Google Analytics is a free web analytics service offered by Google that is used to track website activity and usage metrics. Google Analytics provides insights and data that can be used to create a better user experience for your employees coming to the Service Portal. There are many web analytics tools out there, including the new User Experience Analytics module from ServiceNow, but in this post, I will focus on Google Analytics. Features include: Traffic reporting Checks behavior flow Track conversion rates Reports website speed Traces sources of traffic There is an OOB "Site Analytics" widget included in Service Portal, however, I do not believe this widget is working in current releases of ServiceNow. Because of this, I've created my own version of the Site Analytics widget and I am providing it here free of charge. Click above to download the update set. Once you've committed the update set, you'll need to embed the widget in your header or footer. [crayon-6627fd383af10511651287/] Remember to replace the tracking id with yours. Chrome Plugins When setting up Google Analytics in Service Portal, it's also very helpful to install some additional Chrome Plugins. The two plugins I recommend are: Page Analytics Official plugin by Google. Provides overlays on the portal with stats of views and clicks Google Analytics Debugger Provides debugging information in the console to see what information is being sent SEO Information One of the initial challenges when setting up Google Analytics with Service Portal is that many pages, such as the sc_cat_item page, do not use unique page titles or ways of distinguishing one catalog item from another. This can be solved by adding SEO information to the Service Portal pages. This primarily consists of adding dynamic meta tags and titles to the page record. This will make it easier for you to decipher which catalog items or knowledge articles are being viewed the most in Google Analytics. Above you can see a dynamic "description" meta tag is mapped to the "name" of the catalog item, based on the sys_id in the URL. Notes: This is using the original "Universal Analytics", not the latest "Google Analytics 4", which we may cover in an upcoming post. Employee Service Center has its own integration with Google Analytics. Further Reading Hopefully, this has been helpful. If you would like to dive a little bit deeper, you can check out the following resources: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/ https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-servicenow-platform/page/build/service-portal/concept/seo-sp.html https://pishchulin.medium.com/collecting-user-statistics-in-servicenow-360d9c324304
Top 5 Features in the Quebec Release
The highly anticipated Quebec release of ServiceNow is finally available for personal developer instances! I've been playing with it for a couple of weeks and there are a ton of new features and enhancements in this release. Watch the video to find out what my Top 5 are. Let me know in the comments below if you agree or if you feel there is a big feature that should have made the list! The official release notes can be found here: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/family-release-notes.html
Orbit – A Content Management System for ServiceNow
Own Your Content on the ServiceNow Platform Hey everyone, I’m so excited to show you a sneak peek of our latest project! A state-of-the-art content management system built on the ServiceNow platform. You can easily create content such as news, events, articles, as well as new content types. Orbit also offers a variety of features, including content preview, targeted audiences, and governance. Please visit NewRocket.com for more details on how to extend your ServiceNow experience with Orbit. Orbit Features Delegated Content Administration Remove bottlenecks while improving information delivery by delegating content authoring and maintenance to stakeholders in the business. Streamlined Authoring Experience Let your authors focus on what is needed and relevant instead of becoming confused by deep navigation and irrelevant options. Custom Content Types Structure your content the way you need it with support for everything from simple links to full, responsive page layouts. Content REST API Gain flexibility in the presentation layer by accessing content through an API that even allows access to content from outside of ServiceNow. Brandable Configurable Interface Provide a seamless user experience by showcasing your company's branding throughout the system. Content Preview Easily preview your content before publishing. Conditional Content Visibility Empower your authors to get the right content to the right people at the right time through content audience selection. Content Governance Controls Prevent your intranet from becoming a black hole of useless, unvetted information through the use of approval workflows and validity dates. Enhanced HTML Editor Improve styling and maintainability with an enhanced editor that gives you the power to create rich, engaging content while ensuring consistent formatting across documents. Reusable Blocks & Snippets Create at rocket speed using reusable, company-specific content blocks and snippets like headers and expandable sections.
