Available question types in Creator Studio

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of Available question types in Creator Studio

    Creator Studio enables you to build forms using various types of questions to capture requester input effectively. There are two main categories of questions:General questionsthat provide open or predefined answer options, andReference-based questionsthat pull answer choices dynamically from specified database tables. Selecting the appropriate question type tailors the form experience and data collection to your app’s needs.

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    General question types

    General questions allow you to collect responses via simple input methods or predefined selections. Key types include:

    • Short answer (Single-line text): For brief text answers like names or emails.
    • Multi-line text: Allows longer textual responses.
    • Dropdown and Radio button: Present predefined single-choice options.
    • Checkbox: For true/false or multiple binary selections; placing two checkboxes side-by-side creates a section with restrictions on other question types.
    • Yes/No: Simple binary choice.
    • Date and Date and time: Users select dates or date-times from a calendar interface.
    • Question set: Preconfigured question groups created in Service Catalog; these cannot be edited once added.
    • Attachment: Allows users to upload files; can be used with dynamic form behaviors to appear conditionally.
    • Duration: Captures length of time with day, hour, minute, and second granularity; supports dynamic behavior.

    Reference-based question types

    Reference-based questions dynamically source answer choices from tables you specify, enabling integration with existing data records. Types include:

    • Record choices: Pull answers from a related table filtered by conditions (e.g., selecting related incidents). Supports auto-fill for populating other fields based on selection.
    • Field choices: Retrieves possible answers from a specific field within a table, filtered as needed (e.g., country selection).
    • Multi-select: Allows users to select multiple options retrieved from a table with filtering.

    Question configuration details

    When adding questions to forms, you can customize various settings to control behavior and appearance:

    • Question label: The prompt displayed to users.
    • Help text: Tooltip guidance for users.
    • Show questions on form: Optionally hide questions but keep data associated behind the scenes.
    • Mark as required or read-only: Enforce mandatory answers or prevent edits.
    • Default value: Auto-populates answers when the form opens; reference-based defaults support wildcard searches.
    • Choices: Define or rearrange answer options for dropdown or radio button types; can include a “None” choice.
    • Source table and field: Specify where reference-based question answers come from.
    • Filter conditions: Apply conditions to limit visible choices, using the condition builder tool.

    Practical implications for ServiceNow customers

    Using Creator Studio’s diverse question types, you can design forms tailored to capture precise data from users, integrate with ServiceNow tables, and implement dynamic behaviors such as conditional question display and auto-filling fields. This flexibility helps streamline data collection, improve form usability, and ensure data consistency across your ServiceNow applications.

    Build apps using different types of questions on a form in Creator Studio.

    You get to pick the questions to ask requesters. Creator Studio provides two types of questions you can ask:
    • General questions are where you give requesters an empty box to write a short answer (think name or email) or a list of choices to pick from (like a dropdown menu or those little circles you fill in).
    • Reference-based questions are where you provide a list of choices that you define in a table.

    The type of question you select from the Content type field in the Question details panel changes the question's settings that appear.

    Types of general questions

    Table 1. General question type form elements
    Content type Description
    Short answer (Single-line text) Single-line question.
    Multi-line text Longer option that provides space for a question multiple lines in length.
    Dropdown Question with a list of pre-defined answers that users select from a dropdown menu. Users can select only one answer.
    Radio button Question with list of pre-defined answers that users select from radio buttons. Users can select only one answer.
    Check box True or false question that users answer by selecting the relevant check box.
    Note:
    If you put two checkbox questions side-by-side on a form, they make a section. You can't add other types of questions to that section.
    Yes/No Question where users select Yes or No as their answer.
    Date Question where the answer is a date that users must select from a calendar.
    Date and time Question where the answer is a date and time that users must specify.
    Question set Preconfigured questions that you can't change.

    Admins create question sets in Service Catalog. For more information, see Service catalog variable sets.

    Note:
    • You can't change an existing question into a question set. To include a question set on a form, you must newly add it to the form.
    • If you put two checkbox questions side-by-side on a form, they make a section. You can't add other types of questions to that section.
    Attachment Question where users add an attachment.
    Note:
    The Attachment question differs from the Add attachment option for the overall form. You can use the Add attachment question to include in dynamic behavior, for example appearing when a user answers a Photograph on badge? question with Yes, enabling them to upload a headshot. For more information on dynamic behavior, see Make a form change based on responses in Creator Studio.
    Duration Question where users specify a length of time.
    When you add a Duration question, you then specify the Days, Hours, Minutes, and Seconds that an event will last.
    Note:
    You can also add duration for dynamic behavior questions. For more information, see Make a form change based on responses in Creator Studio.

    Types of reference-based question types

    Reference-based questions pull their possible values from the table that you must designate as the Source table.

    Table 2. Reference-based question form elements
    Content type Description
    Record choices Question where the answers are retrieved from an additional specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.

    Use this question on a form that references data from another form, such as a form that uses the Incident table. "Choose the related incident" is an example Record choices question, which could use a filtered list of incidents as possible answer selections.

    If you have a Record choices question on a form, you'll see an Add auto-fill option when you configure other questions on the form. Select the Add auto-fill option to choose a value from the Record choices question's table to automatically populate the question's answer.

    For example, a form can enable someone to select a user for the Choose the gift box recipient field, which retrieves its values from the User table. An additional Preferred name field can be automatically populated from the First name field of the User table selection, but then edited if someone prefers a nickname.
    Field choices Question where the answers are retrieved from a field on the specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.

    For example, you could create a Field choices question for a table with a "Country" field, which the user could then use to select their country.
    Multi-select Question where users can select multiple answers that are retrieved from the specified table when the filter conditions, which you must also define, are met.

    Use this question on a form that references data from multiple other forms, such as a form that pulls answers from multiple separate Incident tables.

    Question details

    Depending on the type of question you add to a form, you must specify some of the following details.

    Table 3. Question type details
    Field Description Available for
    Question label Question or statement that says what the question is asking. All question types
    Help text Additional information that appears as a tooltip to guide the user when they hover over the information icon. All question types
    Show questions on form Hide the question from the form by leaving this option unselected.

    You can use this option to associate data with the form behind the scenes by adding it to the app's table.

    		 All question types
    Mark as required Option to make the question required before the user can submit the form. All question types
    Mark as read-only Option to make the question read-only.

    For example, if you don't automatically pull the user's role into the form's table, you could create a single-line text question where the default value is their role (such as Sales) and then hide it. You could even hide the question from the form to make the data exchange invisible to the user.

    		 All question types
    Default value Value that's auto-populated in the question’s answer when the form is opened.

    For reference-based questions where you designate a source table, you must use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard when searching for values in the Default value field.

    For example, if the question references the User table and you're looking for Abel Tuter, entering Tuter won't find that user but entering *Tuter will.

    		 All question types
    Choices Customizable answers to the question, which you can drag to rearrange in a new order.
    • Dropdown
    • Radio button
    Include "None" as a choice Option to include None as a possible answer to the question.
    • Dropdown
    • Radio button
    • Field choices
    Default to the first choice Option to display the first choice as the possible answer when the user sees the question. Radio button
    Source table Table location that provides data for answers to the question.
    • Record choices
    • Field choices
    • Multi-select
    Field Field in the specified source table that possible answers are retrieved from. Field choices
    Filter conditions Conditions that must be met to view certain choices. Select Add condition and use the condition builder to create the filter. For more information, see Condition builder.
    • Record choices
    • Field choices
    • Multi-select