Last updated: 2024-12-10
Feedback from channels such as email and social media tends to be unstructured. Feedback forms allow you to structure the way you receive queries from your customers and agents, potentially making ticket resolution easier.
| This article contains:<br>- About ticket forms and fields<br>- Default ticket fields in Freshdesk <br> - Modify a ticket field<br> - About the Priority field<br> - About the Source field<br> - About the Status field<br>- Custom ticket fields in Freshdesk <br> - Create and edit custom fields<br> - Archive and delete custom fields<br> - About the dependent field type<br>- About dynamic sections <br> - Create and manage dynamic sections for your ticket fields<br>- SLAs on ticket fields |
About ticket forms and fields
A "ticket form" is a structured feedback channel that consists of a collection of "ticket fields" and an intuitive flow to adding information. A well-constructed ticket form helps a customer or support agent understand exactly what they're looking for, and explain their query well. See Understand and Use Ticket Forms.
A "ticket field" is a piece of metadata that tells you more about a request. For example, the Requester, the Subject, the Source, the Status, and the Priority of a ticket are all ticket fields.
Default ticket fields in Freshdesk
| Field Name | Field Type | Field Description |
|---|---|---|
| Search a requester | Single-line text | This is the email address of the requester and is mandatory.<br>- If a new user creates a ticket, an account will be created in your portal using their email address.<br>- If a logged-in user creates a ticket, this field is automatically filled. |
| Subject | Single-line text | This is the subject line. It provides quick context on the request. |
| Type | Dropdown | Based on your business needs, you can define types of issues that the user must select. For example, you might set up Billing, Error, and Feature Request as types of issues. |
| Source | Dropdown | This field captures where the request came from. See below. |
| Status | Dropdown | This field captures the current state of the ticket. See below. |
| Priority | Dropdown | This field defines the importance of the ticket. |
| Group | Dropdown | This is the agent group to whom the ticket is assigned. |
| Agent | Dropdown | This is the support agent to whom the ticket is assigned. |
| Product | Dropdown | If you have multiple products configured, this field captures which product the ticket is about. |
| Description | Multi-line text | The actual body of the request. |
| Company | Dropdown | This is the respective company to whom the requester is mapped. |
Modify a ticket field
As an admin, you can modify the properties of your ticket fields. Click on a default field to review its properties. Each option is explained below:
| Ticket Field Property | Explanation |
|---|---|
| "Required when submitting the ticket" | Make a field mandatory when submitting a ticket. This can be configured for agents, customers, or both. |
| "Required when closing the ticket" | Make a field mandatory before an agent can close the ticket. Useful to ensure agents add data that is required for analytics and retrospectives. |
| "Can view" | Choose whether a field is visible to a customer in the ticket form. If this property is unchecked, you'll see a crossed-out eye symbol on the field.<br> |
| "Can edit" | Choose whether a customer can provide a value for the field. |
| "Can filter" | (Dropdowns and Dependent fields only) Choose whether a customer can filter by this field's value in their tickets view on your portal. |
| Label for agents | The name of the field in the agent portal (backend). Cannot be modified for default fields. |
| Label for customers | The name of the field in the customer portal (frontend). |
| Choices | (Dropdowns and Dependent fields only) Provide the list of valid options for the field. Be careful while deleting choices, as it affects related tickets, automations, and analytics. |
Default fields cannot be deleted. However, you can hide them from your customers using the "Can view" property. Changes to field properties are reflected on all your portals and forms. To hide fields from your agents, use the Hide/Disable Ticket Fields app.
About the Priority field
The Priority field has 4 values— Low, Medium, High, and Urgent. This field cannot be edited and is hard-coded into our systems because it is directly tied to the SLA Policies functionality.
If you need to represent other priorities, we suggest creating a custom field and running automations on those values.
About the Source field
The Source field contains 13 default choices that cannot be edited or deleted, but can be rearranged. The source field is automatically populated based on the channel used to create the ticket.
Additionally, you can add your own custom sources to reflect how your customers contact you. For each field, you can also choose from a selection of icons.
About the Status field
The Status field is the most important one, because it is used to manage the lifecycle of the ticket in your helpdesk. By default, this field has 4 values which cannot be deleted:
1. Open: The ticket requires an action by an agent or admin. New tickets are marked Open by default. Any time a customer responds to a ticket, it is automatically moved back to Open status. 2. Pending: The ticket is paused while the agent gathers additional information. This is useful to halt your SLA timers. 3. Resolved: The ticket is completed according to the agent, i.e. a solution has been provided. 4. Closed: The ticket is completed according to the customer i.e. a solution has been accepted. If a customer doesn't close a ticket themselves, the standard practice is to automatically close the ticket after 72 hours.
Additionally, if you're on the Growth plan or higher, you can add custom choices that represent your support process. You can also define customer-facing labels for any of your choices, including default ones.
