Combined Theme Builder release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Zurich

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated August 11, 2026
  • 9 minutes to read
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    Summary of Combined Theme Builder Release Notes for Upgrades from Xanadu to Zurich

    This consolidated release notes page provides ServiceNow customers with a comprehensive view of the Theme Builder enhancements, changes, and key information spanning from the Xanadu through Zurich releases. It is designed to assist customers in preparing for upgrades by summarizing new features, removals, deprecations, activation steps, and accessibility improvements relevant to Theme Builder.

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    Key Features

    • Multiple Themes and Alternate Color Palettes (Xanadu): Publish multiple themes with alternate palettes including a dark mode variant. Control the order of themes in the Next Experience user preferences and enable users to select from them.
    • Enhanced Theme Management (Xanadu 4.1): Use drag-and-drop in the List view to publish, unpublish, and order themes. Remove overrides to Global Styles easily. Accessibility Inspector identifies color contrast issues and accessibility errors at component level.
    • Unified Navigation Customization (Yokohama 5.1): Customize Unified Navigation components with preview, shared styling views, and quick access to Component Editor. Accessibility Inspector includes contrast checks for this component.
    • Empty State Illustrations (Yokohama 5.1): Edit colors and override default empty state illustrations with custom images for better brand alignment.
    • New Coral Theme (Zurich 6.1): Publish a fresh, brand-neutral Coral theme with dark mode variants for web and mobile experiences.
    • Custom Fonts (Zurich 6.1): Upload, preview, edit, and manage up to 10 custom font families and unlimited font faces to maintain consistent branding and improve accessibility, including support for cognitive and visual impairments.
    • Expanded Image Customization (Zurich 6.1): Configure and override banner, modal, tile icon, and card images and colors to further tailor the user experience.
    • Guided Tours (Zurich 6.1): Interactive guided tours within Theme Builder assist users in learning new features and completing tasks efficiently.
    • Dark Mode (Zurich 6.1): Theme Builder interface supports light and dark modes to reduce eye strain during theme creation; this does not affect the published themes’ appearance.

    Changes and Removals

    • The “Apply” button for applying themes was removed; publishing is now done via the Publish option in the theme card overflow menu (Xanadu).
    • No other significant removals or changes were made between releases.

    Activation and Upgrade Information

    • Theme Builder became a core plugin with the Next Experience application starting from Yokohama and is available by default.
    • Customers can update Theme Builder through the ServiceNow Store; version update notifications appear in the Editor page from version 4.1 onward.
    • No additional or changed browser requirements or localization considerations were noted.

    Accessibility Enhancements

    • Dark alternate color palettes improve usability in low-light settings.
    • Accessibility Inspector enhancements help identify and resolve color contrast and other accessibility issues across themes and components, including Unified Navigation.
    • Custom fonts improve readability and cognitive accessibility, supporting global languages and users with disabilities.
    • Theme Builder interface dark mode enhances usability for creators without impacting end-user themes.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Manage multiple branded themes with ease, including setting default themes and ordering them for user selection.
    • Customize navigation and illustrations to better reflect organizational branding and improve user experience.
    • Leverage custom fonts and expanded image options to maintain consistent corporate identity and enhance accessibility.
    • Use built-in accessibility tools to ensure themes meet standards and improve usability for all users.
    • Benefit from interactive guided tours to accelerate adoption of new Theme Builder capabilities.
    • Utilize dark mode in the Theme Builder interface to reduce eye strain during theme development.

    Consolidated page of all release notes for Theme Builder from Xanadu to Zurich.

    How to use this page

    To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Theme Builder release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Xanadu to Zurich.

    Tip:
    If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

    Important information for upgrading Theme Builder to Zurich

    Before you upgrade to Zurich, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Yokohama

    		 No updates for this release.

    Zurich

    		 No updates for this release.

