We were thrilled to host our highly anticipated "Ask the Experts" Platform Analytics Academy session on June 11th, 2025, at noon Eastern. This exclusive session offered an opportunity to engage directly with our Platform Analytics Experts and get answers to attendees' most pressing questions. Participants were encouraged to come prepared and take part in an interactive and insightful discussion with our esteemed panelists.
Questions & Answers
Q1: Can we change the background or header background in Simple List visualizations in Platform Analytics?
A1: Hi, that will be supported from Zurich
Q2: Can we have the owner of the dashboard change the ownership of the dashboards and data visualizations when they are moving to a different role or leaving the org?
A2: Yes, there is an owner field in the config panel; the owner can also be a group if you prefer.
Q3: When I full-screen a rich text field, I do not have the option to minimize it so I can exit and save changes. No option to close it, is there a hotkey or something I am missing?
A3: This is a defect. I believe we already had something similar in the backlog.
Q4: Can we change the column display name on the Simple List Data Visualization?
A4: Click here for the Live Answer
Q5: Do we need to create campaigns for Content Analytics to work?
A6: This question may be better suited to the Employee Center Academy, but I do not believe so -you may need to activate Content Analytics though: Activate Content Analytics. You might also take a look at User Experience Analytics, a comprehensive dashboard to understand the usage of your SN applications. Perhaps you are missing data from the custom pages or widgets? In which case you must set up tracking: Setup Content Analytics tracking.
Q6: On Simple List visualization, database views do not show in the data source?
A6: The Simple List is currently causing that issue, but this is fixed in Zurich with the new component.
Q7: Would like to export Pivot table visual as a table, not as a PNG or as a PDF.
A7: As an Excel document, I do not believe it's in the backlog, but I will make a note.
Q8: Is there a timeline/target version for Crosstabs and Workbenches to be functional in Platform Analytics?
A8: Safe harbor - for Australia, we are exploring how to allow adding a workbench to in-line dashboards.
Q9: I created a drilldown via Data Visualization. The drilldown is working in isolation, but the visualization is not working when run, and even when it's added on the dashboard. Same visualization when made as a report in Platform Analytics, and when the report is run, it works fine.
A9: Click here for the Live Answer
Q10: In Platform Analytics, when I show a Single Score and I click on it, it’s not showing Show Records, it doesn’t show my records.
A10: Click here for the Live Answer
Q11: In a Simple List, can we right-click and export to CSV?
A11: Click here for the Live Answer
Q12: I have tried using an image field on the project table, an HTML field, and a field using list view that I could resize. Is there any way to do this? I have a project pill filter, and want to select a project, and have a unique image that is tied to that project display. Is that possible?
A12: Click here for the Live Answer
Q13: How can we figure out the Reports usage for conversion before we start the migration to PA?
A13: You will want to use the dashboard migration tool, it is available in the platform. It will show you everything available before migration.
Q14: On the classic view, I can import data and create visualizations. How do I do the same on platform analytics?
A14: Hi, this is not currently fully supported on the new Platform Analytics. The report_admin would still be able to use the Report Designer from Australia and utilize that function further.
Q15: We are in Xanadu, moving to Yokohama. I have a few questions that I did some research on, but could not find the answers for. How to
1. Create an interactive filter on the Task Type field on the task table?
2. Create a breakdown on the string type field we have for Job Level on the sys_user table that is populated with the specific values; I tried bucket group for a breakdown source, but it didn’t work.
Q16: We recently migrated our dashboard. On the data visualizations from the databoard that had data tables, the data table didn't migrate over. Should the data table migrate to the Platform Analytics environment, or do we have to recreate it by selecting the data table slide button?
A16: We supported migrating the Data table from Yokohama. It should be possible to enable the data source manually after migration if needed.
Q17: Is there a future release where text analytics will be supported?
A17: We do not have a clear timeline for Text Analytics.
Q18: Would Word cloud be available in future releases?
Q19: When mass migration is done on an instance, will old dashboard links redirect automatically, or will it just show the banner message like with the individual migration?
A19: Yes, if you activate the Platform Analytics experience, then the Core UI content will be automatically redirected to the new migrated version.
Q20: Multiple filters cannot be applied to count and avg calculations? When are we planning to fix this issue?
