Introduction to the Side Tickets core features

What does the app do?

• Create and link side tickets with original requests
• Create ticket templates with individual data fields
• Transfer specific data from the main ticket to side tickets
• Drag comments and attachments between tickets
• Choose between public or private comments
• Timeline of all events involving original and side tickets

Basic features

1. Create side tickets

The main feature of the app is to create a linked side ticket to the current one. In order to do that, the Zendesk admin first needs to define the template on the admin page, and then agents can use it with the configuration defined previously by the admin. 

2. Template management

In the template page, you can create a template for agents which will specify different fields like title, description, requester, assignee, form, group, brand and etc. 

3. Template Grouping

You can group your templates into specific groups in the same way as it is done with macros. Just write two colons in the template name in order to group the template. 

Agents will see the created group in the sidebar as well.

4. Clone the template

You can clone the template you’ve already set up to make similar templates in one click. Just press the clone button near the name and color field of the template.

5. Release templates for groups

On the template page, you can select the groups that will have access to the selected template. By default, every group can see the template. You need to toggle “Visible for all groups” and then choose the groups that you want to have access to the current template.

6. Support of placeholders in the templates

You can use Zendesk placeholders in the ticket subject and ticket description. For more information about placeholders, visit our support page. 

7. ‘Direct ticket’ mode in the templates

You can use direct ticket mode as an alternative to regular side ticket templates. The main advantage of this mode is that you can copy all messages from the main ticket directly to the new one. 

To turn this mode on, you should toggle the "Direct ticket" switch in the template. 

Once agents choose this template in the dropdown menu of the ticket sidebar, they will see a modal window for direct ticket.

Every field is the same as in the ticket. But in the direct ticket menu, you can press copy and forward buttons from the comment to copy this comment into the new ticket. The Copy button just pastes the same comment. On the contrary, the Forward button will add a header before the comment with the sender and recipient information. Also, you can manually choose and add different attachments to the new ticket. See example below. 

Copy button

Forward button

Character limit in modal window 

There is a character limit, and it is due to a Zendesk system limitation. Zendesk truncates ticket comments after 65,535 characters. This means that any text exceeding this limit will be cut off automatically and cannot be stored in a single comment field.

What you can do:

• Split the content into multiple comments or entries
• Attach the full correspondence as a document (recommended)
• Store the complete text externally and reference it in the ticket

8. Reorder templates

You can reorder created templates on the admin page. By default, the templates are in alphabetical order. But Zendesk admins can turn on the template reordering feature in the app settings, which will allow them to reorder the list of templates by dragging them. Note: Reordering doesn't work in nested groups mentioned in the 3rd point of this article.

9. Draft mode 

You can save the current state of the direct ticket with filled fields and close the menu in case you forgot to fill a mandatory custom field, or you need some other information from other tickets. Just press the “Save button” in the top-right corner of the direct ticket menu. When you do everything you want, you can open the saved state of the direct ticket menu using the button in the ticket sidebar. Also, you can delete the saved state if you don’t need it. Press the cross button. 

10. Push & Pull function

You can exchange the comments between the main ticket and any of the side tickets. To access this feature, press the corresponding button in the ticket sidebar to open the menu. 

In the push and pull menu, you can choose which comments or attachments you want to transfer to another ticket by pressing the arrow button. Also, you can make the comments private using the toggle. 

11. Solve all side tickets when the main ticket is solved or closed

Once the main ticket is solved or closed, you can solve all side tickets with one click. Just press the Solve button, see screenshot below.

Need help?

If you have any questions or suggestions related to this app, please get in touch with us at app-support@leafworks.de or via our contact form.