Homepage Administration

Note: This article applies to Fuji and earlier releases. For more current information, see Homepage Administration at http://docs.servicenow.com The ServiceNow Wiki is no longer being updated. Visit http://docs.servicenow.com for the latest product documentation.

Overview

A homepage is a dashboard that consists of navigational elements, functional controls, and system information. When a user logs on ServiceNow, the default homepage defined for their role appears unless the user switched to another homepage, in which case that homepage appears. Administrators can customize several settings for homepages, including settings that control read or write access for any homepage and how homepages render.

Administrators can also:

• Create new global homepages for all users or specific homepages for users with a specified role.
• Specify an alternate login landing page that appears instead of a homepage.
• Configure the homepage splash page, which is a lightweight page that loads before a homepage loads.

Menus and Modules

To access homepage administration options, use these modules under the Homepage Admin menu.

The Homepage Admin application

Edit ESS Homepage: Allows you to edit the default homepage set up for users without a role. Edit ITIL Homepage: Allows you to edit the default homepage set up for users with the itil role. Edit Admin Homepage: Allows you to edit the default homepage set up for users with the admin role. This module is no longer available starting with the Eureka release. Edit Server Overview: Allows you to edit the default ServiceNow Performance homepage. My Home: Allows you to edit the homepage that is set as your default homepage. SLA Homepage: Allows you to edit the default SLA homepage. Pages: Lists all homepage records in the system. Layouts: Lists the macros that control the layout of homepages. Messages: Lists the homepage-related UI messages on the Message table. Properties: Provides access to the properties that control homepage functionality, such as automatic refresh, homepage caching, and parallel rendering.

Restricting Who Can Add Content to a Homepage

By default, anyone with a role can add content to a homepage. If the user does not have permission to edit the homepage, the edits are applied to a homepage specific to the user. You can restrict who can add content to homepages by modifying the following property under the Properties module.

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The property that controls who can add content to homepages

Securing a Homepage

Homepages have two types of roles: read and write. Read roles limit who can view the page, and write roles limit who can make edits to the page rename, such as moving around gauges or deleting the homepage. Administrators can modify the roles for any homepage.

1. Navigate to Homepage Admin > Pages.
2. Select the homepage you want to secure.
3. Click the lock icons next to Write roles or Read roles.
4. Move the roles you want to restrict homepage access to from the Available column to the Selected column.
5. Click Update.

Setting Homepage User Preferences

After a user has selected a homepage to view, their homepage preference is stored in User Administration > User Preferences in a preference for that user named homepage. The value of the preference is the sys_id of the homepage the user sees. You can access a list of homepages by navigating to Homepage Admin > Pages.

Users must have at least one role to view homepages.

Adding Homepages to Update Sets and Applications

Administrators must manually add homepages and content pages to update sets prior to distribution. After inclusion, the update set always uses the current version of the page and does not require additional action. Applications automatically include any homepages and content pages that are created within or associated to an application (starting with the Fuji release). Instances on earlier versions should see the previous version information.

To manually add a page to an update set:

1. Navigate to Homepage Admin > Pages.
2. Right-click a homepage record.
3. Select Unload Portal Page.

   The page is added to the current update set.

Click the plus for versions prior to Fuji

Administrators must manually add homepages and content pages to applications and update sets prior to distribution. This process only stores the version of the page as it existed at the time of inclusion. Any further changes to these pages requires an administrator to manually add them again. To manually add the current version of a page to an application and update set: Navigate to Homepage Admin > Pages. Right-click a homepage record. Select Unload Portal Page. The current version of the page is added to the current application (starting with the Dublin release) and to the current update set.

Enhancements

Eureka

• Active service catalogs and service catalog categories can be added to any homepage. Catalog categories can display the details of the catalog or the items in the category.
• The System Administration homepage has been redesigned to use service catalog categories. These categories provide administrators easy access to administrative settings such as user interface properties and email notifications.

Dublin

• Administrators can now add homepages to an application.