A20: I just checked, and this is possible for me. Maybe I have not reproduced it correctly. Have you created a case already? If so, can you share the details? If not, I would suggest creating one
Q21: Are you considering navigation from a simple list visualization to open in a new tab or window? So behaving like in the Core reporting? Currently new tab will present "about:blank#blocked"
A21: Yes, that should all be possible from Zurich
Q22: In classic view, I can link and unlink tabs, which is very useful when you need the same tab on different dashboards. It's very painful not to have the link and unlink feature, as I have to keep adding the same widgets on all required dashboards.
A22: The new data model does not allow a tab to be shared across multiple dashboards. There is currently no plan to add this. In the backlog, there is the idea to support duplicating a tab to another dashboard, though, no ETA on when this would be available.
Q23: Not a question, but a request: In Reports, we can sort the reports by last modified date, but we cannot do that for data visualizations. Will this function be added?
Q24: How does having multi-instance and multi-domain reporting differ from each other and single-instance reporting? Also, in a multi-x scenario, how do we get unified numbers?
A24: So with domains, data can always flow down but never up. Which means you can make information available to child domains. With multi-instance, there currently is no support for multi-instance querying, but it is sitting in the backlog, so maybe one day you could unify the data. For both, though you can use remote tables: Remote tables to create a virtual table that can ignore domains or join data on another instance.
Q25: Will we be able to change the columns on the view of data visualizations, kind of like we can do on the workflow studio?
A25: In the dashboards, it will be possible from Zurich. From Australia, we plan to make it possible Data visualization library.
Q26: Is there a SNOW Document that calls out how data is captured in Action Activity (Grouped by Action vs Content)?
Q27: For years, we have wanted to put high-level IT metrics on the dashboard and have them visible in our portal for ESS users. Not details, but high level - total tickets, SLA attainment, etc., is there any way to do this?
A27: Yes, create the dashboard and share it with a role all users have, ensure all users can pass the report view ACLs on those tables. Then you can embed that dashboard in a page. You can also do this in ui builder or create data visualizations and then use the saved data visualization component in ui builder to load them up, once again ensuring report view ACLs pass.
Q28: How can we make our Dashboards visible on the Employee Center Homepage?
Q29: What is the best practice for creating Data Visualizations/Dashboards? Would you create in Dev or Prod?
A29: Generally, we create in prod, it's up to you on how you want to work flow things, but I can tell you internally everyone can create a data visualization/dashboard, and then we use certified to differentiate between company-created/approved content and normal user content.
Q30: When migrating dashboards to Platform Analytics, and we do it in Dev, do we have to do it again in Prod, or can we capture it in an Update Set and move it to Prod?
Q31: When migrating to Platform Analytics, the display/data tables are not migrating from the legacy dashboards.
Q32: Do you have in your roadmap to have a dependency report (not the UI dependency assessment ) that can provide dependent objects for better management of unused reports?
Q33: Any way to automate the process if we have Xanadu? We have a number of instances where the data table is utilized.
A33: A script might be needed. A support case hopefully can help here.
Q34: For a dashboard that has task donuts grouped by state (one for project and one for catalog), is there a way to set the colors consistently for state to prevent Pending from showing green in one and red in the other?
A34: If you are using tables, you can use fixed element color. This is not yet the case with the indicators.
Q35: I'm new to Platform Analytics. Where can I find more info about it? When I go to my Platform Analytics, there is nothing populated.
A35: Here are some great places to start:
- Platform Analytics Community
- Platform Analytics Community Getting Started
- Platform Analytics Academies
Q36: My organization is in the process of migrating to Platform Analytics. We have approximately ~100k reports and about ~15k dashboards. We believe many of these are unused or have not been used in several years. How does ServiceNow recommend we clean up the number of reports and dashboards before migration?
A36: Hi, you can get some information in this academy session: Platform Analytics "House Keeping Solutions". Mainly, the information is stored in dashboard_stats and report_stats.
Q37: Will the Dashboard migration show the last time the reports ran? We have 16K and a lot of them created by users that are not used, can we be selective of the reports/Dashboards?
A37: This is also a defect; you should be able to drill down.
Q38: Is it true that in Australia upgrade the ability for all users to create a new core ui dashboard will be removed, and going forward, new dashboards can only be created by a PA-admin or admin?
