How to provide great answers in the Community

ServiceNow

The ServiceNow Community thrives on the knowledge and experience you share. When you answer a question, you're not just solving a problem – you're teaching others and strengthening the Community.

Here's how to make your answers as helpful as possible.

Before You Answer

Before you reply, ask yourself:

Am I answering the question being asked?
Am I moving the conversation forward toward a solution?
Can I offer personal experience or proven solutions?

If you're not sure you have the right answer, ask clarifying questions. Good follow-up questions are essential for great answers.

Craft Clear, Useful Answers

Put your solution up front. If someone's looking for working code or a direct answer, give them that first. Then add context, explanations, and the "why" behind your approach.

Be specific. Share the steps you took, the settings you changed, or the code that solved the problem – and walk through your process so others can replicate or adapt it.
Format for readability. Use code blocks for code, bullet points or numbers for steps, and images when they clarify your solution.
Call out dependencies and options. If your solution depends on a specific release version, plugin, role, or configuration, say so. If there's more than one approach, explain the pros and cons of each.
Remove sensitive information. Blur, crop, or block out sensitive or identifying information such as company data, employee names, phone numbers, email addresses, and API keys before posting screenshots.
Match the technical level. Don't oversimplify for experienced users or overwhelm beginners with jargon. Read the question carefully and respond accordingly.
Link to resources. If you consulted documentation, a video, or another Community post, make sure to include the link(s).
Know when to escalate. If the issue needs support or goes beyond what the Community can address, call it out.

Community Etiquette

Stay constructive and encouraging. People are looking for answers, not corrections. Respect differences in knowledge, experience, and access to products.
Don't post low-effort, AI-generated answers. If you use AI to help draft or edit, proofread carefully and add authentic details from your own experience. The Community depends on thoughtful, real contributions.
Follow up if needed. If you're not sure your solution worked, ask. If new information comes up, update your answer.
Don't pressure members to mark your answer as accepted or helpful. Only the question author can mark answers as accepted. Your job is to provide a solution, not manage how it's received.

Great Answers From the Community

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a good example is worth... a thousand how-to articles? Here are a few examples of excellent forum answers from Community members to illustrate the concepts outlined above:

Brad Bowman

Would love to see a companion article: How to ask the right questions - with apparently necessary tips for questions and follow-up replies like:

include specific details - which form or table are you referring to, native UI, workspace, Portal/ESC...
if something isn't working, provide details on the observed action or inaction vs the expected result, including any error messages.
don't post a story/work item that you haven't even attempted, expecting someone else to do your job for you.
Actually follow-up when you receive a reply, through to closing the thread when applicable to honor those investing their time to help you.
A picture is worth a thousand words: include screenshots - with sample data instead of heavily redacting to the point of rendering the view illegible.

Steph Morillo

@Brad Bowman this is a great idea. I'll bring it back to the team. Thank you!

Ankur Bawiskar

@ServiceNow

Thanks for sharing this informative article.

And thanks for marking my article Why gs.getProperty() Doesn't Work in Reporting Filter Conditions — And How to Fix It! as an example of great answers !

GlideFather

@Brad Bowman @ServiceNow @Steph Morillo these are all good points

One more idea from my end - how about making the Body field mandatory (whether text or screenshot)?

As of now, only the Subject is required and I cannot imagine a scenario where empty description adds any value, there are many posts created with that field left blank..

Screenshot 2026-03-19 at 12.34.23.png

EDIT: added a screenshot

martinvirag

Super, great to see this well constructed guideline, thank you!

@ServiceNow maybe one reflection to the point "Stay constructive and encouraging."
I strongly believe that everyone benefits if not only the current solution is answered, but if there is a more optimal, better approach then it is highlighted. That helps all of us becoming a better developers. You could be "correcting" someone with a very constructive and helpful intent:)

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't mind being corrected if my code becomes better readable, more maintainable or if I write a custom solution and ask for help, but someone points out it can be resolved with a simple configuration and is available out of the box 🙂

Steph Morillo

@GlideFather good point, I'll bring this up to the PM.

Ravi Gaurav

Hi, thanks for putting this together. This is a really helpful reminder of what makes the ServiceNow Community valuable.

One suggestion that could make this even stronger is encouraging contributors to share real implementation examples from projects. Many times the most valuable answers are not just the steps, but the context behind them. For example: why a certain approach was chosen, what alternatives were considered, and what limitations were discovered during implementation.

GlideFather

What I also see every day is that users are sharing screenshots with sensitive data (company logos, email addresses, employee names, phone numbers), it might be a good idea to suggest anonymisation or create dummy data before sharing publicly.

Notifying about it after they post it can draw more attention to the exposed data than not saying anything.. Well known as Barbara Streissand effect 😄

What do you think @Steph Morillo it could be a part of the Community etiquette as well, to motivate people not to share more than they should...

anubhavkapoor76

A golden tip that I got from one of the architects years ago while posting the answers:

a) Problem statement as understood

b) Steps to resolution (may be probable fix) with gotcha's/exceptions

c) Any follow-up questions

Steph Morillo

@GlideFather agree 100% about not posting sensitive information. I've added that in as a bullet in the post. Great callout; thanks!