Creator Studio is here! In order to help you and your organization understand what Creator Studio is and how it can integration into your application development landscape, we've created the following FAQ
Table of Contents
- In Creator Studio, when does my form go live?
- Can it use AI to import a PDF and turn it into the form?
- How do I load a list of items from a spreadsheet into a choice drop down?
- What notifications will be generated as part of the default Creator Studio workflow?
- What about approvals with Creator Studio?
- What level of auditing is available for my Creator Studio app ?
- How is Creator Studio different from Catalog Builder?
- How is this different from Service Creator?
- I've used (CB/SC) for years so I'm not sure why I need a third product to make catalog items.
- Where should Creator Studio development take place?
- Can a developer deploy their own Creator Studio App?
- Can I put the form in multiple catalogs?
- Will Creator Studio let me make a custom table for my data that the users submit?
- Can I create and add my own form elements and create question sets?
- Can I assign a topic to a request form?
- What gets created and when in the Creator Studio build process?
- Does this create a new application scope?
- Does Creator Studio automatically use source control?
- Does Creator Studio make tables?
- Can I restrict developer access to limit them from making custom tables?
- I don't want Creator Studio developers to write code, so how do I lock down the script box?
- When I add questions to a form, am I creating new fields on the table, and ultimately on the Task ta...
- Is Creator Studio available on PDIs?
- Creator Studio is a curated experience, what level of curation can I do as an admin to tailor the ex...
Beginner users
In Creator Studio, when does my form go live?
- Once the app has been deployed via AEMC, it will display in the catalog the developer selected.
Users can access the form via the portal associated with the catalog category.
Can it use AI to import a PDF and turn it into the form?
- No – this is not currently a capability of Creator Studio. We will be evaluating ways to integrate GenAI accelerators in our future releases.
How do I load a list of items from a spreadsheet into a choice drop down?
- Creator Studio addresses simplified use cases. Using a spreadsheet import to populate data would be a scenario where you would want to use other development tooling.
While we don't support any data import directly, customers do have options for displaying a list of custom choices. Developers can use choice lists or reference fields to contain their choice data.
What notifications will be generated as part of the default Creator Studio workflow?
- Creator Studio currently sends emails on request creation, assignment, and closure. Ad-hoc email activities through Playbooks are on the roadmap for FY24.
What about approvals with Creator Studio?
- Creator Studio natively uses Playbooks to build out your approval workflows.
What level of auditing is available for my Creator Studio app ?
- The unified request app workspace is where all fulfillers view submitted requests. Each app dashboard will display filtered lists of closed and open requests. Users can create their own filtered list to match their criteria.
- Admins can monitor users, deployments, app usage, and the health of the app via AEMC
-
Experienced users
How is Creator Studio different from Catalog Builder?
- The difference is the focus. The Catalog Builder’s focus is on creating and managing catalog items.
In contrast, Creator Studio focuses on creating a complete application experience that elevates catalog item Record Producers from a standalone catalog item to an intake point for a complete end-to-end request/fulfill workflow.
Comparison between Creator Studio and Catalog Builder
|
Creator Studio |
Catalog Builder |
Capabilities |
|
Yes |
No |
Create Scoped tables |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Create Record Producers |
|
Yes |
No |
Create user roles |
|
Yes |
No |
Auto-map RP to table |
|
Yes |
No |
Create single-step automations |
|
Yes |
No |
Pre-built fulfiller experience |
|
Yes |
No |
Create fulfiller roles |
How is this different from Service Creator?
- Service Creator is our legacy implementation of building services in a no-code environment that uses Workflow for automation and platform Lists and Forms for fulfillment.
- Creator Studio is our more modern service creation built on the Next Experience, using Playbooks for automation, and Workspace for fulfillment.
- Service Creator is a legacy tool that will experience sunsetting and eventual deprecation in the longer term (beyond Yokohama release)
I've used (CB/SC) for years so I'm not sure why I need a third product to make catalog items.
- Creator Studio elevates you beyond catalog items to the level of applications with native automation, workspace fulfillment, and its own scope. Catalog Items are a component of the app, not the whole app.
- Current users of Service Creator will find Creator Studio more intuitive and easier to use, with less overhead on the actual creation of the service.
Where should Creator Studio development take place?
- Creator Studio development occurs in a development environment, so all users of Creator Studio will need access to that environment to create their applications.
