Ticket fields

Tickets → Ticket Fields controls the ticket form: which fields it shows, in what order, under what names, and which ones must be filled in. It applies to the customers’ Submit Ticket form on your site and to the administrator’s form. You can also add custom fields.

The Ticket Fields screen listing the form’s sixteen fields from User to Status, with tick and cross icons under Published, Visitor Published and Required, ordering arrows, an edit button on each row, and the Add Ticket Field button.

The field list

Column	What it does
Field Title	The name shown on the form. A star after it marks a field that can’t be unpublished.
Published	Shown to signed-in users: registered customers, staff, and you in the administrator. Click the icon to switch it.
Visitor Published	Shown to visitors who are not signed in. Click to switch.
Required	Must be filled in. Click to switch.
Ordering	The field’s position on the form. The arrows move it one place up or down.
Action	The pencil edits the field. Custom fields also have a delete button.

Email address, Priority, Full Name, Subject and Issue Summary carry the star: they are always published and always required. A terms and conditions field is always required.

Unpublishing a field hides it from the form; tickets keep the values they already have.

Editing a field

Click the pencil to open Edit Field.

Setting	What it does
Field Title	The name shown on the form. Required.
User Published, Visitor Published, Required	As in the list. Not shown for starred fields.
User Search, Visitor Search	Offer a custom field as a filter: on the ticket list under Show all filters (User Search) and to visitors (Visitor Search).
Show on listing	Show the field on each row of the ticket list. For Assign To this shows the assigned staff member; for a custom field it shows the value under Custom Fields.

Click Save. For a custom field, Advanced opens its full form, below.

The Edit Field window for Phone: Field Title, User Published, Visitor Published, Required, User Search, Visitor Search and Show on listing, with Save.

Adding a custom field

Click Add Ticket Field.
Choose the Field Type and enter the Field Title.
Set the options below. The form shows the ones that fit the type.
Click Save Field, or Save User Field in the toolbar.

Setting	What it does	New field
Show on listing	Show the value on the ticket list.	No
User Published	Shown to signed-in users and in the administrator.	Yes
Visitor Published	Shown to visitors.	Yes
User Search	Offered as a filter on the ticket list.	Yes
Visitor Search	Offered as a filter to visitors.	Yes
Required	Must be filled in.	No
Field Size	Width on the form: 50% or 100%.	50%
Max Length	For text and email fields: the longest value allowed.
Columns, Rows	For text areas: the box’s size.

The Add User Field form with Field Type set to Drop down, showing the table for its values with the Add Value button.

Field types

Type	Gives the customer
Text field	A one-line box.
Text area	A box for longer text.
Email address	A box for an email address.
Date	A date picker.
Drop down	A list to pick one value from.
Multi select	A list to pick several values from.
Radio button	Buttons to pick one value.
Check box	Boxes to tick one or more values.
Depandent field	A list whose options depend on what was picked in another list.
Upload file	A file upload, within the attachment size and type limits.
Terms and Conditions	A box the customer must tick to agree.

For Drop down, Multi select, Radio button and Check box, enter the choices in the table under “Use the table below to add new values”; Add Value adds a row.

For a Depandent field, pick the Parent Field, then fill in the options to offer for each of the parent’s values. Add More adds an option.

For Terms and Conditions, enter the Terms and Conditions Text, for example “I have read and agree to the [link]Terms and Conditions[/link].”, then choose the Terms and Conditions Link Type: Direct Link with a URL in Terms and Conditions Link, or Joomla Article Page with an article in Terms and Conditions Page. The words between [link] and [/link] become the link.

Where custom fields show

On the ticket forms, in the order set here.
In the ticket’s details on the ticket screen.
On the ticket list, with Show on listing, and as filters with User Search.
In the ticket export.

Deleting a custom field

Click the delete button on its row and confirm. A field that any ticket has a value for can’t be deleted: “This custom field is in use and cannot be deleted.” Unpublish it instead. The built-in fields can’t be deleted.