EC Information architecture

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of EC Information Architecture

    The enhanced EC Information Architecture in the Australia release enables ServiceNow customers to improve content discovery and visibility through an out-of-the-box (OOTB) advanced portal navigation. This architecture allows designing and configuring primary navigation menus tailored to employee needs and content priorities, organizing content into menus or modal windows for efficient access.

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    Key Features

    • Navigation Layouts: Two OOTB mega menu layouts are available—Standard (three levels) and Expanded (four levels)—with flexibility to configure more taxonomy levels based on business needs.
    • Navigation Configuration: Primary navigation can be set up as side navigation for simplicity and a modern app-like experience or top navigation for handling depth, complexity, and broader topic visibility.
    • Hierarchy and Topic Management: Topics can be added up to three levels under a root-level menu item, maintaining clear hierarchies without mixing topics from different branches.
    • Dynamic Adjustments: The display of deeper levels (Level 3 in expanded and Level 2 in standard views) dynamically adjusts based on available space.
    • Browse Button Behavior: The Browse button appears conditionally—absent for root items without children or active quick links, present in hamburger views only for topics, and customizable though its text does not display in mobile hamburger views.
    • Quick Links: Available on root-level in standard view to facilitate quick access; however, they are not fetched when using a synchronized hierarchy, and only limited levels of topics and menu items are fetched.
    • Visibility Control: Topics’ visibility in the mega menu depends on connected content being active at both the source and navigation item levels in Advanced Portal Navigation.

    Practical Guidance

    • Choose side navigation for simpler, focused interfaces and top navigation when extensive topic visibility is required.
    • Maintain clear hierarchical topic structures without mixing branches to ensure predictable navigation behavior.
    • Ensure content and navigation items are active to avoid display issues in the mega menu.
    • Note that disabling the Browse button affects desktop only; mobile retains it due to current responsive navigation limitations.

    Next Steps

    • Configure advanced portal navigation to leverage these enhanced navigation capabilities.
    • Consider simplified left navigation configuration for use cases prioritizing minimalism.

    You can now use the out-of-the-box enhanced information architecture for improving content discovery and visibility.

    Using the advanced portal navigation, you can design the primary navigation menu and configure the navigation setup based on employee needs and content priorities. Organize your content into menus or modal windows.
    Figure 1. Out-of-the-box mega menu architecture options
    This image is for illustration purpose only for the out-of-the-box (OOTB) mega menu.
    • OOTB EC Pro mega menu layout is expanded.
    • OOTB EC mega menu layout is standard.
      Note:
      You can use a layout of your choice and configure more levels in your taxonomy based on business needs.

    Useful tips and information

    Use some of the following guidance and tips.
    • Side navigation is ideal for organizations prioritizing simplicity, focus, and a modern, app-like experience; top navigation remains the better choice when depth, complexity, or broader topic visibility is needed.
    • For Standard view, you can have a maximum of three levels.
    • For Expanded view, you can have a maximum of four levels (one menu item in the hierarchy and topics up to three levels). In this example, Help center > Technology Resources > Hardware > Computers, you have
      • One navigation menu item Help center and
      • Three levels of topics Technology Resources > Hardware > Computers
    • Add topics up to three levels from the root-level. For example, when you add topics under Human Resources, you can only traverse from Human Resources > Subtopic 1 > Subtopics 2.
    • Topics from one hierarchy cannot be mixed with topics of another hierarchy. For example,
      • For Human Resources > Pay and Time > Compensation, you cannot add Hardware as a child of HR.
      • For Technology Resources > Hardware > Computers, you cannot add Pay and Time as a child of Technology Resources or Hardware or Computers.
      • Pay and Time can be a sibling of Technology Resources or Hardware or Computers.
    • Level 3 in the expanded view and level 2 in the standard view are dynamically adjusted as per available space.
    • For the root item without any child items or any active associated quick link, the Browse button is not displayed.
    • The browse button is displayed in the hamburger view for topics and the browse button is not displayed in the hamburger view for SP menu items.
      Note:
      You can configure the browse button however the button text is not displayed in the hamburger view. The Browse button display text in the hamburger view is Browse all.
    • A quick links related list is available on the root-level for the standard view.
    • A quick links related list is not available on the root-level for the expanded view.
    • Quick links are fetched when you create portal records.
      Note:
      When you use a sync hierarchy, the quick links are not fetched.
    • Only three levels of topics and two levels of SP menu items associated with portal taxonomy are fetched.
    • Visibility of a topic in the Mega menu is based on connected content.​ To avoid display issues, ensure it is active at the source (topic or SP menu item) level and at navigation item level in Advanced portal navigation.​
    • When you disable the 'Browse' button in the mega menu from <APN config page/record name>, the browse button is disabled only in the desktop version. Mobile version still displays the Browse button as responsive version of the navigation does not currently support the buttons.