Content types

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Content types

    Content types in ServiceNow's CMS provide site-specific control over how system data defined by templates is rendered. Each content type corresponds to a specific table and defines how documents from that table are displayed across different pages and sites. This enables distinct presentations for knowledge articles, catalog items, incidents, or combinations thereof, allowing different user experiences through themes and interaction models tailored per content type.

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    Key Features

    • Content Type Association: Each content type is linked to a specific table, determining the list and detail pages used to display the content.
    • Site-specific Customization: Content types can be associated with particular sites, allowing different sites to use unique detail pages for the same content type.
    • Rendering Control: Content types define how links to documents appear, how lists display entries, and which detail pages present document content.
    • Common Content Types: Standard content types like service catalog and knowledge base are included in the base system, minimizing the need for advanced scripting.
    • Use in CMS Components: Content types apply in search results, current document blocks, and links on lists, ensuring consistent navigation and content display.
    • Customization and Security: Content types can be customized per site via the Content Types related list on the site record, and their behavior may be influenced by instance security hardening settings such as performance monitoring, IP restrictions, and downloadable file types.
    • Content Type Creation: Users with the contentadmin role can create or modify content types to tailor the CMS experience.
    • CMS Gauge Support: Gauges provide graphical displays of instance information and are supported as a content type.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    Understanding and configuring content types allow customers to control how different data is presented within their CMS sites, enhancing user engagement and content navigation. By associating content types with specific sites, organizations can deliver customized detail pages and user experiences without altering the underlying data structure. This flexibility is crucial for maintaining clear and consistent content presentation across multiple sites and content categories.

    Additionally, leveraging default content types reduces complexity, while the ability to create or adjust content types enables advanced customization aligned with business needs. Awareness of security and performance settings that affect content types ensures that configurations support both usability and compliance requirements.

    Content types provide site-specific control of how system data defined by templates is rendered.

    In the site, one page displays a list of knowledge articles, and another page displays catalog items or incidents or a combination of the two. Different themes can be used for types of content and each theme can provide different user interaction. Content types define the pages that display content from a table. Each content type corresponds to a table.

    Every type of document that the CMS displays has an associated content type. Changing the content type requires knowledge of Apache Jelly scripting. However, the common content types (such as service catalog or knowledge base) come in the base system. Content types can be associated with particular sites. This association allows different sites to use different detail pages for the same content type.

    Content types define three features of associated documents.
    • What does a link to one of these documents look like? For example, if a list of these documents is displayed on a page, how does each entry appear?
    • What does a detailed view of one of these documents look like?
    • What detail page is used to display the document? This decision is important and is often an area of confusion for new CMS users.

    The document content type determines the page that a list of documents points to, the list itself does not determine the page. The content from a link is displayed in a detail content block on a page. The content type determines in which detail block on a page the document content is displayed.

    For example, the list block Catalog Top 5 displays the top five items in the Service Catalog table [sc_cat_item]. Because the table is [sc_cat_item], the content type sc_cat_item controls how the Catalog Top 5 list is displayed. Clicking any item in the list displays the Service Catalog Detail page with the item displayed on it according to the detail template script. These content types are applied:
    • in search results to link to the correct page.
    • in the Current Document block to display the current record.
    • in links on lists and other places that link to record types.

    Several content types are available by default for tables such as Catalog Item [sc_cat_item], Gauge [sys_gauge], and Page [content_page].

    Content type defaults that are set for CMS can be overridden for individual sites. Use the Content Types related list on the site record to customize content types.

    Note:
    To learn more about the properties that affect use of content types, see the following topics in Instance Security Hardening Settings:
    • Performance monitoring IP restriction (instance security hardening)
    • Downloadable file types (instance security hardening)