Change schedules view

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

3 minutes to read

Summarize

Summarized using AI

Summary of Change schedules view

The Change Schedules module in ServiceNow provides a Gantt or timeline view of change requests based on criteria defined in a Change Schedule Definition. This view offers detailed insights into change requests, including timing, duration, related tasks, blackout periods, and maintenance windows over selectable time frames like days, weeks, or months.

Show full answer Show less

To access this functionality, the Change Management - Change Schedule plugin (com.snc.changemanagement.soc) must be activated. Change requests are displayed as spans whose duration corresponds to the start and end dates specified in the schedule definition.

The module uses a condition builder to filter and sort which change requests appear in the schedule. For blackout and maintenance windows to be visible, the Configuration Item (CI) field on each change request must be populated, as the view only shows windows related to the primary CI.

Key Features

Context Menu: Enables creating, editing, copying, viewing definitions, and deleting change schedules. Ownership rules apply: creators become owners, and ITIL role users without ownership have limited permissions.
Span Styles: Change request spans are color-coded by conditions, defaulting to Risk levels (High = Red, Moderate = Orange, Low = Green). Users can add or modify span styles and apply filters.
Sharing: Change schedules can be shared with other users, groups, or roles. Sharing options include notifying users by email. Without sharing, only owners, owner groups, and administrators can see the schedules.
Configuration: Users can control the visibility of schedule components such as configuration items, durations, or related tasks.
Keyboard Shortcuts: Accessibility is improved with navigation shortcuts for quick movement through schedules.
Zoom and Navigation: Zoom levels range from hourly to yearly views, and arrow keys enable moving forward or backward in time. A Today button returns the view to the current date and time.
Change Record Summary: Clicking on a span shows a summary of the change request with an option to open the full record form. Displayed fields can be customized in the Change Schedule Definition form.

Operational Details

Change schedules load up to 20 records per batch on the client side, with a maximum of 1000 records by default. These limits can be adjusted by a system administrator through properties installed with the Change Management - Change Schedule plugin.

Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

Gain clear visibility into change timing and related activities in a consolidated timeline.
Improve change planning by identifying conflicts with blackout periods and maintenance windows tied to configuration items.
Customize views and share schedules with relevant stakeholders to enhance collaboration and communication.
Navigate and manage change schedules efficiently using keyboard shortcuts and zoom features.
Control access and ownership for managing schedules securely within your teams.

The Change Schedules module provides a Gantt or timeline view of change requests based on criteria defined within a Change Schedule Definition.

The change schedule provides detailed insight to change requests that are included based on the change schedule definition. The change requests can include change timing, duration, related change tasks, blackout periods, and maintenance windows for any given date, week or month.

To view the Change Schedules page, you must activate Change Management - Change Schedule plugin (com.snc.change_management.soc).

Change requests are represented by a span. The duration of the span is defined by the start and end date fields defined in the Change Schedule definition. The Change Schedules page allows conditions to be defined using the condition builder. The condition builder determines which change requests are displayed and sorted in a change schedule.

Note:

To show the blackout and maintenance windows of the change in the calendar view, the Configuration item field for the change must be populated. The change schedule view is only able to display related Blackout and Maintenance windows for the primary CI (Configuration item) defined for each change request.

Change Schedule page with highlighted callouts. For the text descriptions, refer to the table that follows. — Figure 1. Change Schedule timeline page


SI #	UI Component	Description
1	Context Menu	Option to do the following: Create new schedule: You can create a new schedule from a simplified wizard. Edit a schedule: Allows the modification of change schedules you own and any changes made are saved to the related Change Schedule Definition record. Copy a schedule: If you are the owner of the change schedule that you want to copy, then a copy of the change schedule is created. If you want to copy a change schedule that is owned by any other user, then you become the owner of the copied schedule and the new schedule is fully editable by you. View schedule definition: You can view the change schedule definition and the related fields associated with it. Delete: Allows users, who own a change schedule, to delete the schedule. Note: A user who only possesses the ITIL role and is not the owner of a change schedule can only create a schedule, copy a schedule, or view an existing schedule definition. You become the owner of any schedule that you create. The new schedule that you create appears in the Change Schedule page in a tile form under the Your Schedules tab.
2	Span styles	Defined span color based on conditions you specify. You can add new span styles by clicking Add Span Styles. You can also edit an existing style rule, apply filters to a style rule, or remove a style rule. Note: By default, span styles are based on the Risk value of a change. Risk = High – Span style is Red Risk = Moderate – Span style is Orange Risk = Low – Span style is green
3	Share	Schedules to be shared to other users by user name, group, or role. The share pane also provides a check box to share a change schedule with everybody. If change schedules are not shared with anyone, then only the owner, owner group, and administrator can see them. If a change schedule is shared with other users, an option is available to send an email notification to inform them of their access.
4	Configuration	Components of the change schedule including the configuration item, duration, or any related tasks can be hidden or exposed.
5	Keyboard shortcuts	List of available keyboard shortcuts to help you navigate quickly and to provide accessibility to users. The list of navigation shortcuts appears when you click
6	Zoom	Zoom levels to control change schedule zoom resolution. The range can vary from hours to a yearly view of change schedules.
7	Arrow keys	Option to navigate forward or back in time in the change schedule based on the current zoom level. Click Today to navigate back to the current day and time in a single click.
8	Change record	Summary of the change record when you click any span. Use Open Record in the header of the summary to open the change request in the form view. In the form, you can view the entire change request record. Note: You can specify the fields that are displayed in this window. On the Change Schedule Definition form, under the Record Summary tab, specify required fields on Left column fields and Right column fields.

Note:

Change schedules are loaded on the timeline page on the client side in batches of 20. You can load a maximum of 1000 records. These numbers can be modified by system administrator. For more information, refer the properties at Installed with Change Management - Change Schedule.