Edit transition comments
To edit transition comments, double click the transition link and edit the comments.
- Double click transition link (1).
- Edit transition comment (2).
When a workflow transitions from one activity to the next, a comment can be added to the ticket. At the point that the agent selects the transition from the workflow assistant, any defined transition comment will be added to the ticket. This comment can then be edited prior to the ticket submission. It is at ticket submission that the transition will occur. Because the comment can be edited, it is often useful to define the transition comment such that the agent can fill in gaps or placeholders with details specific to the ticket.
The start transition (from the start shape to the first activity) does not allow a comment to be defined since the ticket is not under workflow control at this point (and in fact it could be assigned automatically) and there will not be an opportunity to fill out the comment.
To edit the transition comment, double click the transition link (1) and then add/edit the transition comment (2) in the property panel that appears on the right of the screen. Click anywhere on the diagram outside of the property panel to close it. A modal will be displayed in which the comment can be defined.
- Choose public or internal comment (3).
- Rich text toolbar (4).
- Pre-defined placeholders (5).
The comment editor modal allows you to choose whether the comment should be a 'Public Reply' or an 'Internal Note'. Select the tab as appropriate.
The toolbar provides a set of rich text options that can be used to create the comment. Toolbar options are:
- Ticket placeholders - these will insert snippets into the comment that Zendesk will be replaced when the ticket is submitted.
- Paragraph style
- Bold
- Italic
- Underline
- Numbered List
- Bulleted List
- Insert Table
- A Link (URL)
- Horizontal Line (Separator)
- Insert an image
Inserting Tables into Comments
You can use tables to organize some of the comment content to present it in a tabular format. Select the insert table button from the toolbar to insert a new table at the cursor position.
Once the table is inserts, you can start typing into table cells to fill in the contents. To manipulate the table structure, you can click in a cell and a pop up menu is presented.
The buttons in this popup menu allow you to
- Toggle a heading row at the top of the table (click to add a heading row, click again to remove it)
- Delete the table
- Insert and delete rows
- Insert and delete columns
Inserting Images into Comments
You can add images to your comments where required. The images are inserted inline into the comment. You can insert images by
- Dragging and dropping an image file to the location in the comment text where you want the image to be inserted (supported image types are JPG, GIF, PNG and WEBP)
- Choose the insert image toolbar button to
- Insert an image by entering the URL of an image that has been published to the internet
- Dragging and dropping an image file onto the image drop area to insert the image at the current cursor position
Once the image is inserted into the comment text, you can click the image to get a popup menu to manipulate the image
The buttons in the popup menu allow you to
- Replace the image with another one
- Delete the image
- Add a link to the image. Clicking the image when inserted into a comment will go to a linked web page
- Supply alternative if the image cannot be displayed by the browser
- Change the size of the image.
You can also resize the image by dragging the blue selectors at the corners of the image.
Using Activity Task Fields in Transition Comments
Whether you are using a Standard or Advanced model, you can define task fields for an activity. In Standard models, these are defined as Activity Task Fields, with Advanced models these are defined in the Tasks of a Task Model for the Activity.
When defining a comment to be applied to the ticket or to a parallel (Split child) ticket, if the Activity you are transitioning from has task fields defined, the Comment editor will provide extra assistance to allow values for some or all of these task fields to be included in the comment.
When the source Activity of the transition has task fields defined, an extra menu appears in the menu bar. Click this menu and you will see each of the task fields listed in the drop down. The task field placeholder menu will have an initial entry which will insert a placeholder for the Full Task Set data (see below) and individual entries for each task field. When you select an entry from this menu, a task field placeholder is inserted into the comment editor at the current cursor position.
Selecting individual task field names (e.g. Categorization), will insert a placeholder into the comment which will be replaced when the transition occurs with the value of that Task Field.
Applying the Full Task Set to a Transition Comment
It is also possible to use the {{taskset}} placeholder to show the value of all task fields in a Transition Comment.
In the ticket, when the onward transition is selected from the workflow assistant, the ticket comment has the defined comment text added, but the {{taskset}} placeholder is replaced by the names and values of the Activity Task Fields. If a task field has no value its label and value will not be included in this set of values.
Inserting Individual Task Field Placeholders
If you wish to insert a selected set of task field values into the comment, you can select the fields individually from the task field placeholder drop down. A placeholder is inserted into the comment text which shows the name of the Task Field that will be replaced with the task field value when the comment is applied to the ticket. If the task field value is empty, the placeholder will be substituted with an empty value.
Workflow Persisted Data
As mentioned above, the comment can make use of placeholders to insert details about task fields involved in the activity that we are transitioning from. The scope of this data will be task fields defined in this activity.
There is an option to persist task data beyond the life of a single activity see Workflow Options. When this option is enabled, 2 additional placeholders are presented in the task field placeholder toolbar menu. These are
- Workflow Summary
- Workflow Audit
Workflow Summary
The workflow summary placeholder is replaced at runtime with details of the task field data that was entered against each of the activities that have been processed as part of the workflow. If any activities are performed more than once (for example if there is a loop in the process definition), then the last set of task field data values provided for that activity will be displayed.
Workflow Audit
The workflow audit placeholder is replaced at runtime with details of the task field data that was entered against each of the activities that have been processed as part of the workflow. If any activities are performed more than once (for example if there is a loop in the process definition), then details of the task data provided each time an activity is performed will be displayed. The activity occurrence number will be shown in curly braces after the repeated activity name e.g. Triage {2}. The Workflow Audit data added to the comment will also include the duration taken to complete the activity.
Choosing either of these options will insert the appropriate placeholder.
Below is an example comment that includes the workflow audit showing activity timings.
Using Activity Task Fields in Parallel Activities
If a Parallel Activity immediately follows the current activity via a gateway, the task fields of the source Activity are available for use in the description of the parallel ticket created by the activity.
Double click the flow from the Join to the Parallel Activity and select Add or Edit for the Split Ticket Description. The comment editor displayed will be the same as that for comment on the parent ticket. You can use the Task Field placeholder menu to insert placeholders which will be replaced with the Task Field values when the parallel ticket is created.
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