Where to avoid linking to a reference field when configuring a list

[Dawn Jurek]

When you click a link anywhere on a web page, you have an expectation of where that link will take you. But if the page returns something totally unexpected, you may be confused, or even feel like a victim of clickbait. In this third installment of our best practices series, we look at how to avoid inadvertently creating confusing links within the lists in your instance when configuring them.

See Annotate scripts and customizations with comments for the first installment on script comments.

See Limit the Number of Users with the Admin Role for the second installment on user roles.

When configuring lists as an administrator, or when personalizing list columns as an end user, you should leave the first column in the list as the target record field, rather than moving a reference field column to the first column position in the list.

Why you should leave the first column in the list as the target record field

When you click a reference field in a list, the system displays the actual record that the reference value comes from instead of displaying the target record in the list. For example, if the Incident list is displayed and you click a reference value in the Caller column, it opens the caller's record on the User table rather than the incident record.

When users click a value in the first column of a list, they expect the corresponding record in the list to be displayed. If the first column in the list is a reference field, users may be confused when the system does not open the expected record.

Configuring Lists best practice

When configuring lists as an administrator, or when personalizing list columns as an end user, the first column in the list should not be a reference field. Configuring list layout requires the personalize_list role and affects all users, while anyone can personalize list columns, and those changes affect only the logged-in user.

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Behind the scenes here at ServiceNow, the Knowledge Management team works closely with subject matter experts to disseminate critical information to our customers. We've found that certain topics come up frequently, in the form of best practices that can help you keep your ServiceNow instances running smoothly. This series aims to target those topics so that you and your organization can benefit from our collective expertise.

To access all of the blog posts in this series, search for "nowsupport best practices series."