Configuring Widgets with Instances

In Service Portal, widgets are modular, configurable blocks of functionality and UI that are designed to be reusable.

Whenever you embed a widget in a page, you are automatically creating an sp_instance record which contains three important things.

  1. Reference to a column (where a widget is located)
  2. Reference to a widget
  3. Configuration for a widget in the form of pre-defined form fields and an Additional Options field in JSON format

There are a number of ways that you can configure a widget, so we'll go through an example to get started with the basics.

For information on working with instance options, read Widget Options after you're done with this section.

Configuring a Simple List Widget

Let's try configuring a Simple List widget to show a list of problems from the problem table, and we will make each list entry link to a Form page. Start by embedding the Simple List widget in the index page, then navigate to that page URL either through a portal or by navigating to /$sp.do?id=index

Now, let's start configuring the widget. Hold the CTRL button and right-click the widget from the page. If you are logged in as a SP Admin, you should see a context menu appear with a list of links, one of which should say Instance Options. Click that link, and you will see a modal appear on the screen containing all of the configuration options that the Simple List widget exposes to you.

Now, from this modal, we will fill in the following fields:

  • Table - Problem
  • Display field - Short description
  • Link to this page - form
  • Secondary fields - number, sys_updated_on

Hit Save, and the page will refresh with your newly-configured widget. Click on one of the List entries, and notice that you will be taken to a Form page for that record.

The 'Link to this page' field is missing from my instance - what do I do? (Issue Fixed in Helsinki Patch 1)

If you click on a record from the list and it does not open, type sp_instance.list in the left navigator, then find the instance of your Simple List widget. After you open the Widget Instance form, right click the header and select Configure > Form Layout from the context menu. Now find the 'Link to this page' field and add it to the Instance of Simple List view of the form. Click 'Save'. Go back to the Widget Instance form and select the page, that your Simple List needs to open records, by finding the page in the 'Link to this page' reference field.

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