About Layouts

Layouts define what information should be documented about each type of entity in Service Mapping. They act as standardized templates to ensure that every Entity — such as an IT Service, Application, Vendor, or Customer — contains the same key information, like owner, priority, security level, contact person, invoicing details, or supporting assets.

Layouts help organizations build consistent, structured documentation and make collaboration between IT and the business easier.

Why Layouts Matter

By defining clear templates for documentation, layouts ensure that:

• Every entity contains consistent, high-quality information
• Governance processes are easier to audit and maintain
• Collaboration becomes predictable across teams
• Administrators can evolve documentation standards in one place

Layouts are the foundation of a scalable and maintainable governance structure.

How Layouts Work

Each layout defines the sections, fields, and tables that appear on a card.

Sections

Use Sections organize information into logical groups such as General Information, Ownership, or Dependencies. You can reuse sections across different entity types for documentation that applies to any entity.

Fields

Use fields for general information such as:

• Service Owner
• Priority or Criticality
• Security Level
• Description or Notes

Fields are ideal for static or descriptive data that helps explain how the service or application is used.

Tables

Tables are used to display lists of related assets or linked entities, such as:

• Servers, databases, or storage systems supporting the service
• Linked vendors, applications, or customers
• Network equipment, backups, or file systems

Because layouts are standardized, anyone editing a card knows exactly what information is expected. This makes documentation predictable, uniform, and easy to maintain.

Tip

Think of layouts as documentation templates that set the expectation for what information should be filled in — especially useful when colleagues outside IT help maintain governance documentation.

Editing and Managing Layouts

Only administrators can create or modify layouts. When a layout is edited, all cards using that layout are automatically updated with the new structure. This allows you to roll out documentation changes centrally without editing each card individually.

Users who collaborate on cards can still edit the data within the layout’s fields and tables, according to their access permissions (managed through Collaboration Access Control).

Tip

Before making major changes, review how existing fields are used. Removing a field from a layout will remove it from all cards that use that layout.

Bundled Layouts

vScope includes bundled layouts to help you get started with governance documentation. These serve as a good starting point for common entity types like IT Services, Applications, and Vendors.

You can fully customize these layouts: add new fields, rename sections, or adjust tables to match your organization’s needs.

Tip

If you edit a bundled layout, you can always revert it to its default (bundled) state later. Updates made by vScope to bundled layouts do not affect existing cards that use them.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do you update the bundled layouts over time?

Yes. vScope may occasionally update the bundled layouts to include improvements or new fields.
These updates do not affect your existing customized layouts or the cards that use them.

Should we copy the bundled layouts or edit them directly?

You can safely edit a bundled layout. However, if you want to make significant changes or maintain your own documentation standard, it’s a good idea to duplicate the layout and customize your own version.
That way, you keep the original layout as a reference for future updates.

What does the Revert button do?

The Revert button restores a bundled layout to its default state. This means any changes you’ve made will be replaced by the original version provided by vScope. The information removed from the layout is still saved on the entities, but not visible until the field/table is added to the layout again.