Can a developer deploy their own Creator Studio App?
- All deployments must go through the admin approval process before being promoted from dev to higher environments.
Can I put the form in multiple catalogs?
- Yes, one of the first steps in creating an app with Creator Studio, is to select the catalog your application will display within. Creator Studio apps can be surfaced within multiple catalogs, and catalog categories.
Will Creator Studio let me make a custom table for my data that the users submit?
- Currently, Creator Studio automatically creates a new table (extended from a task-extended table) for each new app.
Can I create and add my own form elements and create question sets?
- Not currently, Creator Studio builds on the foundation of Catalog Builder , only existing OOTB question types are supported in Creator Studio.
- Custom form elements and custom question set support is on the roadmap in the near future.
Supported field types
|
Content type |
Description |
|
Short answer (Single-line text) |
Single-line question. |
|
Multi-line text |
Longer option that provides space for a question multiple lines in length. |
|
Dropdown |
Question with a list of pre-defined answers that users select from a dropdown menu. Users can select only one answer. |
|
Radio button |
Question with list of pre-defined answers that users select from radio buttons. Users can select only one answer. |
|
Check box |
True or false question that users answer by selecting the relevant check box. Note: If you put two checkbox questions side-by-side on a form, they make a section. You can't add other types of questions to that section. |
|
Yes/No |
Question where users select Yes or No as their answer. |
|
Date |
Question where the answer is a date that users must select from a calendar. |
|
Date and time |
Question where the answer is a date and time that users must specify. |
|
Record choices |
Question where the answers are retrieved from an additional specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.
|
|
Field choices |
Question where the answers are retrieved from a field on the specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.
|
|
Multi-select |
Question where users can select multiple answers that are retrieved from the specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met. |
Can I assign a topic to a request form?
- No, but this is planned in the roadmap, in the near future.
Administrators and Developers
What gets created and when in the Creator Studio build process?
|
Install Creator Studio |
Create an App |
Create a Form |
Create an Automation |
|
|
|
|
Does this create a new application scope?
- Yes, Creator Studio creates a new scope for each new applications - this is the recommended way for building contained applications on the Now Platform.
- Best practice for new applications is that all new changes to an instance should to go into an application scope.
Does Creator Studio automatically use source control?
- Although not currently supported, we are planning to add source control to the roadmap. e.g., if an app is in Source Control, Creator Studio will perform the necessary steps to update the source.
- Since Creator Studio creates scoped apps, Creator Studio apps can currently be linked to source control by opening them in Studio IDE or AES and using the source control functions from there.
Does Creator Studio make tables?
- Yes, each net new app creates a new table that multiple forms within the app can feed into
- Since Creator Studio is only part of the App Engine Enterprise SKU, Customers can use as many tables as they want, without worrying about the license costs.
- For customers who want to control custom table creation - each app generates a new table. Therefore, to reduce the number of new custom tables, users should create fewer apps and concentrate on creating more forms within a few apps.
Can I restrict developer access to limit them from making custom tables?
- Yes, using delegated developer permissions.
- Admins can also set up developers to only request apps, not create them on their own.
I don't want Creator Studio developers to write code, so how do I lock down the script box?
- Creator Studio is a no-code tool, scripting components will not surface while in the Creator Studio interface.
When I add questions to a form, am I creating new fields on the table, and ultimately on the Task table?
- No, questions are stored as catalog variables on the records in the table, they do not add new columns to the table.
Is Creator Studio available on my PDI?
- Although Creator Studio is not currently included as a baseline configuration on PDIs, if your instance is configured to the most recent patch (Patch 3 Hotfix 1), Creator Studio may be installed on your PDI through the application manager - https://yourinstance.service-now.com/now/app-manager/home/app/id/81ac5fe1c7442110408bc8d6f2c260d1/v/...
Creator Studio is a curated experience, what level of curation can I do as an admin to tailor the experience for my users?
- Admins can build Catalog Templates to customize the form creation process for their users.
- Automations in Creator Studio allow a curated set of activities, including a Placeholder activity to identify an area for advanced customization. Customers who want to customize their automations more than what CS allows can edit them in Workflow Studio using all the Playbook features. If a developer adds a capability that Creator Studio doesn’t support, it's not a problem. Creator Studio will identify it and let them know they should use Workflow Studio for further modifications.
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