Activate and Set Up Customer Community in ServiceNow – Step-by-Step Guide

[HasanRaja]

Introduction

Customer Communities in ServiceNow allow customers to collaborate, ask questions, and share knowledge through forums. This article explains how to activate Customer Communities and set up forums with users, permissions, access types, and content types in a structured manner.

Prerequisite

• Admin access in ServiceNow

• Customer Service Management (CSM) enabled

Important Note:
To activate Communities, activate the Customer Communities plugin (com.sn_customer_communities)

Step 1: Create a Forum User

Forum users are used to define memberships and represent who can access forums.

1. Navigate to Customer Communities → Administration → Forum Users

2. Click New

3. Enter:

   • Name

   • Description (optional)

4. Click Submit

Forum users will later be mapped to forums using permissions.

Step 2: Create a Permission

Permissions define what actions a forum user can perform.

1. Navigate to Customer Communities → Administration → Permissions

2. Click New

3. Provide:

   • Permission Name

   • Description

4. Save the record

This permission will control access behavior in forums.

Step 3: Define Access Types and Content Types for the Permission

This step determines how users can interact with forums and content.

1. Open the created Permission record

2. In the Access Types related list:

   • Add required access (Read, Create, Update, Delete, etc.)

3. In the Content Types related list:

   • Add content types such as Questions, Discussions, Articles

4. Save the changes

This configuration controls what users can do and what content they can access.

Step 4: Create a Forum

Forums are the main areas where users post and interact.

1. Navigate to Customer Communities → Administration → Forums

2. Click New

3. Enter:

   • Forum Name

   • Description

4. Configure forum settings as required

5. (Optional) Enable Allow registered users to request access

6. Click Submit

The forum is now created but not yet accessible to users.

Step 5: Configure Content Types for the Forum

This step defines which types of content are allowed in the forum.

1. Open the created Forum record

2. Scroll to the Content Types related list

3. Click New

4. Select:

   • Content Type (Question, Discussion, Knowledge, etc.)

   • Workflow (if moderation is required)

5. Save the record

Only the configured content types can be posted in the forum

Step 6: Create Forum Permission

Forum Permission connects Forum User + Permission + Forum.

1. Navigate to Customer Communities → Administration → Forum Permissions

2. Click New

3. Select:

   • Forum

   • Forum User

   • Permission

4. Click Submit

This step grants users access to the forum with defined permissions.