ServiceNow + Hacktoberfest 2024

[Earl Duque]

It's that time of year! Hacktoberfest is back!

CALLING ALL SERVICENOW DEVELOPERS COMMUNITY

It's the 8th year that the ServiceNow community has participated in DigitalOcean's Hacktoberfest. That's 8 years of open-sourced, collaborative ServiceNow-specific projects!

"All community, not just developers." This year, one of our new projects (the Prompt Library) is asking for contributions from all walks of ServiceNow life, regardless of if you're a developer, admin, analyst, end-user, etc.

Every year we set records! Last year in 2023, we had 727 Pull Requests (a 40% increase from 2022) by 328 Participants (a 63% increase from 2022). Can we break those records again?

Hacktoberfest is an annual, month-long celebration of open-source software run by DigitalOcean in partnership with GitHub and other sponsors, typically held in October, where participants contribute to open-source projects to earn rewards. The event encourages participation in the open-source community, all the while earning prizes for participation.

Need some motivation? Watch this 2 minute video from ServiceNow MVP, Laszlo Balla:

During the entire month of October (as in, October 1 to October 31), you can choose from any number of our projects below to "complete" hacktoberfest and earn your rewards.

Watch this short three-minute video to see one of the ways to participate from A to Z:

Git 101

But what do all those terms means??? I'm here to learn too!

Imagine you're part of a team of writers creating a big adventure storybook together. To make sure everyone can add their own chapters without mixing things up or overwriting each other's work, you follow a special process.

Fork (Making Your Own Copy of the Storybook):

First, you make your own photocopy of the main storybook so you can write your chapters without changing the original. This is like forking a repository in Git—creating your own copy of the project to work on independently.

Branch (Starting a New Chapter):

You decide to write a new chapter about a dragon adventure. To keep it organized, you start a new notebook just for this chapter. This is like creating a feature branch—a separate path where you can develop new ideas without affecting the main story.

Commit (Saving Your Drafts):

As you write, you finish a few pages and think, "This is good so far!" So, you save that version by putting a bookmark in it. This is like making a commit—you're saving snapshots of your work at various stages so you can go back if needed.

Pull Request (Sharing Your Chapter with the Team):

Once your chapter is complete, you go to the team and say, "Hey, I've written this dragon adventure chapter. Can we add it to the main storybook?" This is creating a pull request—you're requesting that your changes be reviewed and merged into the main project.

Push (Adding Your Chapter to the Main Storybook):

The team reads your chapter and loves it! They decide to include it in the main storybook. So, they carefully copy your chapter into the original book. This is like pushing your changes into the main repository—the final step where your work becomes part of the shared project.

From DigitalOcean:

• Evolving Digital Badge. A customizable digital badge from Holopin that gains new characteristics with each of your pull/merge requests. You'll be able to display your achievements on your GitHub or GitLab profile
  • Here's Earl's
    

From ServiceNow Community

• Community Badge. A Community Badge for anyone who "completes" Hacktoberfest (4 accepted Pull Requests to eligible projects)
• ServiceNow Merch. Top contributors, high quality contributors, early contributors, and a random selection of contributors will be given codes to the ServiceNow store to redeem ServiceNow merch (while supplies last)
• Bragging rights! The main ServiceNow Hacktoberfest repo (https://github.com/ServiceNowDevProgram/Hacktoberfest) has a leaderboard to track all of our top contributors for this year and all-time.

Prize offerings and conditions to qualify are subject to change.

This event is now closed and new submissions are not being reviewed.

To be eligible for the ServiceNow Community badge and the ServiceNow Merch codes:

When you "complete" Hacktoberfest (4 accepted Pull Requests to approved projects), submit a short (300-words or fewer) description, a short video, or an infographic that explains what your pull requests contributed and your experience on this open-source journey. Be sure to share it both in the comments of this blog and on social media using the hashtag #ServiceNowHacktoberfest

For example:

You will be contacted regarding your prizes after the end of October.

