How to

From CSS Wiki

Access a ticket:

Enter the ticket number into the Search box for direct access.

Browse to it via Quick Search -> <queue name> -> ticket.

Take ownership of a ticket

Open or view the ticket. Clicking Take from the top navigation bar will make you the Owner.

Clicking reply, resolve or comment from the top navigation bar and then replying, resolving or commenting will make you the owner.

In short, the first person to action the ticket becomes the owner.

Change the status of a ticket:

Open or view the ticket.

Click basics -> Choose new status from the Status drop-down list. Click Save Changes.

Resolve a ticket

Open or view the ticket.

Click Resolve from the top navigation bar. Choose your userid from the Owner: drop-down list. Enter solution in the Message field. Click Submit. This method will notify the requestor.

Resolve a ticket and quote from requestor's text

Open or view the ticket. Scroll down to the relevant history section. Click Reply on the top right of the relevant history section. This will quote the contents of that history section in the message field. Choose status of Resolved from Status drop-down. Choose your userid from the Owner: drop-down. Edit quoted text appropriately and enter solution in the Message field. Click Submit. This method will notify requestor with appropriately quoted text.

Silently resolve a ticket (no notification to requestor)

This method of resolving tickets is the quickest way of closing tickets and is useful if you do not need to inform the requestor by email, and if you do not need to add any text.

Open or view the ticket. Click basics -> Choose resolved from the Status drop-down list. Click Save Changes

Use a pre-defined 'Standard Response' as the text of a ticket resolution or reply.

RT uses a system called RTFM to create and store standard responses to Frequently Asked questions. These are called 'Articles' in RT. An article can be used when replying to or resolving a ticket.

For full details about creating and managing articles, see the section on RTFM.

Click reply or resolve. The procedure for including an article is the same for both functions.

Just above the Box for writing your reply is a drop-down box stating 'Select RTFM article'. This drop-down contains all articles that you have permission to use.

Select the article you wish to use and click the 'Insert' button. The text of the article will be placed into the text box. Click Submit.

The text of the article will be included in the ticket history.

Reply to a ticket

A reply is public, notifies the requestor, and is listed permanently under the ticket's History.

Reply to a ticket without resolving it

Reply to a ticket when you require more information from the requestor.

Open or view the ticket. Click Reply from the top navigation bar. Choose your name from the Owner: drop-down list. Enter message in the Message field. Click Submit. The reply will go to the requestor.

Your reply will be added to the ticket history, as will any further correspondence.

Reply to a ticket without resolving it and quote from requestor's text

This method of replying is useful when you need to quote existing correspondence.

Open or view the ticket. Scroll down to the relevant history section. Click Reply on the top right of the relevant history section. This will quote the contents of that history section in the message field. Choose your name from the Owner: drop-down. Edit quoted text appropriately and enter solution in the Message field. Click Submit. This method will notify requestors with appropriately quoted text.

Find out if a Requestor has 'replied' to my 'reply'

You will receive an email with the text of the reply made by the requestor. This reply will be recorded in RT in the ticket history.

On your RT home page, the 'Correspondent' column will read requestor when the last action related to the ticket was made by the requestor.

Comment on a ticket

Commenting on a ticket is useful if you wish to record some information about the ticket, perhaps for future reference, that you do not wish the requestor to see.

Open or view the ticket. Click Comment from the top navigation bar. Choose your name from the Owner: drop-down list. Enter message in the Message field. Click Submit.

The reply will be added to the ticket history. It will NOT go to the requestor.

Comment on a ticket and quote from requestor's text

Open or view the ticket. Scroll down to the relevant history section. Click Comment on the top right of the relevant history section. This will quote the contents of that history section in the message field. Choose your name from the Owner: drop-down. Edit quoted text appropriately and enter comments in the Message field. Click Submit.

The reply will be added to the ticket history. It will NOT go to the requestor.

Comment on a ticket and cc a third party

Useful when if you need to obtain information from another person, but you do not want the requestor to see this correspondence.

Open or view the ticket. Click Comment from the top navigation bar. Choose your name from the Owner: drop-down list.

In the cc box enter the full email address of the person to whom you wish to send the comments. If sending to more than one person, use a comma-delimited list of email addresses. Use the bcc field for blind carbon copies.

Enter message in the Message field. Click Submit.

The comment will be added to the ticket history. It will NOT go to the requestor.

If the person being cc-ed then replies to their email, then this reply is also logged against the ticket history. The requestor will NOT see this reply.

The cc and bcc facility can also be used in the same way when replying to or resolving a ticket.

Update Multiple tickets at once

This is useful if you wish to perform the same action on a number of tickets. It is the quickest way of dealing with more than one ticket.

Any screen listing tickets - e.g. a list of tickets for a queue, or a list returned from any search - will have a link called: 'Update all these tickets at once' below the list of tickets.

Click the link 'Update all these tickets at once'. A screen is displayed listing the tickets and all options that may be actioned. This screen is titled 'Bulk ticket update'.

Against each ticket is a select box - tick all the tickets that you wish to update, or click the 'Select all tickets' link to select all tickets.

Choose the properties that you wish to update, and click the 'Submit' button. At the top of the screen all changes are confirmed under the heading 'Results'.

This feature allows you to, for example, take ownership of multiple tickets, assign ownership to someone else in the queue, move multiple tickets to another queue, reply to multiple similar tickets at once, or resolve multiple tickets at once.

Remember: you must actively select the tickets you wish to update on the 'Bulk ticket update' screen.

Bounce a ticket to another queue

You may need to 'bounce' the ticket to another Queue if you feel that another Queue is more appropriate.

