OTOBO / Znuny Dynamic Fields - Customizing Ticket Forms

In today's world, flexibility in customer communication is essential. OTOBO, as an advanced ticket system and helpdesk software, offers solutions to meet the individual and specific requirements of organizations for their ticket management. A key element of this flexibility is the integration of so-called dynamic fields.

Management and Customization

The management of dynamic fields is done via the Dynamic Fields module in the Processes & Automation group. Even in the basic installation, OTOBO includes two predefined dynamic fields.

How to Add a New Dynamic Field

1. First, select the object type and the dynamic field type from the dropdown menu in the left action bar.
2. Enter the required information in the specified fields.
3. Confirm by clicking Save.

Editing Existing Dynamic Fields

1. Select the dynamic field to be changed from the list.
2. Make the desired adjustments.
3. Select Save or Save and finish.

Deleting a Dynamic Field

1. Click on the trash can icon next to the field to be deleted.
2. Confirm your selection by clicking Confirm.

TIP

Use the filter function to quickly find a specific dynamic field.

Configuring Dynamic Field Settings

Various settings are available, which can vary depending on the field type. Important general settings include:

• Name: A unique identifier for the field, consisting of alphanumeric characters.
• Label: The display name of the field on the active screens.
• Field Order: Determines the display order of the field.
• Validity: Defines the active use of the field in the system.
• Field Type: The type of the dynamic field, set upon creation and is read-only.

It is possible to manually add translations for the labels of dynamic fields to the language translation files, which allows for adaptation to different language environments.

Specific Settings

Each dynamic field type has its own setting options. The configuration of these settings allows for precise adjustment of the behavior and display of the dynamic field.

Checkbox Type

For dynamic fields of the Checkbox type, the Default value determines whether the checkbox is enabled (Selected) or disabled (Not selected) by default.

Contact with Data

This special type of dynamic field allows adding contacts with more detailed information to tickets. The Name Field and Validity Field are always required. Additional fields can be defined through key-value pairs to specify particular data attributes for contacts.

Important Key-Value Pairs

• Name Field and Validity Field are two mandatory attributes that must be specified for each Contact with Data field.
• Add Fields allows the specification of additional data attributes through key-value pairs.
• Required Fields and Sorted Fields determine which fields are mandatory and in what order they are displayed.
• Searchable Fields define which fields are included in search queries.
• Translatable Values indicates whether the values should be translated into the user's language.

Editing Contact Information

Add New Contact

To add a new contact with data to a ticket, first select the corresponding dynamic field from the dropdown list in the Actions widget. With just a few clicks, you can then create a contact with all relevant information:

1. Select the required dynamic field for the contact.
2. Click the "Add Contact with Data" button.
3. Enter all required information into the fields.
4. Confirm with "Save".

Edit Contact

To edit existing contact data, simply select the desired contact from the list and make the adjustments:

1. Select the contact to be edited.
2. Adjust the information as needed.
3. Save the changes.

Date Type Dynamic Fields

Saving a date as a value offers another level of ticket differentiation in OTOBO. These fields make it possible to record dates for events, deadlines, or other time-related information within a ticket.

Specific Setting Options for the Date Type:

• Default Date Difference: This allows defining the default value of the field in seconds relative to the current time (Now).
• Defined Time Periods: Specifies a period in years from which date values can be selected in the field, to facilitate user guidance.

Date/Time Type Dynamic Fields

These fields combine date and time for a precise time specification and share settings with the date fields.

Dropdown and Multiselect Type Dynamic Fields

The dynamic fields of type Dropdown and Multiselect allow selecting values from predefined lists. They offer the following configuration options:

• Possible Values: Determines the selection options through key-value pairs.
• Default Value: Sets a value as pre-selected.
• Add Empty Value: Integrates an empty selection option into the list.
• Tree View: Lists values in a structured manner.
• Translatable Values: Allows the translation of values based on the user's language.

The settings and functionalities of the type Dropdown and Multiselect fields are similar and support multifunctional data collection in tickets.

Text Type Dynamic Fields

The dynamic text field is used to capture a character string and is a fundamental tool for free text entry in tickets.

Overall, these dynamic field types demonstrate the versatility and adaptability of OTOBO, with which organizations can seamlessly adapt their ticket system to their individual operational requirements and workflows. The comprehensive setting options for each field allow for precise and targeted data collection and processing, which significantly contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of customer communication and ticket handling. In the modern helpdesk software and ticket system OTOBO, dynamic fields enable extensive personalization and efficiency improvement in handling customer cases. In particular, the Text and Textarea type dynamic fields offer a flexible solution for capturing and processing specific customer information.

Textarea Type Dynamic Fields

The dynamic textarea field, for multi-line text input, additionally includes:

• Number of rows: Determines the height of the input field.
• Number of columns: Sets the width of the input field.

Database and Web Service Type Dynamic Fields

OTOBO also integrates dynamic fields that can be populated directly from databases and web Services. These fields are included by default in version 10, and further documentation is in progress.

Displaying Dynamic Fields on Screens

To use dynamic fields efficiently in daily work, they can be displayed and made mandatory on various screens within OTOBO:

1. Activate the field by setting its Validity to "valid".
2. Go to the System Configuration in the admin area.
3. Select the desired screen (Frontend → Agent → View).
4. Edit the corresponding ###DynamicField setting and add the desired field.
5. Define whether the field should be enabled or considered mandatory.

Setting Default Values

An associated ticket event can be used to automatically set values for dynamic fields:

1. Open the System Configuration.
2. Navigate to Core → Event → Ticket.
3. Activate the setting Ticket::EventModulePost###9600-TicketDynamicFieldDefault for the desired event.

Through these flexible configuration and application possibilities of dynamic fields, OTOBO can be precisely adapted to the individual needs of an organization, leading to increased efficiency and improved customer satisfaction. The integration of dynamic fields in OTOBO, the leading helpdesk software and ticket system, allows not only the customization of ticket events and personal user settings, but also the precise adaptation of the software to specific business needs.

Activating the Ticket Event Module

The ticket event module makes it possible to automatically set values for dynamic fields upon specific events, such as creating a ticket.

For example, a default value for a field can be set within the TicketCreate event as follows:

1. Access the System Configuration of the admin interface.
2. Navigate to Core → Ticket → DynamicFieldDefault.
3. Activate the desired setting, e.g., Ticket::TicketDynamicFieldDefault###Element1.
4. Save the changes.

If more than 16 fields are needed, a custom XML file is required for advanced configurations.

Default Values via User Preferences

Users can set individual default values for dynamic fields in their personal preferences, which allows for another level of personalization.

The System Configuration module offers the option to enable user-defined preferences, so that users can define default values for dynamic fields via their personal preferences page. This promotes an individualized user experience and improves ticket handling efficiency.

Advanced Customization Options

For advanced customizations, especially when more than one dynamic field is needed for user preferences, creating a custom XML configuration file is necessary. Each setting within this file must have a unique name to avoid conflicts within the system.

These advanced options indicate the flexibility and broad adaptability of OTOBO, which supports companies of all sizes in optimizing their customer service management. Through the clever application of dynamic fields in combination with ticket event modules and individual user settings, OTOBO can be precisely tailored to the specific needs and processes of any company.

Further Information

There are some plugins that add new dynamic field types. Additionally, there are also some plugins that might make creating a new dynamic field unnecessary. However, these Plugins are not part of the standard installation of OTOBO and must be installed separately. OTOBO Plugins - Package Manager