    New features

    Between your current release family and Zurich, new features were introduced for Theme Builder.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu
    Publish multiple themes with Theme Builder
    Publish multiple themes with their alternate color palettes to your web instance. Set a default theme for your users.
    Add a dark alternate color palette
    Add a dark alternate color palette to your Theme Builder theme. You can edit this alternate color palette to further enhance your brand style.
    Set the presentation order of your themes in Next Experience
    Define the presentation order of the themes that are displayed in the ServiceNow® Next Experience user preferences.
    Select from multiple themes in Next Experience user preferences
    View multiple themes and their alternate color palettes in Next Experience user preferences.
    Set the presentation order of your Theme Builder themes
    As of Theme Builder version 4.1, you can control the order in which the themes created with Theme Builder appear in Next Experience user preferences by using the List view within the Manager page.
    Remove Global Style overrides
    As of Theme Builder version 4.1, you can remove any overrides that you made to Global Styles and return to your initial values by using the Remove Override button.
    Use drag-and-drop to publish and unpublish your themes
    As of Theme Builder version 4.1, use the drag-and-drop feature in the List view to publish and unpublish your themes for your web instance.
    Adjust a component to meet accessibility standards
    As of Theme Builder version 4.1, the Accessibility Inspector now displays the total number of accessibility errors in your theme and lists the specific components with contrast issues. See the Accessibility section for details.

    Yokohama
    Align with your brand by using the Unified Navigation component
    Customize the Unified Navigation component from within Theme Builder by using the following new features:
    • Quickly view how the Unified Navigation component will look in your theme by using the Preview pane.
    • Use the Component Configuration menu to view any shared styling between subcomponents.
    • View the background color of your subcomponent and see how it renders in relation to the Unified Navigation component by using the updated canvas color feature.
    Use the double-click feature to quickly access the Component Editor
    Double-click a component tile to access the Component Editor where you can continue to make style adjustments to subcomponents, variants, or interactions.
    Adjust the Unified Navigation component to meet accessibility standards
    As of Theme Builder version 5.1, the Accessibility Inspector now displays the total number of accessibility errors with contrast issues for the Unified Navigation component and subcomponents. See the Accessibility section for details.
    Adapt the theme-able illustrations to seamlessly integrate with your brand
    As of Theme Builder version 5.1, use the new Image styles feature to enhance your theme in the following ways:
    • Edit the colors of the empty state illustrations from within Theme Builder. When a part of your Next Experience web page doesn't contain data, an empty state illustration appears. Empty state illustrations are theme-able and adapt to your theme colors.
    • Override empty state illustrations with your own custom images to uniquely align with your branding style.

    Zurich
    Publish the new Coral theme
    Publish or unpublish the new Coral theme directly from Theme Builder. This theme provides a fresh look and feel and features brand-neutral illustrations to enhance your user experience. A dark theme variant is available for web and mobile experiences.
    Upload and manage custom fonts in your theme
    Use your organization's fonts to maintain a consistent look and feel for your brand throughout your experience.
    • Upload, preview, and edit at most 10 custom font families from the Global styles or Component styles tabs.
    • Add unlimited associated font faces to each font family and apply them individually to components.
    • Delete your font family or font face from your theme.
    Explore the expanded image categories with color editing and override capability
    As of Theme Builder version 6.1, configure the following new image categories to further enhance your theme:
    • Edit the colors of banners, modals, tile icons, and cards from within Theme Builder.
    • Override each of these default illustrations with your own custom images to uniquely align with your branding style.
    Guided tours in Theme Builder
    As of version 6.1, learn about additional features and complete tasks through interactive steps by taking guided tours within Theme Builder.

    Changes

    Between your current release family and Zurich, some changes were made to existing Theme Builder features.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Yokohama

    		 No updates for this release.

    Zurich

    		 No updates for this release.

    Removed

    Between your current release family and Zurich, some Theme Builder features or functionality were removed.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu
    • Removed the Apply button used to apply your theme to web and mobile instances. To publish your theme, use the Publish option from the theme card overflow menu. For more information about publishing themes, see Publish your themes with Theme Builder.

    Yokohama

    		 No updates for this release.

    Zurich

    		 No updates for this release.

    Deprecations

    Between your current release family and Zurich, some Theme Builder features or functionality were deprecated.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Yokohama

    		 No updates for this release.

    Zurich

    		 No updates for this release.

    Activation information

    Review information on how to activate Theme Builder.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu
    Install Theme Builder by requesting it from the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.
    Note:
    As of Theme Builder version 4.1, you see when a new Theme Builder update is available from within the Editor page view.

