CodeBard Help Desk for WordPress Manual

Help Desk Menu

On top of Help Desk page, users have a menu which allows them to use any function the help desk has, like opening, viewing their tickets.

Agent Desk Menu

On top of Agent Desk page, Agents and Admins have a menu which allows them to use any function the help desk has, like administration of tickets, replying to tickets, creating tickets, reassigning tickets and changing ticket departments.

Creating tickets (by User)

Users create tickets by visiting your help desk page and clicking on “Open Ticket”. This will bring a Department selection form if you have more than one support department. If you have only one, the system will immediately go to ticket form.

In ticket form users can enter a short title, description of their issue and an attachment for their ticket.

When the ticket is created, it is automatically assigned to the next available Support Admin or Support Agent by using round robin algorithm. And a notification email is sent to the assigned agent.

Creating tickets (by Admin/Agent)

Admins and Agents can create tickets on behalf of users. Clicking on “Open Ticket” in Support Agent Desk page menu will bring a ticket form in front of the Agent/Admin. This form will have an additional selection that allows an Agent/Admin to open the ticket in the name of any user you have in your WordPress site.

When ticket is created, it is automatically assigned to the next available Agent in the relevant department. The ticket belongs to the user which was the ticket created for.

Updating Tickets (as User)

A user can update a ticket by replying to the ticket in ticket view. User can also upload an attachment with his/her reply. Each reply is chronologically added to the ticket.

A user can choose to close a ticket or reopen a closed ticket which s/he owns.

With each update of the ticket by a user, an email notification is sent to assigned Agent if email notifications are turned on in settings.

Answering Tickets (as Admin/Agent)

A support agent can view and answer/update the tickets which are assigned to himself/herself. A Support Admin in a department can view all tickets in that department even if they are not assigned to that Support Admin. A WordPress Admin (you) can view any ticket in the system.

Answering tickets takes the form of a simple forum/comment flow. The updates are entered as replies to the ticket by chronological order. Each reply includes any attachment if an attachment was posted during updating the ticket.

With each update of the ticket by an Agent, an email notification is sent to the ticket owner User if email notifications are turned on in settings.

Reassigning Tickets (as Admin/Agent)

A Support Admin can reassign ticket to any agent in a given department by using the Agent Desk Menu. ‘Reassign Ticket’ button will allow the Admin/Agent to select which Agent to assign the ticket.

Changing Ticket Department (as Admin/Agent)

A Support Admin or Agent can change ticket to any department by using the Agent Desk Menu. ‘Change Department’ button will allow the Admin/Agent to select which department to put the ticket in. Changing a ticket department will reassign the ticket to next available support admin in the new department using round robin algorithm.

Reopening/Closing Tickets (as User)

A user can close and reopen any ticket by using relevant “Close” and “Reopen” buttons when viewing his/her ticket.

Deleting a Ticket (as Admin/Agent)

A Support Admin or Agent can delete a ticket by using the Menu option which appears when viewing a ticket.

Reopening/Closing Tickets (as Admin/Agent)

A Support Admin or Agent can close and reopen any ticket by using relevant “Close” and “Reopen” buttons when viewing a ticket.

Changing Settings

A WordPress admin who can edit Plugin settings can change settings of the plugin in its WordPress admin interface.

You can navigate the settings using the setting tabs. Each tab will bring up its relevant setting. Settings are explained in detail in the info under their title.

By default, you don’t need to change any setting as CodeBard Help Desk functions as configured out of the box. However, if you want to fine tune your support service, you should look into settings in detail.

Changing Language

CodeBard Help Desk sets itself up in your site’s language automatically during installation. If your language is not found in installed languages, English is used.

However if you would like to change language of the plugin, you can do that by going to Languages tab in admin interface, and changing the language to another language code in the shown interface.

Clicking on “Set Language” would change your plugin’s language.

Editing a Language

If you click “Click to view/edit existing language’s translation” in Language interface, you can see all the language keys and the translation for that particular key that is active.

If you modify any value and save, this will change the translation for that particular key wherever it is used.

When you save, this language translation will be saved as a custom version of the default one.

You can modify any language installed in your Plugin from this interface after activating that language. Note that activating a language changes plugin’s language.

Adding a new Department

Departments tab in Admin interface will let you edit/delete existing departments and create new departments.

Managing Support Staff

Staff tab in Admin Interface will allow you to assign any user in your WordPress site as Support Agent or Support Admin to any department.

You can assign users to multiple departments. You can use different levels while assigning them to different departments. An Agent can be a Support Agent in a department and a Support Admin in a different department.

Your agents do not need to be WordPress admins or editors. CodeBard Help Desk does not utilize WordPress permission levels to check for ticket permissions.

A subscriber in your WordPress can be assigned as a Support Admin or a Support Agent to any department.

Changing URL slugs

URL slugs for Tickets and Support Departments are set up using the language your site, and in English if your site’s language is not in default languages list.

Normally you wouldn’t need to change URL slugs. Changing URL slugs changes the URLS which users and admins can access them from.

However if you would like to, you can do it under General Settings tab.

You must visit Permalinks settings in your WordPress and click ‘Save’ to update the settings in your WordPress system afterwards.

Entering your License Key

If you enter your License key which you were sent after purchasing CodeBard Help Desk, you will be able to update your plugin and receive new features, bug fixes and security fixes.

If license key is not correct or is not active, WordPress wont be able to update your plugin.

If you encounter any issue while entering your license key, please contact our Help Desk.