Transition Comments

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 and then edit the transition comment in the property panel that appears on the right of the screen.  Click anywhere on the diagram outside of the property editor 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 replace when the ticket is submitted.
• Paragraph style
• Bold
• Italic
• Numbered List
• Bulleted List
• A Link (URL)
• Horizontal Line (Separator)

Using Activity Task Fields in Transition Comments

Whether you are using a Standard or Advanced model, you can defined 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 transition 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 transition onwards 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.

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 os created.