Every year our goal is to make it easy for you to participate, so the more projects the better! We have also worked on enhancing some repos so that it’s easier and faster to contribute without having to fully pull down entire applications into your Personal Developer Instance.

All project links can be found in our main Hacktoberfest repository here: https://github.com/ServiceNowDevProgram/Hacktoberfest

Not sure where to start? Here are some recommendations:

• Get a Leaderboard point just for forking repos! Go to the main repository and hit fork and you'll be added to this year's leaderboard automatically. In fact, you get a point for every repo you fork! 👀
  
• ServiceNow Gen AI Prompt Library - New this year, you can contribute to the prompt library without ever leaving GitHub (no need to install the app on an instance)
• Code-snippets - Our most popular project every year, you can contribute to this repo without ever leaving GitHub (no app to install)
• Plants - Adding a record to a table is enough to contribute to this project
• Slacker Bot - Show off your JavaScript skills and add a parser to the live bot without ever leaving GitHub (no need to install the app on an instance)

 

YOUR HACKTOBERFEST 2024 CREW

A team of volunteers are ready this year to ensure that your Hacktoberfest experience is better than ever! ServiceNow’s participation in Hacktoberfest is only possible because volunteers put in the massive hours to make sure Pull Requests are being reviewed and everything is running smoothly.

Need help with anything ServiceNow+Hacktoberfest?

Every reviewer/maintainer hangs out on the SNDevs workspace chat. You can join via this link (https://invite.sndevs.com/) and then find us on the #hacktoberfest channel.

 

MORE TO COME

This blog post (https://devlink.sn/hacktoberfest) is the home for all things ServiceNow Hacktoberfest! This page will be updated as more information becomes available.

What are you waiting for? Jump right into https://github.com/ServiceNowDevProgram/Hacktoberfest to get started!

[Mexiprince]

Howdy All,

I completed the #ServiceNowHacktoberfest by having 4 contributions accepted.

I added an Experience record producer(Record plants)  to the Plant application.

I added a plant(African LilyOf The Nile), image and application files.

I added a Code-snippet to fix numbering issues.

I added plant(Cape primrose), image and application files.

It was an awesome experience collaborating and contributing to this open source project.

Humbling to be amongst the 25% contributors.

#Hactoberfest. 

Thank you to @Servicenow @servicenowcommunity @DigitalOcean

#hacktoberfest @Hacktoberfest ##ServiceNowHacktoberfest

#MVP #RisingStar #ServiceNowCommunity #Creators #Builders #Now #SN #ServiceNow #SNDevs #SNAdmins #Engineers #Developerslife #Software

[Viraj Hudlikar]

I am thrilled to share that I have successfully completed the #ServiceNowHacktoberFest with four contributions accepted!

Link to my post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7254582296249331713--tNL?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_...

[Alka_Chaudhary]

Hello @Earl Duque ,

🌟 #ServiceNowHacktoberfest 2024 Completed! 🎉

I’m excited to share that I’ve successfully completed my first-ever ServiceNow Hacktoberfest and am proud to be among the top 10% of contributors! It’s been an incredible journey filled with both coding and plant care contributions. Here’s a glimpse into my 7 pull requests:

🚀 Code Contributions:

#1325 - Pagination widget with next and previous button:
Developed a custom pagination widget using AngularJS for navigating any table records in ServiceNow. This widget enhances usability by providing easy navigation through large datasets with Next/Previous buttons.
Link : https://lnkd.in/gp_angJp

#1338 - CMDB Dynamic Status Update Function:
Built a dynamic function to update and clean CMDB records by managing the operational status of CIs based on their discovery dates, keeping the CMDB aligned with organizational policies.
Link: https://lnkd.in/gUdX8XsY

#1330 - REST Integration to Send Attachment Payload:
Created an integration script that sends both attachments from ServiceNow to external systems using the RESTMessageV2 API. This solution improves efficiency by handling attachments.
Link: https://lnkd.in/gMCq8-zc

#1326 - UI Page Auto-Populate Assigned To Field:
Implemented a feature to auto-populate the "Assigned To" field based on the selected "Assignment Group" on a UI page. This dynamic solution uses GlideAjax and setAttribute, ensuring data accuracy.
Link: https://lnkd.in/gz6s-fKj

🌿 Plant Contributions:

#294 - Jade Plant:
I added care instructions for the Jade Plant, gifted to my brother for his birthday as it’s considered a lucky plant.