A38: Click here for the Live Answer
Q39: Where to find the 2nd axis option for a multi data source trending report? e.g.:
- DATASET1: columnar for INCs created, Axis 1
- DATASET2: columnar for INCs resolved, Axis 2
- DATASET3: line visualization for Resolution rate >> should be Axis No. 2
A39: So, for time series visualizations, you can find the option in the metric section within the three-dot menu. There, you can add a new axis.
Q40: Are we able to view usage analytics for the Platform Analytics dashboards yet?
A40: We will support this from Zurich.
Q41: Will HTML content blocks be supported in platform analytics dashboards or not?
A41: We have the Rich Text component to support the Static content blocks. We are looking into the iframe component from Australia.
Q42: Will the changes being implemented for RaptorDB help with the inefficient queries in Breakdowns?
A42: The actual query conditions make all the difference. RaptorDB will absolutely help in any query, but if the query conditions are very inefficient (lots of “contains” conditions, for example) the query will still be relatively slow. RaptorDB won’t fix” bad” queries. It may help process those conditions a little faster, but it will still be slow compared to queries with conditions based on lookup fields. For example, an inefficient query pre-Raptor might take 90 seconds to complete. In Raptor, the same inefficient query might still take 30+ seconds. Breakdowns, especially, should always be based on the table that holds the available values. Like, use the Group table to define the breakdown source instead of the incident table. Incident can be the table for the indicator.
Q43: Are we able to create interactive filters on Epic Parents instead of Epics in the Agile Development module?
A43: I believe you can create one in unified filters.
Q44: The Owner field is there, but owners themselves can’t change to anyone else unless they are PA admins? It’s better if the owner were able to change it, irrespective of whether they are a PA admin or not.
A44: Click here for the Live Answer
Q45: Is there a fix date scheduled for PRB1854437 or a release target for it?
A45: We are planning to release the fix with Zurich as of now.
Q46: We make a Drilldown report/chart in Platform Analytics, and do aggregate on some column... can't the same column aggregation work on its drilldown as well? Example:- Making a report, Total Expenses Cost Center wise, drilldown to-> Sub Cost center Total Expenses, drilldown to-> Expense Type wise Total Expenses. In such a case sum of Total Expense Amount must remain on the Y-axis, whereas only the X-axis must change, i.e., Cost centre, sub cost centre, Expense Type.
A46: Sadly not, in a chart-to-chart drilldown, the value you click only applies as a filter to the child chart.
Q47: In Platform Analytics, can bucket groups be used as a filter on a dashboard?
A47: Yes, you can select the indicator as a source and select the bucket breakdown. It will be able to apply only to indicators that are connected to these breakdowns, though, not to table-based visualizations. Similar to how any scripted breakdown will work.
Q48: For request items, when using dot-walking, I can report on questions and sub-questions, but this does not seem to be possible for data visualization.
A48: This is a known limitation, not sure when we would have it resolved.
Q49: Will function fields configuration eventually provide more options in Platform Analytics?
A49: We are reviewing how to bring calculations to the new data visualizations, it will not be exactly as function fields.
Q50: More than 2 filters on the KPI visualizations possible only in Raptor DB Pro?
A50: Yes
Q51: Can we do some analytics on the search terms used by end users on the portal or backend for searching?
A51: Yes, you can take a look at the AI Search Analytics dashboard. You can also take a look at User Experience Analytics and the Search Result Click event.
Q52: Is there a "What's new in Zurich" session that's come out or coming soon?
A52: This is planned for September 17th, 2025
Q53: Can we do some analytics on the search terms used by end users on the portal or backend for searching?
A53: You would need to talk to AI Search, who owns the search for this.
Q54: Is there still a way to create a line chart with the "Previous Period Chart" option?
A54: Currently, this is a gap we still have to fill in PAe.
Q55: There is a third-party plugin (or at least used to be) that exported data to PowerBI, and with the choice of using the display values. Is ServiceNow working on a built-in capability?
A55: Not that I am aware of. We ideally want you to bring data into the platform, not take it out, but chat with the integration hub team.
Q56: Is there a way to configure an interactive filter for Tags, or will there be in the future? This is a frequent request from our users.
Q57: Is there a way to minimize the error that occurs when migrating single dashboards by which duplicated widgets are so that there are multiple instances of the same one in the same tab.