Open or view the ticket. Click Basics. From the Queue drop-down choose the queue you want to bounce the ticket to. Click Save Changes

Assign a ticket to someone else

You can assign tickets you own or are unowned to someone else within the same queue.

Open or view the ticket. Click people. Choose the new owner from the Owner drop-down.

Get a ticket back I mistakenly assigned to someone else.

Steal it. You can only steal tickets from people in the same queue. If a ticket is owed by someone else a Steal option will appear in the top navigation bar of the Ticket interface.

Split a ticket into two

Do this if a ticket actually contains two or more distinct questions, each of which should have it's own ticket.

Click on the ticket you wish to split. In the bottom window click on 'Copy'. This takes you into the 'Copy Ticket' screen. On this screen set the Queue that the new ticket will be created in by selecting from the drop-down box. You can change the subject of the new ticket, and remove, amend or add any text in the Message body. If the new ticket does not depend upon the existing one, leave the two check boxes under 'Links' blank.

Merge two tickets into one

Do this when a call has mistakenly been submitted twice or the root cause and requestor of a number of tickets is the same.

Open or view the ticket you want to merge into another. Click Links. In the Merge into: field enter the ticket number you want to merge the ticket into. The ticket history of the merged ticket will record the merge and who implemented it.

Merge a number of tickets into one

Repeat the above procedure.

Search for a known ticket number

If you know the ticket number, the quickest way to find details of it is to use the Search box located in the top right corner of every RT screen.

Put the ticket number into the search box. Hit the 'Search' button. If the ticket number exists, the ticket details screen will be displayed.

Advanced searches

To widen your search, in the left hand menu click Tickets-> New Search.

Enter your search criteria and specify a sort order (if required). Click the 'Search' button.

note: RT will only rerun details of tickets for which you have permission to view.

Every element of an RT ticket - requestor, owner, status, subject, body etc - can be searched.

For full details of how to use RT's search capabilities, see Appendix 2.

Bookmark a Search

If you use a fairly complex search pattern or one that you perform often it can be bookmarked for future use.

Use this procedure to bookmark:

Click Bookmarkable URL for this search at the foot of the Current search criteria column. This will turn the search pattern into a static bookmarkable URL which you can see in your Browser address field The search is not bookmarked at this point - we have just converted it into an address than can be bookmarked. Using your browser, bookmark or save the URL as you would with any other web page. You may need to edit the actual title or name of the saved URL to make it more descriptive. The search criteria you selected will now be saved. To retrieve the search, select the URL from your Favorites or Bookmarks. If you are already logged into RT, the search will run and retrieve all tickets that match the criteria you have saved.

Create a new ticket from within RT

It is possible to create tickets from within RT.

At the top of every screen is a button 'New ticket in'. Next to the button is a drop-down list of queues. Select the queue you wish to create a ticket in from the drop-down list.

Click 'New ticket in'.

A screen titled: 'Create a new ticket' is loaded. By default, you are the requestor of the ticket, to change the requestor, enter the email address of the person who is to be the requestor, or you can click the "select a user" link to search for users who are already in the RT system.

Now fill out the details of the ticket you wish to create. Be sure to put an appropriate subject line and specify location and equipment, if necessary.

When you are happy you have filled out all relevant details, click the 'create' button in the bottom right.

There may also be a 'Quick ticket creation' box on your RT at a glance page. Creating tickets this way is not recommended, as it does not allow you to enter any details for the ticket until after it has been created. You can remove this box from the page by clicking the Edit link at the top of RT at a glance, selecting QuickCreate in the right hand box, and clicking Delete.

Create a new ticket from an email client.

This method is useful when you wish to convert an existing email into an RT ticket. You can also create a new RT ticket from scratch from an email client.

Send the email to queue-name@css.washington.edu

If you are creating an RT ticket from scratch, please note that you will become the Requestor. (To change the requestor to someone else, see below).

If you are converting an existing email into an RT ticket you will need to forward it or bounce(redirect) it from your email client.

Bounce (redirect) a message to RT

When you bounce a message, the original headers of the email, including the author, date, subject, etc. are preserved. You bounce the email to queue-name@css.washington.edu, and a ticket will be created just as though the original author had sent it to RT to begin with, and the original author will be the Requestor.

With Mozilla Thunderbird

• Install the Mail Redirect extension.
• Click Message->Redirect or press Ctrl+B

With Pine

• Enable the "bounce" option in the config
• Press B

Forward a message to RT

When forwarding, you can add your own comments before sending it into RT. When the ticket is created in RT, you will be the requestor. If you wish someone else to be the requestor (e.g the author of the original email) you will need to change the requestor in RT after the ticket is created.

Important: when creating a ticket in RT, some queues are configured to send an autoreply. So beware that if creating a ticket in RT with, say, a student as the requestor, then that student will receive the autoreply that has been set up for that queue.

One way to prevent this is to create the ticket with yourself as the requestor, and then change the requestor in RT.

Change the Requestor

Open the ticket.

Click on 'People'

To remove the existing requestor (if required):

Click the check box by the requestor name (or username)

To add a new requestor:

On the left hand side are 3 drop down lists with the label : 'Add new watchers'

From the 'Type' drop down list select 'Requestor'

Enter the requestor's email address in the box labeled Email

When complete, click the 'Save Changes' button in the bottom right.

I can't remember which link does what in the ticket management interface.

Click Jumbo - it will concatenate the ticket management screens of Basics, Dates People and Links

Practice using RT

Create a test ticket and have fun!