#321 - Phalaenopsis Orchid:
During a trip to Ooty, Tamil Nadu, I discovered this stunning Phalaenopsis Orchid and learned about its care needs.

#331 - Balsam Plant:
I also learned about the vibrant Balsam Plant at the Botanical Garden in Ooty.

Taking part in Hacktoberfest has been an incredible experience, and I’m thankful for the chance to contribute to the ServiceNow community! I also gained valuable insights into contributing to open-source projects.

LinkedIn Post Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alka-chaudhary-129841172_hacktoberfest-2024-activity-7254650300450381...

Thanks & Regards,

Alka Chaudhary

[JahnaviThondepu]

Hey ServiceNow Community,
I just completed the hashtag#ServiceNowHacktoberfest by having 4 contributions accepted!
Participating in ServiceNow Hacktoberfest GitHub open-source for the first time has been incredibly rewarding and For me, it was not only a chance to give back but also an opportunity to push my skills to the next level.
Each of the four pull requests i submitted presented unique challenges that helped me grow as a developer.
1️⃣For my first contribution, I added a code-snippet to the ServiceNowDevProgram / code-snippets repository that adds useful edge case to BR's.
2️⃣For my second contribution, I added a code-snippet to the ServiceNowDevProgram / code-snippets repository that adds useful edge case to ScriptInludes.
3️⃣For my third contribution, I added a new plant record to the ServiceNowDevProgram / Plants repository which helped me with GitHub ServiceNow integration.
4️⃣For my fourth contribution, I added GlideUtils syntax macros to the ServiceNowDevProgram / syntax_macros repository.

Hacktoberfest gave me hands-on exposure to collaborative coding. Reviewing other contributor's code, receiving feedback from experienced developers and iterating on my work enhanced my problem solving abilities. I now have a deeper appreciation for the collaborative nature of software development and am eager to continue contributing the open-source -projects beyond Hacktoberfest. I'm incredibly grateful to the ServiceNow open-source community for providing such a supportive environment for developers like me to contribute, grow and make an impact. This experience has motivated me. For those who haven't yet trued contributing to open-source, I highly encourage you to step out and give it a shot.
Do check out official post - https://lnkd.in/gtrrvR8m

Check out my linkedin post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jahnavi-thondepu-998943220_servicenowhacktoberfest-servicenow-service...

@Earl Duque 

#ServiceNow #ServiceNowCommunity #ServiceNowHacktoberfest #ServiceNowHacktoberfest2024 #ServiceNowDevelopers #ServiceNowOpenSource

[Brad Warman]

During my second year of participation in ServiceNow's Hacktoberfest, I focused on expanding the functionality of the "Plants" application by leveraging RESTful APIs and automated workflows. Key contributions included:

• Automated Watering System: Developed a scheduled job that retrieves daily precipitation data from a public weather API based on each plant's geolocation. This data triggers automated maintenance tasks for plants requiring manual watering if there was not enough rainfall.
• Plant Disease Database: Implemented a new table to store plant disease information. This table was populated via a custom script that integrates with an external plant disease API.
• Scheduled Fertilization: Introduced a new field to track plant fertilization schedules and created a scheduled flow to generate monthly maintenance tasks based on individual plant requirements.

In addition, I utilized my growing UI Builder skills to design a Simpsons-themed homepage for the "Conference Notes" app.

