Hidden Gems in ServiceNow: beyond the basics
Our world is changing, and it’s changing fast — like a race car zooming around a track. Every industry, software development included, is trying to keep pace. ServiceNow, a key player in this race, is not just keeping up, but paving new paths, like a trailblazer in the wild.
These quick changes have brought a bunch of shiny new tools and techniques into the ServiceNow toolbox. Among these tools, one stands out — modern web development. Think of it as a magic key that can open a chest full of future possibilities.
The Real Picture of Modern Web Development
But here’s where it gets a bit tricky. Some folks think modern web development is just about making things look pretty — colors, text styles, logos. That’s like saying building a house is only about choosing the paint, wood, and nails. We’ve got to change this view if we want to see the whole picture.
Modern web development is a lot more than just making things look good. It’s like a Lego set packed with pre-built blocks, ready to snap together and build something great. With these blocks, you can supercharge your ServiceNow applications so quickly, it’ll feel like magic.
The Power in Your Hands
So, here we are, at the beginning of a great adventure. We have the chance to shape the future of software development with ServiceNow and modern web development.
Here are ten fantastic examples where modern web development brings out its box of pre-made Lego blocks, ready to snap into your ServiceNow solutions:
- Data Grids
- Advanced Data Visualization
- GEO, Maps
- Barcode Scanning / Tracking
- Form Data Collection
- Text Editing
- PDF Forms
- Dashboards & Data representation
- Timelines, Gantt chart, Scheduling
- Diagrams, Process Flows
1. Data Grids
Think of it as Excel-like tables embedded into your ServiceNow forms, which are also accessible by ServiceNow scripts and workflows.
Among the most popular components are FortuneSheet, react-data-grid, and many others.
2. Advanced Data Visualization
These are the most eye-catching diagrams, charts, and graphs for ServiceNow data.
There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of libraries. My personal top three favorites are ECharts, Nivo, and AntD Charts.
3. GEO Maps
Google Maps might be the standard choice, but there’s so much more to explore.
Popular Google Maps alternatives offer multiple overlays, providers, and polygon management capabilities for ServiceNow applications: PigeonMaps, ReactLeaflet, and MapBoxGL.
4. Barcode Scanning / Tracking
Barcode generation and scanning is a must-have for asset tracking apps today. Want to have it in a ServiceNow app? It takes about 2 min and zero dependencies on ServiceNow modules.
The most commonly used libraries, in my experience, are html5-qrcode and jsbarcode.
5. Form Data Collection
Some people still think that you need to create a table, multiple fields, promote to PROD, etc. Others simply use react-jsonschema-form in their ServiceNow apps.
Dynamic form rendering & data collection is very popular for use cases where you need to create data forms with different types of data on the fly.
6. Text Editing
This may sound like a trivial task, but have you ever tried to add markdown support to your ServiceNow documentation and apps?
The most popular text editing component libraries that can make your ServiceNow users happy are TinyMCE and react-md-editor.
7. PDF Forms
Creating PDF files dynamically is an everyday task in our modern world. The react-pdf/renderer makes this process effortless within your ServiceNow application.
If your primary need is to display or view existing PDFs, consider using react-pdf, react-pdf-viewer, among many other libraries available.
8. Dashboards & Data Representation
While this isn’t something new for ServiceNow, given its out-of-the-box functionality, custom dashboard management components give you full control over data and extremely polished, eye-catching UI/UX.
Some of the most trending projects are tremor.so and grid-stack.
9. Timelines, Gantt Charts, Scheduling
Often, you need to put data events on a timeline and give your ServiceNow users the ability to manipulate them — the sky is the limit for doing that in ServiceNow.
Visjs timeline is a popular library to render and manipulate events on a timeline. Google charts and gantt-task-react offer multiple options to play with Gantt charts.
10. Diagrams, Process Flows
You can build your own workflow/process flow tool as a ServiceNow app, and it can be quite sophisticated.
There are dozens of libraries that allow you to create and manipulate workflows/process flows; my favorite one is ReactFlow. Just imagine that level of UI/UX and interactivity as a part of your ServiceNow application.
Still not impressed with the fact that there are no limits in ServiceNow development?
