Viewing related items on the Unified Map timeline

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    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 Viewing related items on the Unified Map timeline

    The Unified Map timeline in ServiceNow's Zurich release provides a visual history of related configuration items (CIs) such as incidents, problems, and changes over a specified period. This timeline helps customers understand how changes affect their CMDB topology by showing related items for a selected CI and their temporal relationships.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Timeline and Map Synchronization: Selecting a CI on the map displays related items on the timeline. The timeline’s map time marker controls the date for displayed data, defaulting to the current time but adjustable to any past or future date within a six-month range.
    • Visual Indicators: Markers indicate related items occurring at or before the map time. Multiple events on the same date are grouped with a badge showing the count.
    • Time Span Adjustment: Users can zoom in or out to adjust the timeline’s visible range from six months in the past to six months in the future, filtering what appears on the timeline but not removing items from the Related items panel.
    • Timeline Controls: Options include showing/hiding the timeline, resetting to current time, dragging the time marker to change map time, scrolling through time, and managing markers (add, replace, clear).
    • Viewing Related Items for All CIs: Clicking an empty space on the map displays related items across all CIs rather than a single selected CI.
    • Administrative Configuration: Administrators can configure timeline properties affecting all users, including which related item details appear on timelines.

    Practical Use for ServiceNow Customers

    This feature enables customers to:

    • Visualize the historical context of changes and incidents related to specific CIs over time.
    • Understand impact timelines and dependencies by reviewing related items in a synchronized map and timeline view.
    • Customize the timeline view to focus on relevant periods, enhancing investigation and decision-making processes.
    • Manage timeline markers to highlight significant events or dates for detailed analysis.
    • Configure timeline displays to align with organizational needs, ensuring relevant related item information is surfaced consistently.

    The timeline indicates related items like incidents, problems, and changes over a specified period of time for the selected CI. You can use the timeline to visualize the history of changes to a CI and how they affect the topology of the CMDB.

    Viewing related items

    • When you first open a map, CIs and relationships appear as they are at the current moment in time. When you select a CI on the map, the timeline displays related items for the CI.

    • You can drag the map time marker (A in the image) on the timeline to specify the end date (the map time) for data that should appear on the map and on the timeline. The default map time is "now", but you can specify a particular date or drag the marker to a date.

    • The map and the timeline are synchronized. The map shows the selected CI and its connections as they existed (based on the creation date of nodes) at the specified map time. The timeline displays markers (B in the image) to indicate related items that happened at or before map time.

      The timeline indicates all related items for the CI within a time span that happened before the specified map time.

    • You can also specify the overall time span (C in the image) of the timeline view.

    • CIs that were created after the map time don't appear on the timeline and don't affect items on the timeline.
    • Multiple related items on the same date are indicated by a badge that shows the count of related items.

    Actions on the timeline

    Desired result Action
    Show or hide the timeline Select the Timeline icon .
    Set the map time marker (and therefore the items on the map) to the current time Select Now.
    Set map time to a particular date and time Drag the map time marker.
    Scroll the timeline toward the past or the future Select an arrow at the side of the timeline.
    View the date and time for a related item marker Move to the marker.
    View the details for a related item Move to the badge for the related item.
    Change the time span of the timeline

    Select a zoom icon or .

    The time span can range from six months in the past to six months in the future.

    A related item that has occurred or that will occur outside the range doesn't appear on the timeline. Such related items, however, still appear in the corresponding Related items panel. In addition, a badge in the map might show data for the related item.
    Manage a marker

    Select the marker, select the more actions icon , and then select one of the following actions:

    • Replace marker: Replace the current marker with a marker for the specified date.
    • Clear marker: Clear all markers.
    • Add marker: Add a marker for the specified date.
    View related items for all CIs on the map Select an empty space on the map.

    Configuring general timeline properties

    Admins can configure some properties of the timeline that affect all users, such as which related item details appear on timelines. For more information, see Configure how to display related items on the map.