Help context types and prioritization

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Help context types and prioritization

    In ServiceNow, help contexts provide targeted help pages linked to specific tables and views. You can create help contexts of typeForm,List, orRecordto provide users with relevant help based on what they are viewing. Proper configuration and prioritization of these help contexts ensure users receive the most applicable help content when they click the help icon.

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    Help Context Types

    • Record-level help: Applies to a single, specific record within a table. When defined, it overrides list and form help for that record.
    • List-level help: Applies to the list view of a table. If no form-level help exists, it also applies to the form view.
    • Form-level help: Applies to the form view of a table. If no list-level help exists, it also applies to the list view.

    If both list and form help are defined for a table, list help applies to list views and form help applies to form views. For example, if both exist for the Business Rule table, users see different help pages depending on whether they are viewing the list or an individual record form.

    Note: Help contexts created for base tables also apply to any extended tables unless those extended tables have their own help contexts defined.

    Help Context Prioritization

    When multiple help contexts could apply, the system uses these rules, in order, to determine which help page to show:

    • Customer-created help contexts take precedence over default system-provided help contexts for the same table.
    • Language matching: Help contexts matching the user's language setting are prioritized over those in the default instance language.
    • Table hierarchy closeness: Help contexts for tables closer in the extended table hierarchy to the viewed record are prioritized over help contexts for parent tables. For example, for a Linux Server record, help context on the cmdbciserver table will be used over cmdbci if both exist.

    You can create a help context with the type Form, List, or Record, and link it to a particular table in your ServiceNow instance. If you have multiple help contexts, prioritization determines which help contexts apply to what a user views.

    Help context types

    When a user clicks the help icon, the system analyzes the relevant help contexts to determine which help page to display.
    • Record-level help applies to only one specific record, not the list or form for that table.

      For example, if a Record type help context exists for the Validate Number record in the Business Rule table, the help icon only directs to the page specified when a user views that record.

    • List-level help applies to the list for a table. If no form-level help is defined, list-level help also applies to the form for the same table.

      For example, if a List type but not a Form type help context exists for the Business Rule table, the help icon directs to the page specified by the List type help context when a user views any list or record (if record-level help is not defined for it) in the Business Rule table.

    • Form-level help applies to the form for a table. If no list-level help is defined, the form-level help also applies to the list for the same table.

      For example, if a Form type but not a List type help context exists for the Business Rule table, the help icon directs to the page specified by the Form type help context when you view any record (if record-level help is not defined for it) or list in the Business Rule table.

    • If both list- and form-level help are defined for a table, the appropriate help is displayed for the list and the form.

      For example, if a List type and a Form type help context exist for the Business Rule table, the help icon directs to the page specified by the List type help context when a user views the Business Rules list. The help icon directs to the page specified by the Form type help context when a user views any record (if record-level help is not defined for it) in the Business Rule table.

    Important:
    If you create a help context for a base table list or record, the help system opens that target topic for any list or record in a table that extends the base table if no other help context is created in that extended table.

    Help context prioritization

    When there are several matching help context records, the following rules determine which help context is used, in descending order of priority.
    1. A customer-created help context is used instead of a default help context provided in the instance for the same table.
    2. A help context that matches the user's language setting is used instead of a help context in the default language of the instance. See the Language field on the Help Context form.
    3. A help context for a closer table in an extended table hierarchy is used instead of a help context for a further table.

      Consider the case of the Linux Server [cmdb_ci_linux_server] table, which has the following parentage: cmdbi_ci > cmdb_ci_hardware > cmdb_ci_computer > cmdb_ci_server > cmdb_ci_linux_server. If help contexts exist for both the cmdb_ci_server table and the cmdb_ci table, the help icon directs to the page specified by the cmdb_ci_server help context when you view a record in the cmdb_ci_linux_server table.