I also contributed to the generative AI prompt library but unfortunately that program was excluded from Hacktoberfest after my submissions.  

LinkedIn Post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brad-warman-84150197_servicenow-hacktoberfest-servicenowhacktoberfest...

[Pradeep Thipani]

Hello @Earl Duque ,

🎉 #ServiceNowHacktoberfest 2024 Completed! 🎉

Excited to share that I’ve successfully unlocked the 4th mystery badge, marking the completion of ServiceNow Hacktoberfest 2024! 🏅

Here’s a quick recap of what I worked on:

1. Plants#212: Added new plant types, optimized workspace setup, and created a widget for plant location tracking.

2. SlackerBot#365: Developed a feature that sends daily motivational quotes via API call—keeping users inspired every day!

3.code snippets#1280: Updated end-user notifications for request closures, along with tracking in the Survey Table for enhanced insights.

4. syntax_macros#148: Created a scheduled job macro to automatically deactivate users who haven’t logged in for 90 days, helping streamline system management.

It’s been a rewarding experience contributing to these projects and collaborating with the awesome ServiceNow Community. Here’s to more innovation ahead! 🚀

#Hacktoberfest #ServiceNow #OpenSource #TechCommunity #Innovation #FirstHacktoberfest #ServiceNowHacktoberfest

Social Media Linkedin Post:  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thippani-pradeep-8a2516232_servicenowhacktoberfest-hacktoberfest-serv...

[ShuklaAnkit]

#ServiceNowHacktoberfest I'm excited to announce that I've successfully completed #ServiceNowHacktoberfest 2024 with a whopping 7 pull/merge requests accepted! This was my first time participating, and I'm incredibly proud to be currently ranked in the top 5% of the leaderboard!
Here's a breakdown of my contributions:

Enhanced the ServiceNowDevProgram/SlackerBot repository:

1. LibreTranslator Parser: Translate text instantly using free APIs! Supports Spanish, French, German, and Italian so far. ️
2. Currency Converter: Easily convert currencies with a new command, powered by Exchangerate.host API.
3. News Article Parser: Find news based on keywords, with error handling for when no articles are found.
4. Create Corporate Joke: Add some humor to your workspace with a random corporate-themed joke!

Contributed to the ServiceNowDevProgram/code-snippets repository:

5. Financial Service Utility: Script Include with functions for calculating interest, formatting currency, and loan payments.
6. Inactive User Cleanup: Utility for admins to automatically deactivate inactive users based on configurable parameters.
7. Dynamic CatalogItem Pricing: Script Include calculates catalog item prices based on factors like customer type, quantity, and services. It adapts to pricing changes without modifying code!

I'm excited to continue adding value and climb the leaderboard! Be sure to check out the resources below to learn more about my contributions and ServiceNow Hacktoberfest. 

Thanks to all the maintainer's Earl Duque Laszlo Balla Astrid Sapphire Nia McCash Sandeep Dutta Shakeel Shaik Paige D. Mohit Kaushik Martin Ivanov Adam C. Ashutosh Munot Abhrajyoti Kanrar Paul McNamara Paul Pradap Chandru Sharon Barnes Sachin Namjoshi Philip Swann Jerry W. Maria Gabriela Ochoa Perez Waechter Abhrajyoti Kanrar Christopher C.

[sachin_namjoshi]

I have completed #ServiceNowHacktoberfest with 4 PRs accepted.

Following are the details of my pull requests:

1. Utility to Fix Update Set Scoping Issues - PR: ServiceNowDevProgram/code-snippets#1071

ServiceNow Developers work with update set batching and many times it happens that customer updates gets captured in a wrong scope. As of Xanadu release, there is no way to fix these scoping issues in child updates. This code snippet utility will perform following and implement a way of taking in a parent/batch update set:

• Navigate all children, all updates in children.

• Determine scope issues with updates.

• Create new update set in correct scopes.

• Move updates to those new update sets.

