--- sourceDocument: australia Combined Product Files sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/delta-zurich-australia Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - australia Combined Product Files ft:clusterId : - delta3az bundleId : - delta3az --- # Combined Service Portal release notes for upgrades from Zurich to Australia # Combined Service Portal release notes for upgrades from Zurich to Australia {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated November 5, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 6 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Combined Service Portal release notes for upgrades from Zurich to Australia This consolidated release notes document covers all Service Portal updates from the Zurich release through to Australia, providing ServiceNow customers with a clear view of new features, changes, deprecations, and important upgrade tasks. It is designed to help you prepare for your upgrade efficiently by summarizing enhancements and modifications across releases. Show full answer Show less ## New Features * **Approval Info Record Widget (Zurich):** Displays detailed approval request information including the activity stream. To enable, activate the Approval Details Page Route Map and add the widget to your custom pages. The widget pairs with the Now Assist Approval Assistance AI agent, which shows pending approvals and details. * **Service Portal Approval Configuration Record (Zurich \& Australia):** Configure this record to optimize the Approval Assistance AI agent and Approval Info Record widget for your use cases. Australia expands this functionality to generate checklists from documents stored in third-party cloud providers like Microsoft SharePoint and Google Drive, or custom internal tables. * **Widget Loading Order Configuration (Zurich):** Admins can defer widget loading to accelerate page rendering and improve user experience by making widgets interactive as they load. * **Deferred Loading of AI Search Assets (Zurich):** AI Search assets load only after the main page content, speeding up initial page load times. * **New Organization Chart Widget (Australia):** Offers enhanced display options such as default and secondary field names, location, and department details, providing better organizational visibility. * **Portal-specific Authentication (Australia):** Enables different authentication methods per portal (e.g., Okta for internal portals, Microsoft Azure for external), allowing tailored login experiences without custom development. ## Changes * **Coral Theme Default (Zurich):** Coral became the default theme for new portals and experiences, featuring brand-neutral illustrations and a dark mode option for web and mobile. * **Theme Variants (Australia):** Allows creation of theme variants to customize the visual experience and better align with your company branding. ## Deprecations and Removals No Service Portal features or functionalities were removed or deprecated between Zurich and Australia releases. ## Activation and Availability Service Portal remains an active-by-default feature of the ServiceNow AI Platform. It is also available through the ServiceNow Store, ensuring easy access and activation. ## Accessibility Enhancements * **Dark Theme (Zurich \& Australia):** The Coral theme includes a dark mode option to reduce eye strain and enhance readability. * **Semantic Tags (Australia):** Added support for more semantic tags in the Service Portal Designer to improve navigation and descriptions for screen readers, benefiting users who are blind or have low vision. ## Additional Practical Information * **ServiceNow Otto® Branding Update:** Starting with Zurich Patch 12, Now Assist is rebranded as ServiceNow Otto®, reflecting the new AI experience brand. This applies to Service Portal as well, with no change to entitlements. * **Suppress Onboarding Messages:** Use the `glide.sp.ottoonboarding.suppressedportals` property to hide the ServiceNow Otto® onboarding message on specified portals by providing their sysids. * **Performance Improvements:** Deferring widget and AI Search asset loading enhances page load speed and user interaction readiness. * **Portal-specific Authentication:** Simplifies user access management by supporting different authentication methods per portal without customization. ## Upgrade Recommendations Before upgrading to Australia, review and complete pre- and post-upgrade tasks carefully. Leverage new configuration options such as Approval Configuration records and widget loading order to optimize your Service Portal's performance and user experience post-upgrade. Consolidated page of all release notes for Service Portal from Zurich to Australia. ## How to use this page To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Service Portal release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Zurich to Australia. Tip: If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release." ## Important information for upgrading Service Portal to Australia Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__2} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## New features Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for Service Portal. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__8} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | [Approval Info Record widget](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=approval-info-record-widget&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : The Service Portal Approval Info Record widget shows details about the approval request and a full record for an approval including the activity stream. The Approval Info Record widget and the new Now Assist Approval Assistance AI agent maintain parity. To use the new Approval Info Record widget, activate the Approval Details Page Route Map, and uptake the Approval Info Record widget in your custom page. The new Now Assist Approval Assistance AI agent allows you to see your pending approvals, as well as the details about your pending approvals. For more information, see [Approval assistance AI agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=platform-approval-aia&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US). [Configure Service Portal Approval Configuration record](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=configure-approval-assistance-ai-agent&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : Configure the Service Portal Approval Configuration record to make the Approval Assistance AI agent and Approval Info Record widget work better for your specific use case. [Configure widget loading order in Service Portal](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=configure-widget-loading-order&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : As an admin, configure the widget loading order to defer their loading. This feature enables faster loading of the page and makes the widgets available for interaction as they load, thus improving the user experience. [Deferred loading of AI Search assets in Service Portal](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=defer-loading-ais-sp&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) : Enable deferred loading of AI Search assets on the Service Portal page until the main content is loaded. This feature helps the page load faster and improves user experience. | | Australia | [Configure Service Portal Approval Configuration