ACLs are the native, secure, and maintainable way to enforce record-level access within ServiceNow. Creating an ACL that evaluates the user’s IP address (e.g., using gs.getSession().getClientIP()) against an internal network range directly enforces the security requirement at the platform level. This is more robust than relying solely on external firewalls or client-side scripts, which can be bypassed. A separate portal instance is an overly complex solution for this specific access control need.

A single workflow with conditional branching is the most efficient and maintainable design. It keeps the entire business process logic in one visible, manageable flow. It allows you to model the real-world decision (heavy vs. light) as a condition within the process, ensuring the correct team task is created automatically. Creating separate workflows or catalog items duplicates logic and makes maintenance harder, while a Business Rule would obscure the process logic from the visual workflow designer.

The absence of proper database indexes is one of the most common causes of slow GlideRecord queries. Before optimizing code logic or changing user experience, you must ensure the database can efficiently find the relevant records. Querying large tables like task or sc_request without indexes on filtered columns forces full table scans, which severely impacts performance. Adding the correct indexes is a foundational step that often yields dramatic improvements.

Service Portal is designed to support multiple branded experiences from a single instance. Creating a new Theme is the correct, modular approach. You can define a new color scheme via CSS Variables, select a different header and footer, and apply this theme to specific pages (like a new onboarding portal homepage). This allows for distinct branding while sharing all users, data, and core platform functionality, avoiding the maintenance nightmare of duplicate portals or widget-level CSS hacks.

The Service Portal uses AngularJS (v1.x) as its client-side framework. The correct pattern is to leverage AngularJS’s data binding and the `$watch` function. By watching the model tied to the email input field, you can trigger a validation function instantly on each keystroke and update another `$scope` variable that controls the visibility of the green checkmark. This provides a seamless, real-time user experience that is native to the portal’s architecture. jQuery is less integrated, UI Policies are server-side, and HTML5 validation lacks custom UI feedback.

The ‘Public’ checkbox on a Widget is a critical security setting. When checked, it allows the widget to execute and display its content for unauthenticated (anonymous) users accessing a public portal page. If this box is not checked, the widget will not render for users without a valid login session. This setting is essential for controlling what information and functionality are exposed on public-facing knowledge bases or self-registration pages.

The `GlideRecord.query(cacheName, cacheAge)` method is specifically designed for this purpose. The first parameter is a unique cache name (e.g., ‘kb_articles_widget’), and the second is the cache duration in seconds. This tells the platform to store the query results in its cache. Subsequent executions of the same query with the same cache name within the time window will retrieve the results from the cache instead of hitting the database, significantly improving performance for static or semi-static data.

System Properties are the secure and maintainable way to store configuration data, especially sensitive data like API keys and URLs. Storing them in a System Property allows administrators to update them without modifying code (like workflow scripts), enables different values between development and production instances, and protects the credentials from being visible in plain text within scripts. Hardcoding is insecure and inflexible, while creating a user account or manual entry is impractical for an automated process.

This is a common cross-scope access issue. Global components cannot directly reference scoped application tables using the standard `GlideRecord(‘scoped_table_name’)`. The correct API to use for accessing scoped tables from a different scope (including global) is `GlideRecordSecure`. This API respects the application’s scope and security model. Simply correcting the table name or adjusting roles will not resolve the fundamental scope access error.

ACLs are the native, secure, and maintainable way to enforce record-level access within ServiceNow. Creating an ACL that evaluates the user’s IP address (e.g., using gs.getSession().getClientIP()) against an internal network range directly enforces the security requirement at the platform level. This is more robust than relying solely on external firewalls or client-side scripts, which can be bypassed. A separate portal instance is an overly complex solution for this specific access control need.0