choices question's table to automatically populate the question's answer.

    For example, a form can enable someone to select a user for the Choose the gift box recipient field, which retrieves its values from the User table. An additional Preferred name field can be automatically populated from the First name field of the User table selection, but then edited if someone prefers a nickname.
    Field choices Question where the answers are retrieved from a field on the specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.

    For example, you could create a Field choices question for a table with a "Country" field, which the user could then use to select their country.
    Multi-select Question where users can select multiple answers that are retrieved from the specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.

    Use this question on a form that references data from multiple other forms, such as a form that pulls answers from multiple separate Incident tables.

    Question details

    Depending on the type of question you add to a form, you must specify some of the following details.

    Table 3. Question type details
    Field Description Available for
    Question label Question or statement that says what the question is asking. All question types
    Help text Additional information that appears as a tooltip to guide the user when they hover over the information icon. All question types
    Show questions on form Hide the question from the form by leaving this option unselected.

    You can use this option to associate data with the form behind the scenes by adding it to the app's underlying table.

    		 All question types
    Mark as required Option to make the question required before the user can submit the form. All question types
    Mark as read-only Option to make the question read-only.

    For example, if you don't automatically pull the user's role into the form's table, you could create a single-line text question where the default value is their role (such as Sales) and then hide it. You could even hide the question from the form to make the data exchange invisible to the user.

    		 All question types
    Default value Value that's auto-populated in the question’s answer when the form is opened.

    For reference-based questions where you designate a source table, you must use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard when searching for values in the Default value field.

    For example, if the question references the User table and you're looking for Abel Tuter, entering Tuter won't find that user but entering *Tuter will.

    		 All question types
    Choices Customizable answers to the question, which you can drag to rearrange in a new order.
    • Dropdown
    • Radio button
    Include "None" as a choice Option to include None as a possible answer to the question.
    • Dropdown
    • Radio button
    • Field choices
    Default to the first choice Option to display the first choice as the possible answer when the user sees the question. Radio button
    Source table Table location that provides data for answers to the question.
    • Record choices
    • Field choices
    • Multi-select
    Field Field in the specified source table that possible answers are retrieved from. Field choices
    Filter conditions Conditions that must be met to view certain choices. Select Add condition and use the condition builder to create the filter. For more information, see Condition builder.
    • Record choices
    • Field choices
    • Multi-select