Custom ticket fields in Freshdesk
``` Custom ticket fields are available from the Growth plan onwards. ```
Beyond the default ticket fields in Freshdesk, you can create custom fields specific to your business requirements. You can create the following 8 types of fields:
| Custom Field Type | Explanation | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Single-line text | Used to accept a short text input. | Names, subject lines, email IDs |
| Multi-line text | Used to accept longer text inputs. | Addresses, descriptions, notes |
| Checkbox | Used to accept a true or false input. | Agreements, disclaimers, subscriptions |
| Dropdown | Used to accept a single choice from a predefined list of options. | Quantities, sizes, issue types |
| Dependent field | Used to filter up to 3 levels of nested options. See below. | Country + state + city,<br>Product suite + workflow + feature,<br>Product category + item type + brand |
| Date | Used to accept a date from a date picker tool. | Transaction dates, deadlines |
| Number | Used to accept an integer value. | Phone numbers, numeric IDs |
| Decimal | Used to accept a fractional value. | Percentages, monetary values |
Create and edit custom fields
To create and edit custom fields:
1. As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields. 2. Create a custom field by dragging a field type from the left panel into the page body. 3. Modify the new field properties as required and click Save field.
4. To edit a custom field, click it in the page body, modify its properties, and click Save field. 5. To rearrange fields, drag and drop them in the preferred order.
The following table shows how many custom fields of each type you can create:
| Field Type | Limit for Growth plans | Limit for Pro and Enterprise (upon request) |
|---|---|---|
| Single-line text | 80 | 400 |
| Multi-line text | 10 | 50 |
| Checkbox | 10 | 30 |
| Dropdown | 80 | 250 |
| Dependent field | 80 (per level) | 250 (per level) |
| Date | 10 | 30 |
| Number | 10 | 30 |
| Decimal | 10 | 10 |
Best practices for creating custom fields:
Best practices for editing custom fields:
Archive and delete custom fields
To remove custom fields:
1. As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields. 2. To delete a custom field, hover over it in the body and click the Delete icon. 3. Review the warning and click Delete permanently. This is irreversible. 4. To archive a custom field, hover over it in the body and click the Archive icon.
5. Review the warning and click Archive. The field is grayed out, and the "Archived" tag is added to it. 6. To restore an archived field, hover over it in the body and click the Restore icon.
Best practices for removing custom fields:
About the dependent field type
The "Dependent field" is a special dropdown that allows you to define a 3-level hierarchy: Category > Subcategory > Item. When a customer picks a category, the relevant subcategory dropdown appears. When they choose a subcategory, the relevant items appear in a third dropdown.
With the right setup, you can guide a customer to be specific in their ask and clearly define your ticket types. When you analyze your tickets, you'll be able to see which categories and subcategories bring in the most queries.
To create a new dependent field:
1. As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields. 2. Drag the Dependent field type into the main body. 3. Modify the properties and create labels for 2 or 3 levels, as required. 4. Create your hierarchy of dropdown choices with each option on a new line and click Add choices. - Add no indents for a category (level 1 dropdown). - Add 1 indent for a subcategory (level 2 dropdown). - Add 2 indents for an item (level 3 dropdown). - An indented option will be nested under the closest preceding parent option. - Tip: If you have a long list of choices, create your hierarchy in a text editor of your choice and copy-paste it into the field.
5. After you've added some choices, or when you're editing your dependent field, the properties UI changes.
- Click a field's textbox to view the sub-choices within it.
- Add an item by typing it in the _Add a choice_ field at the appropriate level and press Enter. You can still add choices in bulk, but only for a selected level and item at a time.
6. Review your options and click Save field.
About dynamic sections
``` Dynamic sections are available from the Pro plan onwards. ```
Dynamic sections are groups of custom ticket fields that appear when a particular dropdown option is selected. Dynamic sections improve the structure of your ticket form and help your agents filter and resolve tickets faster.
For example, say you have a form to process returns for your clothing ecommerce business. You may have a dropdown field for your customer to select whether they want a replacement or a refund, with a dynamic section for each choice:
Dynamic sections can be created for the Type, Status, and Group default fields and any custom dropdown fields. You can add any field types within these sections.
Create and manage dynamic sections for your ticket fields
To create dynamic sections:
1. As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields. 2. Click the Plus icon in your chosen dropdown field.
3. In the popup, give the section a name and associate it with the appropriate choices from the dropdown field.
4. Drag new or existing custom fields to the section, modify their properties, and click Save field.
5. You can also archive or delete sections. You cannot delete a section unless it is empty.
Best practices for creating dynamic sections:
SLAs on ticket fields
As part of your workflows, you should also define SLA policies on custom ticket fields you've created. In particular:
``` Learn more about setting up SLA policies. ```
To create SLA policies for custom sources and statuses:
1. Go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields and add choices under the Source and Status properties. 2. Turn off the SLA toggle next to the appropriate status choices and click Save field.
3. Go to Admin > Workflows > SLA Policies and click Add policy. 4. Give your new SLA policy an appropriate name and description. 5. In the When a ticket satisfies these conditions section, choose Source and select your custom source.
6. Define your SLA targets, reminders, and escalations and click Save.
For other help, contact support@freshdesk.com.