Help context types and prioritization
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- UpdatedJan 30, 2025
- 3 minutes to read
- Yokohama
- Navigation and UI
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
- 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.
Help context prioritization
- A customer-created help context is used instead of a default help context provided in the instance for the same table.
- 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.
- 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.
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Related Content
- Create a new help context
You can create new help contexts to supplement or replace the default help contexts. For example, if your organization has heavily customized a form, you might create a new help context for that form. The customized help context could link to more relevant information, such as a company knowledge base article.