X-Git-Url: http://git.freeside.biz/gitweb/?p=freeside.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=rt%2Fdocs%2Fcustomizing%2Farticles_introduction.pod;fp=rt%2Fdocs%2Fcustomizing%2Farticles_introduction.pod;h=ea49b05de407624af110113cba995434448a6613;hp=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000;hb=6587f6ba7d047ddc1686c080090afe7d53365bd4;hpb=47153aae5c2fc00316654e7277fccd45f72ff611 diff --git a/rt/docs/customizing/articles_introduction.pod b/rt/docs/customizing/articles_introduction.pod new file mode 100644 index 000000000..ea49b05de --- /dev/null +++ b/rt/docs/customizing/articles_introduction.pod @@ -0,0 +1,155 @@ + +=head1 Articles + +Articles are a way of managing stock answers or frequently asked +questions. Articles are a collection of custom fields whose values can +be easily inserted into ticket replies or searched and browsed within +RT. They are organized into classes and topics. + +=head2 UI + +The user interface to Articles is available from the Tools -> Articles +menu. Admin functionality can be found under Tools -> Configuration -> +Articles. Once configured, articles will become available for searching +on the Reply/Comment page on tickets. There are configuration variables +to make Articles available on ticket creation. + +=head2 Basics + +You will need to make some decisions about how to organize your +articles. Articles will be organized into one Class and multiple +Topics. They will use Custom Fields to store their article data. +These Custom Fields can be configured on a Class by Class basis. +Classes can be made available globally or on a per-Queue basis. + +=head2 Organization + +=head3 Classes + +Classes are equivalent to RT's queues. They can be created by going +to Tools -> Configuration -> Articles -> Classes -> New Class. Articles +are assigned to one Class. When you create Custom Fields for use with +Articles, they will be applied Globally or to a Class, like Custom +Fields are applied to a Queue in RT. Each class also controls what +information is included into a reply (such as the Class header and +footer) and the Article. + +Classes need to be Applied, just like a Custom Field by using the +Applied To link. You can apply them globally or on a queue-by-queue +basis. + +hotlist. + +=head3 Topics + +You can also use Topics to organize your Articles. While editing a +Class, there is a Topic tab for Class specific Topics. You can create +global Topics from the Global tab under Tools -> Configuration. + +When editing Topics, type the name (and optionally description) of the +Topic, and then click the button at the appropriate location in the +Topic hierarchy. This should allow you to build a tree of Topics. This +tree of Topics should show up when creating or modifying articles in +the class. These can be arbitrarily nested. + +Global Topics will be available for all Articles, regardless of their +Class. Articles can belong to both global and class-specific Topics. + +Articles topics can be set from the 'Modify' screen for the article -- +simply select as many topics as you desire from the list at the bottom +of the screen. + +=head2 Custom Fields + +Articles don't have a single "body" section for each +article. Everything is a custom field (except for name, summary and +some other basic metadata). So, you need to create some custom +fields to hold the Article body and other data. These Custom Fields +should have "Applies To" be "RTFM Articles". + +Once you've created your custom fields, go into your classes and click +on "Custom Fields" and add the Custom Fields you want to each class. +Alternatively, use the Applies To link from each Custom Field. + +=head2 Creating Articles + +You can create an article from scratch by going to Tools -> Articles -> +New Article and then picking which Class to create the Article under. +The Summary, Description and Custom Fields will all be searchable when +including an Article and you can control what Custom Fields end up in +your Ticket from the Class configuration page. + +=head3 Extracting an Article + +You can extract the body of a ticket into an article. Within RT, you +should now see an "Extract to article" button in the upper right hand +corner of RT's UI when working with tickets. When you click that +button, RT will ask you which Class to create your new article in. +Once you click on a class name, the Ticket's transactions will be +displayed, along with a set of select boxes. For each transaction, you +can pick which Custom Field that transaction should be extracted to. +From there on in, it's just regular article creation. + +=head2 Including an Article + +When replying to or commenting on tickets or creating tickets, there +is a UI widget that lets you search for and include Articles in +your reply. (They're editable, of course). + +Articles can be included by searching for them, knowing the Id of the +article, using the Article Hotlist and using the Queue specific +dropdown. + +=head2 Queue Specific List of Articles + +You can use Topics to organize a set of Queue specific Articles. +Simply create a global Topic called 'Queues' and then create Topics +under Queues named after each of your Queues. Within each Queue named +Topic, create some Topics and then assign Articles to those +sub-topics. This creates a hierarchy like this: + +Queues +\-> General + \-> Topic 1 + \-> Topic 2 + +If you are replying to a Ticket in the General Queue you will be +offered a choice of Topic 1 and Topic 2 along with the searching. +After choosing Topic 1 or Topic 2, you will be given a list of +relevant articles to choose. + +Alternately, you can now implement this by applying a single class to +your queue and using the L
feature described below. + +=head2 Article Hotlist + +If you enable "All articles in this class are on dropdown on ticket +reply page" option, there will be a dropdown on the Create or Update +page which allows users to quickly include Articles. + +=head2 SelfService Interface + +If you grant the Unprivileged user group the right ShowArticle, they +will get a Search box at the top of their interface. This allows users +to look for answer to questions before creating a Ticket. + +=head1 Configuration options + +=head2 ArticleOnTicketCreate + +Set this to a true value to display the Article include interface on the +Ticket Create page in addition to the Reply/Comment page (Create.html +in addition to Update.html) + +=head2 HideArticleSearchOnReplyCreate + +On Ticket Reply (and Create if you set the above config var) +RTFM normally displays a search box and an include box (for +inputting an article id) and configurable dropdowns +of articles. These can be configured using Global Topics or +on the Class page. + +If you set this to a true value, RTFM will only display +dropdowns and hide the search boxes + +=cut