    Yokohama

    Starting with the Yokohama release, Theme Builder is included as a core plugin with the Next Experience application and is available by default. You can update to the latest version of Theme Builder from ServiceNow Store.

    Zurich

    Theme Builder is included as a core plugin with the Next Experience application and is available by default. You can update to the latest version of Theme Builder from the ServiceNow Store.

    Additional requirements

    If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Theme Builder we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Yokohama

    		 No updates for this release.

    Zurich

    		 No updates for this release.

    Browser requirements

    If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Theme Builder we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Yokohama

    		 No updates for this release.

    Zurich

    		 No updates for this release.

    Accessibility information

    Review details on accessibility information for Theme Builder, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu
    Accessibility improvements for Theme Builder include the following updates:
    • Added a dark alternate color palette that makes the display easier for your eyes and less disturbing in low-light settings is available for creation. For more information, see Add an alternate color palette.
    • Updated modal when you publish a theme group for your web instance. A warning appears if there’s an accessibility error within the base theme or the theme's alternate color palettes. A link within the modal navigates you to the correct theme or alternate color palette with accessibility errors.
    • Improved Accessibility Inspector detects and guides you through fixing accessibility issues in your theme. This tool includes the total number of violations and a list of specific components with accessibility issues. For more information, see Adjust a component to meet accessibility standards.
    • Updated reflow feature ensures the content within the Component Editor view automatically adjusts when the screen size is reduced. This improvement eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling.

    Yokohama
    Adjust the Unified Navigation component to meet accessibility standards
    The Accessibility Inspector, which detects and guides you through fixing contrast issues in your theme, now includes accessibility errors for the Unified Navigation component and subcomponents.

    Zurich
    Upload custom font
    The ability to upload custom fonts to your theme can help users with disabilities in several ways, including:
    • Improved readability: Custom fonts can be selected to enhance readability, making text easier to see, understand, and retain. This is beneficial for users with visual impairments, as clear letter forms reduce eye strain.
    • Support for cognitive differences: Custom fonts can address cognitive accessibility needs. For instance, users with dyslexia or Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may benefit from fonts that reduce reading strain and improve information processing.
    • Improved globalization support: Custom fonts tailored to specific languages improve the readability for non-Latin alphabets and ensure consistent, accessible user experiences across global audiences.
    Dark mode in Theme Builder
    As of version 6.1, Theme Builder is now available in light and dark mode. This option is commonly used to alleviate eye strain and improve readability. Dark mode applies to the Theme Builder interface only and does not affect the appearance of individual themes.

    Localization information

    If there are specific localization considerations for Theme Builder we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu

    		 No updates for this release.

    Yokohama

    		 No updates for this release.

    Zurich

    		 No updates for this release.

    Highlight information

    If there are specific highlight considerations for Theme Builder we have noted them here.

    Release Release notes

    Xanadu
    • Achieve your branding and styling needs by offering multiple themes and alternate color palettes to your users.
    • Add a dark alternate color palette to your newly created themes and edit to refine your theme.
    • As of Theme Builder version 4.1, receive notifications about updates directly from the Theme Builder application.
    • As of Theme Builder version 4.1, organize your themes by priority, purpose, or other criteria, by using the drag-and-drop feature in the List view. With this feature, you can publish and order the themes that are displayed in the Next Experience Theme user preference.

    See Working with themes in Next Experience for more information.

    Yokohama
    • Edit and style the Unified Navigation component to better suit your brand.
    • Make individual style edits on a component by double-clicking it to quickly access the Component Editor.
    • As of Theme Builder version 5.1, customize the colors of empty state illustrations from within Theme Builder.
    • As of Theme Builder version 5.1, use your own custom images by overriding the default empty state illustrations.

    See Working with themes in Next Experience for more information.

    Zurich
    • Publish the new Next Experience Coral theme from Theme Builder.
    • Add custom fonts to your theme for enhanced branding.
    • As of Theme Builder version 6.1, configure modal, tile icon, banner, and card colors, and override these default illustrations with your own custom imagery.
    • As of Theme Builder version 6.1, enable dark mode to improve usability of Theme Builder in low-light conditions.

    See Working with themes for more information.