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Feedback from channels such as email and social media tends to be unstructured. However, when you create a good collection of feedback forms, you force customers to explain their queries and add useful metadata that makes the resolution process easier.
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Before you begin
See Basic Guide for Ticket Forms and Fields to learn about:
- Definitions of "ticket field" and "ticket form"
- Default ticket fields
- Ticket field properties
- The Priority, Source, and Status fields
- The default ticket form
About custom ticket fields
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, Product suite + workflow + feature, 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:
- As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields.
- Create a custom field by dragging a field type from the left panel into the page body.
- Modify the new field properties as required and click Save field.
- To edit a custom field, click it in the page body, modify its properties, and click Save field.
- To rearrange fields, drag and drop them in the preferred order.
Note: You may not see changes to Ticket Fields immediately. Wait a few minutes or hard refresh your page (Chrome and Firefox: Ctrl+F5 for Windows or Cmd+Shift+R for Mac).
Best practices for creating custom fields:
- Think through your data schemas before creating new fields. The more fields you have, the harder it becomes to manage data later.
- To standardize your tickets, favor dropdowns over text fields where possible.
- The Date, Number, and Decimal field types are automatically validated. Favor them over text fields for numerical data.
Best practices for editing custom fields:
- If you change a field's label, it'll be reflected on all existing tickets and forms.
- If you change or delete a dropdown choice that is in use on an existing ticket, the value of that field will be changed to null. Run a filter on your tickets to find and update those values before updating your ticket field.
Archive and delete custom fields
To remove custom fields:
- As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields.
- To delete a custom field, hover over it in the body and click the Delete icon.
- Review the warning and click Delete permanently. This is irreversible.
- To archive a custom field, hover over it in the body and click the Archive icon.
- Review the warning and click Archive. The field is grayed out, and the "Archived" tag is added to it.
- To restore an archived field, hover over it in the body and click the Restore icon.
Best practices for removing custom fields:
- Removing a field hides it in old and current tickets as well as search filters. Ensure your field is no longer in use.
- Removing a field hides it in Analytics. Ensure you don't need the field in your reports and filters.
- Automation rules will skip conditions that use removed fields. Update your automation rules before removing a field.
- For the above reasons, favor archiving a field over deleting it. Archived fields can be restored to access historical data as needed.
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:
- As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields.
- Drag the Dependent field type into the main body.
- Modify the properties and create labels for 2 or 3 levels, as required.
- 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.
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.
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:
- Refund: Add a dropdown field for Reason (Cloth quality, Damaged product, etc.) and another for Refund channel (Credit card reverse charge, Store credit etc.).
- Replacement: Add a dependent field for Size as level 1, and Colors available in the size as level 2.
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:
- As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Fields.
- Click the Plus icon in your chosen dropdown field.
- In the popup, give the section a name and associate it with the appropriate choices from the dropdown field.
- Drag new or existing custom fields to the section, modify their properties, and click Save field.
- You can also archive or delete sections. You cannot delete a section unless it is empty.
Best practices for creating dynamic sections:
- Default fields cannot be moved into sections.
- If a field exists outside of sections, you cannot create a new field with the same name inside a section. Think about your data schemas carefully to avoid cluttering your ticket forms.
- You don't have to create dynamic sections for every option in a dropdown. Treat sections like hidden fields that only collect additional information where necessary.
- When you drag a field from one section to another, you choose to either Move or Copy it. Copying a field does not create a new field, so opt to copy a field if you need it in multiple sections.
About multiple forms
Multiple forms are available from the Pro plan onwards.
Freshdesk allows you to create up to 50 ticket forms in your account. As your business scales, you might want to tailor your ticket forms for specific experiences. For example, you may want to create multiple forms for:
- Multiple brands and products
- Different types of customer issues
- Various regions and languages
Create a new form
To create a new form:
- As an admin, go to Admin > Workflows > Ticket Forms and click New form.
- Provide a name and description in the dialog and click Create.
- Your form is created and you're taken to the form builder page.
On the form builder page, the left panel displays all your ticket fields with the "Can view" property enabled for customers. You can drag and drop these fields into the main body to build your form. You can also hover over fields in the main body and click the Delete icon to remove them from your form.
After adding a field to your form, click on it to modify properties. You cannot change the agent behavior properties, but you can modify the customer behavior properties. You can also add tooltips or placeholder text to guide customers on how to fill that field.
Best practices for building a ticket form:
- Ensure you're satisfied with your data schemas and have created your ticket fields and dynamic sections.
- Every new form has 4 default fields. The Search a requester and Company fields cannot be removed. The Subject and Description can be removed, so you can create forms without text input.
- When you add a ticket field which has dynamic sections, you can choose to add the whole field, or only add a particular section. In the latter case, the parent field will be set to the choice and grayed out.
Edit, clone, and delete forms
Click the overflow menu next to a form to see options to manage it.
Best practices for managing your ticket forms:
- Editing a form: Remember that forms can be deployed to multiple places. When you commit edits to a form, it changes in every place it is deployed.
- Cloning a form: Clone an existing form to safely experiment with the flow. Deploy the clone to your portals and widgets once you're satisfied.
- Deleting a form: Deleting forms is irreversible. Before deleting a form, unpublish it from all locations and verify that it is not being used in any automation rules.
Ticket forms can be published to your support portals and within Freshdesk help widgets. If you deploy multiple forms to your support portal, they appear as the first dropdown on the ticket submission page. See Use your Ticket Forms.