• Associate them with parent/batch.

• Stop action on completion of update sets if there are any scope issues found and direct the user to click on the Fix Scope button.

This functionality has following:

• Business rule to abort transaction if scoping issues are found in batched update sets.
• Script include which does job of scoping issues conflict as well as logic for fixing batch scope issues.
• UI action which can be used by developers to fix scoping issues conflict.

2.   GreenHouse ServiceNow Integration Utility - PR: ServiceNowDevProgram/code-snippets#1164

This code snippet utility contains sample code to integrate ServiceNow with GreenHouse and pull employee files from GreenHouse in ServiceNow Employee Document Management OOB Table records.

Sample code queries HR profile which a filtered query of active users which has a valid greenhouse ID present in ServiceNow HR profile records.

REST message which calls Greenhouse REST API is using below REST endpoint. https://developers.greenhouse.io/harvest.html#get-retrieve-candidate

Document Types sys_id can be mapped to relevant document types on your instance.

3.Syntax Editor Macro to populate macrosObj with records from the Syntax Editor Macro table - PR: ServiceNowDevProgram/syntax_macros#147

This syntax macro Get data from the background and make it accessible after it is retrieved.

e.g This macro can be used from client script during service portal widget development.

4. Created a new instance scan check for client scripts - ServiceNowDevProgram/example-instancescan-checks#147

Created a new instance scan check for client scripts to make that the isLoading flag is used in onchange client script. 

[QI XING HONG]

#ServiceNowHacktoberfest 2024 Completed 🎉

I have made 4 accepted contributions across projects and will keep it going.

Syntax_macros Contributions:

#144 - Created validation messages from sys_properties value:
Developed a return validation messages on attachments upload limits based on sys_properties setting.

ServiceNow_GenAi-Prompt-Library Contributions:

#93 - Create Prompt to generate backdated metric instance
Create Prompt to generate backdated metric instance when new metrics definition is created

code-snippets Contributions:

#1328 - Slient Update on GlideRecord
Use of GlideRecordObject.autoSysFields(false) in scripts - background

Plants Contributions:

#259 - Updates to the Quick Links to Include Add Plant Service Catalog:
Created and repurpose the Employee Portal Quick Links widget to add Plant Service Catalog in plant portal.

Taking part in Hacktoberfest has been something for me to look forward every year. I’m thankful for the collaboration to work on the various community projects and seeing the interesting features contributed by the ServiceNow community.

LinkedIn Post Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hong-qixing_servicenowhacktoberfest-activity-7255116604605120513-Qfbg...

Thanks & Regards,

Qi Xing

[debendudas]

Hi @Earl Duque ,

I have completed the #ServiceNowHacktoberfest with 5 accepted contributions! 🚀

1️⃣ In my first pull request, I contributed to the ServiceNowDevProgram/UI-Builder-Conference-Notes-App repository by adding a confirmation message when a user submits a new contact. ✅

2️⃣ In my second pull request, I contributed to the ServiceNowDevProgram/UI-Builder-Conference-Notes-App repository by updating the confirmation message with a new form link. 🔗

3️⃣ In my third pull request, I contributed to the ServiceNowDevProgram/UI-Builder-Conference-Notes-App repository by updating the UX list. 📋

4️⃣ In my fourth pull request, I contributed to the ServiceNowDevProgram/UI-Builder-Conference-Notes-App repository by updating the landing page with new data visualizations. 📊

5️⃣ In my fifth pull request, I contributed to the ServiceNowDevProgram/Plants repository by adding Jasmine as a new plant. 🌿🌸

Participating in #Hacktoberfest for the second time has been an incredible learning experience! 🌱✨ I've gained so much knowledge, sharpened my skills, and enjoyed collaborating with the open-source community.

Link to Social Media Post: 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/debendu-das-4a0174213_servicenowhacktoberfest-hacktoberfest-serviceno...

Thanks and Regards,

Debendu Das