record](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=configure-approval-assistance-ai-agent&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : The Approval assistance AI agent allows checklist generation from documents that are stored in integrated third-party cloud providers such as Microsoft SharePoint, Google Drive, or a custom internal table. [New Organization Chart widget](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=new-organization-chart-widget&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Use the Service Portal New Organization Chart widget to show additional display configurations, such as default and secondary field names, location, department, and so on, to gain visibility into employees within their organization. [Create a portal](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=create-a-portal&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Configure and apply different authentication configurations for each portal to enable different login experiences for each portal. For example, you can set an authentication method like Okta for an internal employee portal or use Microsoft Azure for an external portal. | [ ] ## Changes Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing Service Portal features. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__14} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | Coral theme : Coral is now the default theme for new portal, web, and mobile experiences with Next Experience or Core UI enabled. This theme provides a fresh look and feel, featuring brand-neutral illustrations to enhance your user experience. A dark theme option is available for web and mobile experiences. | | Australia | [Create a portal theme](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_CustomCSS&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Create theme variants for Service Portal themes to tailor the visual experience for your users, which can help you match your brand. | [ ] ## Removed Between your current release family and Australia, some Service Portal features or functionality were removed. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__20} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Deprecations Between your current release family and Australia, some Service Portal features or functionality were deprecated. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__26} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Activation information Review information on how to activate Service Portal. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__32} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | Activation information : Service Portal is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. | | Australia | Activation information : Service Portal is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default. Important: Service Portal is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes. | [ ] ## Additional requirements If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Service Portal we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__38} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Browser requirements If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Service Portal we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__44} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Accessibility information Review details on accessibility information for Service Portal, such as specific requirements or compliance levels. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__50} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | Accessibility information : Dark theme : The new Coral theme includes a dark theme option for web and mobile experiences. This option is commonly used to alleviate eye strain and improve readability. | | Australia | Accessibility information : [Enable dark theme](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=enable-dark-theme&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Use the Dark theme in Service Portal to improve focus and provide better accessibility support. This option is commonly used to alleviate eye strain and improve readability. [\[Placeholder link text to key t_ConfigureAPage\]](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=t_ConfigureAPage&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) : Add and edit more semantic tags within the Service Portal Designer to define key areas of a portal to support clearer navigation and descriptions for screen readers. This update helps users who are blind or have low vision by making it easier for assistive technology to identify and understand different sections of each page. | [ ] ## Localization information If there are specific localization considerations for Service Portal we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__56} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | No updates for this release. | | Australia | No updates for this release. | [ ] ## Highlight information If there are specific highlight considerations for Service Portal we have noted them here. {#dfrn3-serviceportal-summary__entry__62} | Release | Release notes | |-|-| | Zurich | * Starting with Zurich Patch 12, Now Assist is now ServiceNow Otto®. ServiceNow Otto is the new AI experience brand. This change is reflected in the name of ServiceNow products, including Service Portal. Your product entitlements remain unchanged. Check your entitlements to determine your access to specific features. * Use the `glide.sp.otto_onboarding.suppressed_portals` property to suppress the ServiceNow Otto onboarding message for specific Service Portal portals. Set the property value to a single portal sys_id, or use a comma-separated list of sys_ids for multiple portals. Users visiting any portal listed in this property will not see the onboarding message. * Use the support for Service Portal in the iOS Google App. * As an admin, configure the widget load order on Service Portal pages. * As an admin, defer the loading of AI Search assets to enhance page performance. See [Service Portal](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_ServicePortal&family=zurich&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. | | Australia | * ServiceNow Otto® is the new AI experience brand. This change is reflected in the name of ServiceNow products, including Service Portal. Your product entitlements remain unchanged. Check your entitlements to determine your access to specific features. * Use the `glide.sp.otto_onboarding.suppressed_portals` property to suppress the ServiceNow Otto® onboarding message for specific Service Portal portals. Set the property value to a single portal sys_id, or use a comma-separated list of sys_ids for multiple portals. Users visiting any portal listed in this property will not see the onboarding message. * View the updated user interface for the Service Portal New Organization Chart widget. It includes additional display configurations, such as default and secondary field names. * Use portal-specific authentication methods to allow users access to different portals without having to customize Service Portal authentication. * Enhance Service Portal accessibility navigation for screen readers by using semantic tags. * Use a Coral dark theme on a portal to improve focus, readability, and accessibility. * Create theme variants for the Service Portal themes to tailor the visual experience for your users. See [Service Portal](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_ServicePortal&family=australia&ft:locale=en-US) for more information. | [ ]