A57: You would need to remove/delete the migrated dashboards before migrating again. We do this automatically from Yokohama from the Migration Center.
Q58: Does Platform Analytics offer an option when clicking on a report via a dashboard that it opens in the workspace view vs the traditional UI view?
A58: This will be a system property available from Zurich.
Q59: How can I implement Making report Total Expenses Cost Center wise, drilldown to-> Sub Cost center Total Expenses, drilldown to-> Expense Type wise Total Expenses. In such a case sum of Total Expense Amount must remain on the Y-axis, whereas only the X-axis must change, i.e., Cost centre, sub-cost center, Expense Type.
A59: You can build this in a technical dashboard using custom on-click and then conditional rendering.
Q60: Any plan for auto alignment to be possible? Like the quick layout in the core dashboards? Resizing and moving manually is very slow and never results in tidy dashboards.
A60: No, not in the immediate future (Australia), but we had a conversation about this capability already and are aware of this ask.
Q61: When are we planning to have the usage metrics for platform analytics dashboards and data visualizations, and all the PA objects?
Q62: Task type...cascade filter to class?
Q63: Will the usage metrics for PA be a global dashboard that everyone can view?
Q64: Any plan for auto alignment to be possible? Like the quick layout in the core dashboards? Resizing and moving manually is very slow and never results in tidy dashboards.
A64: No, not in the immediate future (Australia), but we had a conversation about this capability already and are aware of this ask.
Q65: Related to the Survey analytics: can we do "sentiment Analytics for CSAT comments? Meaning text analysis by context: positive feedback vs. negative and or neutral.
Q66: Can’t multi-select columns in List visualization. Are there any plans to allow this? Currently, it is just a lot easier to create list visualization in core ui than PA.
A66: That should be supported in the List, for sure supported in Zurich
Q67: If a Store update is applied after a full migration, will the fix be applied to the items being fixed? For example: Cascading filters fixed in sn-app-par-coreui-migration-legacy-widget version 2.0.5.
A67: That should be supported in the Simple List, for sure, supported in Zurich
Q68: When using the Export in Yokohama, it exports each visualization on individual PPT slides. Is there any way to export a dashboard to PPT as a whole? Printer-friendly is "ok" but not perfect either.
A68: Not yet, sadly. What is the limitation of printer printer-friendly view?
Q69: Can you add the dashboards to ANY workspace using UI Builder?
A69: Yes, as long as your workspace is built with UI Builder (which I think most of them are now), you can add dashboards to it (most typical use case you can add it as a module of your workspace or even as a landing page. To do it when you create a new page in your workspace, you need to select create from template and search for the “dashboard” template. You can configure which dashboard is shown by default and configure some settings (like if you want to see only dashboards created from this workspace or others, as well as you can disable some actions like create new, etc, if needed).
Q70: Regarding scheduled exports, you can only see your own in PA, can see everyone else in the core UI report. Why was this choice made?
A70: Let me check with the team on this. We do have different roles in the new Platform Analytics, par_scheduler, and par_scheduler_admin.
Q71: Regarding my Epic Parent question, are the unified filters only within UI Builder? Not Platform Analytics?
A71: Might have missed the epic parent question, but unified filters are also available in the in-line dashboard and not only in UIB.
Q72: Will we see configure columns for data visualization like we were able to for classic reporting? Any chance that there will be an option for creating "single score" visualizations where we can create percentages without the use of PA indicators?
A72: Configuring the columns from the dashboard is available from Zurich, and from the visualization library from Australia. We are looking at the calculations for future capabilities, but not yet available for table data.
Q73: We are on Xanadu. When running the PA Migration process, does it use the Active Flag on Dashboards or Reports when migrating? Other than deleting a dashboard/reports, is there a way to stop the migration of some records?
Q74: Countd and avg KPIs don’t support multiple filters - are you saying this is possible?
A74: With data snapshots on RaptorDB (I believe pro only), it is possible from Yokohama, I believe.
Q75: If I do a partial migration of individual-selected dashboards, is there a way for the old link to redirect to the new link? OR do I have to do a bulk migration for the old link to redirect to the new platform analytics link?
