Portal Banner widget instance options form

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

2 minutes to read

Summarize

Summarized using AI

Summary of Portal Banner widget instance options form

The Portal Banner widget instance options form allows ServiceNow customers to configure the appearance and behavior of the Portal Banner widget on portal pages. These settings enable customization of headings, descriptions, images, colors, alignment, buttons, and embedded widgets to enhance user engagement and provide a personalized experience.

Show full answer Show less

Instance Configuration Options

Heading: Required title that greets users upon sign-in; supports placeholder variables like <user> (logged-in user’s name), <title> (user salutation from the User [sysuser] table), and <partofday> (time-based greeting).
Description: Required subtitle displayed below the heading.
Background Image: Allows selecting or uploading an image from the Images [dbimage] table to use as the banner background.
Heading and Description Text Colors: Configurable via hex codes, defaulting to white (#FFFFFF).
Alignment: Controls banner content alignment with options for Left or Center; defaults to Center. A selection of None defaults to Left.
Search Bar: Option to display a search bar within the banner, supporting AI search for quick results.
Primary and Secondary Buttons: Options to show buttons with customizable labels and URLs. URLs can be absolute (including protocol) or relative (path only). Buttons open internal pages in the same tab or external pages in new tabs.
Search Placeholder Text: Customizable placeholder for the search input, defaulting to "Search articles and request items."

Behavior Configuration Options

Buttons Condition Script: Scripted logic to control the visibility of primary and secondary buttons. By default, both buttons are shown without conditions. This can be customized using scripted extension points.
Widget Placeholder: Allows embedding an additional widget from the Widgets [spwidget] table within the Portal Banner widget.
Widget Option Schema: Defines parameters for the embedded widget to tailor its behavior and appearance.

Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

By configuring these instance options, customers can create dynamic, personalized banners that enhance portal usability and engagement. This includes greeting users by name and time of day, highlighting important content with buttons and search features, and embedding additional interactive widgets. The flexibility in styling and behavior helps align the portal experience with organizational branding and user needs.

Instance options enable you to configure the Portal Banner widget on a portal page.

Table 1. Presentation fields on the Instance form
Instance option	Description
Heading	Required title of a Portal Banner widget to greet a user who signs in into the website. The default text is `Home Page Banner`. The heading field supports placeholder variables such as <user>, <title>, and <part_of_day>. For example, you could display a banner title such as `Hello Mr. Luddy! Good Morning.` <user>: The name of the logged-in user. <title>: The salutation of the logged-in user. The <title> variable details are retrieved from the User [sys_user] table. <part_of_day>: Displays the greeting based on the part of the day of the user's region. For example, Good morning, Good afternoon, or Good evening.
Description	Required subtitle that appears below the heading. The default description is `This is home page description`.
Background Image	Image to appear as the background on the banner. Note: You can select images from the Images [db_image] table or upload a new image to it. For more information, see Storing images in the database.
Heading Text Color Hex code	Color of the heading text in hex code format. The default value is #FFFFFF (white).
Description Text Color Hex code	Color of the description text color in hex code format. The default value is #FFFFFF (white).
Alignment	Alignment of the banner content inside the widget. The available options are: Left Center The default alignment is Center. Note: Currently, if you select None, the alignment is set to Left.
Show Search bar	Option to display the search bar on the Portal Banner widget to search content. Note: You can enable the AI search for a banner widget to get quick results. For more information, see Enable and configure AI Search in Service Portal.
Show Primary Button	Option to display the primary button on the Portal Banner widget.
Primary Button Label	Label of the primary button.
Primary Button URL	The URL that opens an internal web page or a portal page in the same tab and an external page or a portal in a new tab. The two types of primary URLs are: Absolute URL: The full URL including its protocol (http or https). For example: `https://example.servicenow.com/scripts/sn_csm_ec.js?v=3.1` Relative URL: A URL that includes only the path that comes after the domain. For example: `scripts/sn_csm_ec.js?v=3.1`
Show Secondary Button	Option to display a secondary button on the banner widget.
Secondary Button Label	Label of a secondary button.
Secondary Button URL	The URL that opens an internal web page or a portal page in the same tab and an external page or a portal in a new tab. The two types of secondary URLs are: Absolute URL: The full URL including its protocol (http or https). For example: `https://example.servicenow.com/scripts/sn_csm_ec.js?v=3.1` Relative URL: A URL that includes only the path that comes after the domain. For example: `scripts/sn_csm_ec.js?v=3.1`
Search Placeholder Text	Placeholder text for the search option. The default text is `Search articles and request items`.

Table 2. Behavior fields on the Instance form
Instance option	Description
Buttons Condition Script	Script to show or hide the primary or secondary button. You can use the scripted extension point to implement the condition script. By default, the new script displays both buttons and doesn’t include any condition. For more information, see Provide web page link buttons to display on the Portal Banner widget.
Widget Placeholder	Option to embed an additional widget on the Portal Banner widget. You can include only widgets from the Widgets [sp_widget] table.
Widget Option Schema	Defines the parameters of the widget that you want to add. For more information, see Add a widget in the Portal Banner widget.