Featured Portal: Health Management Organization
OVERVIEW See how we were able to replace a legacy SharePoint based intranet with a modern digital workplace experience, providing non-technical team members with the ability to manage and create content directly from the portal. PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Content Management WorkflowEdit, approve and publish content throughout the portal. Automated Content OrganizationCreated new content sources as the organization grows. Intuitive Information ArchitectureHelp users find information and complete tasks. Highlighted ContentFeature relevant information for different departments. Learn more about the details of this project by reviewing the full case study featured on the NewRocket website:
How to Use GraphQL in ServiceNow & Service Portal
Overview GraphQL is an open-source data query and manipulation language for APIs. GraphQL offers many benefits over REST API's, including: Fetching data across multiple sources from a single API call Returns only the data that is requested Supports validation and type checking Autogenerating API documentation In this video, I'll show you how to construct a sample GraphQL query to fetch data in ServiceNow and then how we can use GraphQL inside of a ServicePortal widget. GraphiQL To start, I would recommend you download GraphiQL, a GUI for editing and testing GraphQL queries and mutations. You can download it here: https://www.electronjs.org/apps/graphiql The GraphQL Endpoint is: https://instance-name.service-now.com/api/now/graphql Documentation In order to use the documentation and auto-completion, you'll need to enable the glide.graphql.introspection_enabled system property. Service Portal Widget You can download the widget update set here: It's compressed as a ZIP file, so remember to uncompress before uploading. Example GraphQL Query [crayon-6627fd383bdc0091877268/] Further Reading https://graphql.org/ https://www.howtographql.com/ https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/paris-application-development/page/integrate/graphql/concept/scripted-graph-ql.html If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to comment below.
Featured Portal: Thermo Fisher HR
OVERVIEW We created an interactive, content-driven portal for Thermo Fisher’s HR Department. See how we helped this life sciences company improve the employee experience and drive engagement through a user-centered portal design, complete with employee onboarding, targeted content, and campaigns. PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Targeted ContentTarget relevant information based on employees’ specific situations Easy on AdminsMake campaigns easier to stylize and create by dynamically resizing campaigns and editing content in real-time Topic-CenteredOrganize pages around topics to bring together catalog content, knowledge articles, related links, and targeted content Translation AssistantUse our Translation Assistant solution to localize the portal and its content for employees around the world Learn more about the details of this project by reviewing the full case study featured on the NewRocket website:
Top 5 Features in the Paris Release
This year’s Paris release is full of great new functionality and updates to the ServiceNow platform. Needless to say, there were a ton of features to cover, so instead of compiling an enormous list, I’ve put together this video of my personal top 5 features. I bet at least a couple of these will surprise you! Check out the video. Let me know in the comments below if you agree or if you feel there is a big feature that should have made the list. The official release notes can be found here: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/paris-release-notes/page/release-notes/family-release-notes.html
Featured Portal: Henry Jackson Foundation
OVERVIEW We created a digital experience that puts content management and employee communication in focus. See how this global nonprofit organization was able to effectively manage content, employee communications, and engagement using the NewRocket Orbit CMS on top of the ServiceNow platform. PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Content OwnershipHelped leaders and team members maintain content without bottlenecks Integration with CommunityIntegrated ServiceNow’s Community plugin for event registration, blog content, forums, and key points of interest System of EngagementEmbedded gamification to keep employees engaged in the platform Multi-Department IntranetMaintained consistency across departments while allowing each department to own its experience Learn more about the details of this project by reviewing the full case study featured on the NewRocket website:
Reach App by NewRocket — Hackathon 2020
This year our NewRocket team had the opportunity to build an application for ServiceNow's Hackathon during Knowledge 2020. They had roughly 48 hours to build a functional app that fell within one of five specified categories. Choosing the Social Good category, our team developed a dynamic, personalized hub with relevant information and resources. Introducing Reach! People from all backgrounds are feeling overwhelmed trying to find reliable information and local resources under stressful conditions. With a new set of challenges, comes an opportunity for innovative solutions. Using ServiceNow to Help Others in Need The Reach application uses core platform capabilities, the CSM application, and personalization algorithms to make a difference locally, by creating a dynamic, personalized hub for information and resources. The Reach suggestion algorithm uses user preferences to feed content into the dynamic layout algorithm which embeds widgets into the proper location on the page - resulting in an attractive, personalized experience. This personalization complements and extends the concepts of campaigns and user criteria. The layouts themselves are easily configurable through modifications in the theme style sheet. This overcomes the static layout limitations of the current Service Portal framework. Community organizers can control content and moderate content contributed by the community. Because of the flexibility of the suggestion and layout algorithms, nearly any type of content can be easily surfaced throughout the site. To make the system even more adaptive, future versions could use ServiceNow’s machine learning to drive suggestions. Reach can be customized and used by cities of any size - whether they’re promoting summer events or resources for natural disasters. The personalized home pages can revolutionize the corporate intranet. Reach: The app that helps people reach information and one another, just when they need it most.
Founder of 