- If your answer is yes, I have to do a bulk migration.... Is it possible for me to go to the pa_dashboards.list table, then select "true" for Do not migrate in Bulk for the column on the list view of that table.... Can I then do a bulk migration so it can skip all the dashboards I do not want to migrate?
- A follow-up question.... can I run a bulk migration multiple times? If I do a bulk migration and then say I have other dashboards I told it to skip before, but I want it to migrate them at a later time, or would I have to do a partial/individual migration?
A74: Click here for the Live Answer
Q76: In previous session Marta mentioned that after migrating to PA on Yokohama, reports on dashboards exist only within their migrated dashboards, they do not become saved visualizations in the library. Does this mean that only reports that were not included on any dashboards will be saved to the library when enabling the full migration on Yokohama? Or will all reports appear as visualizations in the library, but their links to any dashboards they were included in will be severed (each dashboard displaying its own unsaved copy)?
A76: In the full migration we migrate the reports to saved data visualizations. Only till Yokohama if you are migrating using the partial migration the reports and pa widgets and filters are not saved in the library.
Q77: For indicator scorecards in Platform Analytics, it looks like the max # of groups for breakdowns is 20. Did this change recently? I have an old one with over 100. Is there a property to configure the max # of breakdowns?
A77: The Limit only applies if you have a breakdown nested (like you have an indicator first and then breakdowns are nested under). If you do it for a single indicator and you select the setting “Show only breakdowns” to be true, you will have the option to select ‘Show all groups” in the breakdown popover. When nested, it is indeed limited to 20 due to performance concerns.
Q78: Just to confirm: If I migrate a dashboard in my DEV environment, I cannot then move that migrated dashboard to my PROD environment? Instead, I need to migrate the dashboard in my PROD environment?
A78: Yes, that is the suggested behavior to migrate in PROD due to the issue with the permission move between environments.
Q79: We could not see where to add related tables. Is this something not available, or are we just being silly?
A79: Yes, when you configure data visualization in filter sections (condition builder), there is a “Related list conditions" button (it looks like a text) - if you click on it, you can add related list conditions. Or do you mean something else?
Q80: Can we enhance tags to be more automatic ?. like a condition-based value generation, which should also be used in data visualizations and KPIs.
A80: Click here for the Live Answer
Q81: Is there a way to filter the Clone Store Apps to just reporting and dashboard plugins? I'd like to try to keep these up to date if possible.
A81: Click here for the Live Answer
Q82: Is there an OOB report that displays both knowledge article and case deflection rates? We want to track how often users view KA but don't submit a case.
A82: There is a content pack available called ‘Self-Service Analytics’ - it is a few years old, but the bulk of what is needed doesn’t change over time, you will just need to tweak it for your company/processes.
Q83: Any plan to allow dashboard to migrate its own single dashboards?
A83: Yes, this will be supported from Zurich
Q84: Can you share any link regarding the technical dashboard? So that I can make one.
A84: Platform Analytics: Crafting Insights with UI Builder
Q85: I have a pivot chart in Platform Analytics that shows Group (row) against another field (column). There are many groups on the report, but far fewer than there are groups in our instance. I want to be able to filter on selected groups that appear in the group reference field in my table. When I create a filter based on my table and select the group field, the table property changes automatically from the table I am reporting to the Group table. This means that when I try to select the groups to show on my report, I am presented with the entire list of groups in my instance, rather than just those that appear on my report. How can I create a filter that allows me to choose only from groups that appear on my table, please?
A85: So, as I understand, you want to restrict the values you can filter by within the filter. So you are only presented with the ones relevant to you? If so, you add your filter source, and there you select the table and field. Then you click on configure values, where you can narrow down what values are shown in the filter
Q86: Is there a way to group using Tags? We have the requirements to group by tags
A86: We are still waiting for this to be supported by the underlying persistence layer. We have been requesting this for a while
Q87: How do you certify a dashboard?
A87: If you are dashboard_Admin, you will see in the dashboard details panel in edit mode the “Mark as certified” toggle.
Q88: Is there a way to group using Tags? We have the requirements to group by tags.
A88: We are still waiting for this to be supported by the underlying persistence layer. We have been requesting this for a while.
Q89: After migrating dashboards, I need to manually add the data table. How can I change the value in the owner field?
A89: In the dashboard details in edit mode, the users should be able to edit the Owner value.
Q90: Is there any documentation or thoughts around Migration when Domain Separation is involved?
A90: Click here for Live Answer
Q91: Platform Analytics roles are different. Are user roles migrated as well, or do we have to reassign them?
A91: We have as much as possible done the inheritance, so you have the same options as before. Platform Analytics Roles
Q92: For VTB use and data within Next Experience, when do we believe we'll be able to shift into Workspace instead of Core UI (Classic) for VTB use and VTB reporting?
A92: Inside the Collaborative workspace is a kanban board, which is basically VTB inside a workspace.
Q93: Is there any Specific document listing out the limitations on the Platform Analytics as compared to the Core UI reports or dashboards?
A93: You can find information here: Content not migrated or migrated in compatibility mode
Q94: How to edit scheduled exports? In the Core UI, we can edit the recipients or any other aspects of the scheduled email, but in PAR, when I go to /now/platform-analytics-workspace/scheduled-export-library, the save button is disabled. I am a report admin. How can I enable this for Report admins only?
A94: Could you check if you need to get added to the par_scheduler_admin role? Platform Analytics Roles
Q95: If we want to drill down to a List report, how can we do that?
A95: Hi, I might need a bit more details on this. By default, we are redirecting from the Dashboard to the platform Lists. Or do you want to do the drilldown chart to chart? Configure chart interactions
Q96: Will there be a demo on the Usage Metrics dashboard? Hopefully, it will help capture Unused Dashboards and Reports, plus the relationship between reports and dashboards.
A96: Once it is launched, we will have an Academy session to make sure we give you details and a demo on it.
Q97: In Platform Analytics, as it relates to Filters, when you say This Month, you can see the days in the future of the last month selected?
A97: Click here for the Live Answer
Q98: Platform Analytics filters currently only allow for "is" style selections. Will functionality for other operators (is not, contains, etc) become available for filters?
A98: Currently, this is not on the roadmap for A and B as this asks has not come too often yet. But it is a valuable enhancement that we will be considering for the future.
Q99: In the classic view, using fiscal quarter time series works very well and as expected. But on platform analytics,
- 1. The X axis (time, or fiscal quarters) is shifted, i.e., the scores in the bar are correct, but not showing at the right point in time in the time axis.
- 2. The X-axis labels are not correct
- 3. The tool tips, when you hover on the bars, are showing ranges different from the Fiscal quarter date range. Example, FQ4 2024 = June 2024-Aug 2024. The tooltip has the correct score, but the tooltip label displays FQ2 2024 (Jun 2024-Aug 2024). The correct display should have been FQ4 2024 (Jun 2024-Aug 2024
A99: Click here for the Live Answer
Q100: I had a dashboard with a "Workbench" widget in the core UI.... I do not see anything that allows me to configure workbenches in Platform Analytics after migration. Is this something that is coming soon? I am in Xanadu.
A100: We do not have a timeline on the Workbench widget being in Platform Analytics. However, we have had talks around it and its future. No release locked in at this point.
Q101: Is there a way to set up PA indicators to load dynamically, like we can with standard reports? For example, showing data specific to the user viewing or one of their assignment groups? This would be helpful to personalize dashboard data to the user instead of having to filter everything manually.
A101: Unified filters support this in PA so long as the breakdown limit is not reached.
Q102: Will we need to migrate out-of-the-box dashboards or will those be done by ServiceNow automatically?
A102: ServiceNow has recreated the OOTB dashboards from Xanadu. if you have customized an OOTB dashboard, then you should migrate it.
Q103: If migrating a dashboard to platform analytics, how does that affect the underlying report/performance analytics objects?
A103: Here is an Academy that discussed the Migration process: Platform Analytics Migration Center
Q104: Do you agree that allowing users to migrate reports and dashboards owned by them is a good way for the users to also mark unused reports and dashboards for deletion? It seems like a great way to contribute to housekeeping efforts before implementing a full migration in production. ...just wondering if you guys agree, or can you provide other suggestions that will contribute to clearing out pa's that are not being used.
A104: I would use the usage data for this; an unmigrated dashboard may just have compatibility issues, so the user does not want to migrate.
Prior Platform Analytics Academy Sessions by Year
Click on the year below for all Platform Analytics Academy sessions held that year.
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