Text Templates

Introduction to Text Templates in ConSol CM

Text templates are boilerplates consisting of text and variables, which allow to automatically insert data of the current user or ticket. They are used in emails and comments. Text templates help to keep emails consistent regarding wording and layout, and increase the productivity of the users who do not have to type as much text.

Concepts, Terms and Definitions

Concept	Other terms	Definition
text template		Template which is used when writing emails or comments.
document template	Office template	Microsoft Office or OpenOffice file used as a template for CM/Doc.
Freemarker		Template engine used for creating templates in ConSol CM.

Purpose and Usage

Text templates are used for facilitating the work of the Web Client users by providing them with drafts for emails and comments. In addition, the text of automatic emails or automatically added comments can be stored in text templates.

Text templates can include variables which are filled with data from the ticket where the template is used. Variables can retrieve ticket data, data of the ticket’s customer or engineer, and data of the current engineer.

When using a text template, the template content is added to the comment or email editor. The user can edit it as desired to create the final comment or email. It is possible to use several templates for a comment or email.

Text templates are saved in the Text templates section of the Web Client. Templates which are only used in the workflow and should not be available for selection in the Web Client, can also be saved in the Admin Tool Templates section of the Admin Tool.

Available Settings for Templates

Text templates have the following general settings:

• Name:
  Mandatory. The name of the text template. It must be unique within the language. On the overview screen, templates which have attachments are indicated by a small paperclip icon next to the template name.
• Group:
  Mandatory. The group which the template belongs to. This setting is useful to organize your templates and locate them more easily, both in the template administration and in the email or comment editor.
• Subgroup:
  Optional. The subgroup which the template belongs to. This setting is useful if your groups contain many templates.
• Language:
  Mandatory. The language of the template. This is useful if you communicate in several languages, so that you need to have the same template in each language. You can then use the language setting to retrieve the correct template in scripts.
• Usage:
  Indicates how many times the template was used. Only shown on the overview screen.
• Release:
  Mandatory. The version number of the template. Only shown in the template details.
• Active:
  Mandatory. Indicates if the template is enabled or disabled. The checkbox is available in the template details. On the overview screen, the disabled templates are displayed in gray italics.
• Is workflow:
  Only available for templates of the type Include. Indicates whether the include can be used in letters which are used in the Web Client or letters which are used in the workflow. If the setting is No, the letter cannot be used in workflows. Otherwise, it can be used both in the Web Client and in workflows.

If a template uses data fields which are no longer available, the line of the respective template is displayed in red on the overview screen. The broken references are displayed in red and you need to remove them to be able to save the template.

Types of Templates

There are four types of text templates. A text template is always of one of the types.

• Letter:
  The text template which can be used for comments or emails.
• Include:
  Includes can be used within letters. They allow reusing text for several templates. A common use case for includes is the email signature, which is required for all email templates. When creating an include, you need to decide whether is should be available only for letters which are used in the Web Client, or for both letters which are used in the Web Client and in the workflow.
• Text block:
  Text blocks can be used within letters. They are useful for manual emails and comments because the user can choose which text blocks to include in the final comment or email. See Using Text Blocks.
  
• Script:
  Scripts can be used within letters, includes or text blocks. They are written in Freemarker and allow adding logic to templates. If you want to use HTML tags in the script, you need to select the checkbox Allow HTML. Scripts can only be edited by users with administrator permissions. See Using Scripts in Text Templates.

Template Usage

There are four places where text templates of the type Letter can be used. You can select one or several of the places:

• Workflow:
  The template can be used for emails and comments created automatically in the workflow.

  Templates which can be used in the workflow must not contain text blocks or additional parameters, as these elements require manual interaction by the user.

• Email:
  The template can be used for manual emails sent using the email editor in the Web Client.

• Ticket create:
  The template can be used for comments written in the comment editor of the Web Client when creating a new ticket.

• Ticket edit:
  The template can be used for comments written in the comment editor of the Web Client when adding or editing a comment in an existing ticket.

For text templates of the type Include, there is one setting:

• Is workflow:
  Indicates whether the include can be used in letters which are used in the Web Client or letters which are used in the workflow. If this checkbox is not selected, the letter cannot be used in workflows. Otherwise, it can be used both in the Web Client and in workflows.

Basic Tasks

Finding a Text Template

The list of text templates is displayed directly after accessing the Text templates section of the Web Client. You can filter the list to locate a template more easily:

• Text search: Perform a free text search in the template name and content.

  Enter a text in the Enter template name or content field.

• Template group: Display only templates which belong to a certain group.

  Select the template group or subgroup in the All groups drop-down list.

• Queue: Display only templates which are available in a certain queue.

  Select the queue in the All queues drop-down list.

• Template usage: Display only templates which are available in a certain context.

  Select the context in the Available for drop-down list.

• Template type: Display only templates of a certain type.

  Select the type in the Template type list.

You can select the checkbox Include inactive templates if you want to display disabled templates.

Managing Text Templates

You need to have template administration permissions to manage templates, see permission Write template in the Tab Global Permissions section.

Most actions to manage templates can be accessed from two places:

• Context menu

  Click the name of the template in the Template name column and select an entry in the context menu.

• Preview

  Click any column except for the Template name column and click one of the icons displayed on the left.

The following actions are available for templates:

• Create a new template

  Click the Create new template button above the list of templates. Fill out the basic template data (see Available Settings for Templates) and write the template content (see Writing Text Templates).

  If the new template is similar to an existing template, you can prefill the Create new template screen with the data of an existing template by selecting the Clone option.

• Preview the attachments of a template

  You can click the arrow icon in the preview of a template to display the attachments in the preview window.

  

• Edit a template

  Click the Edit icon of the template preview or select the Edit option from the template’s context menu. You can update the basic template data (see Available Settings for Templates) or change the template content (see Writing Text Templates).

• Disable a template

  Click the Disable icon of the template preview or select the Disable option from the template’s context menu. Disabled templates cannot be used anymore. They are displayed in gray italics on the overview screen.

• Enable a template

  Click the Enable icon of the template preview or select the Enable option from the template’s context menu. Enabled templates can be used in the Web Client and workflow.

• Delete a template

  Click the Delete icon of the template preview or select the Delete option from the template’s context menu to delete templates which are not needed anymore. Templates which are in use, either by the workflow or because they are referenced by other templates, cannot be deleted.

• Set the default templates for comments and emails

  Only available for templates of the type Letter. You can set a default template for both emails and comments. This template is inserted automatically in the editor when a user adds a comment or email. To set a template as default template, click the option Use as e-mail standard or Use as comment standard in the template’s context menu. This option is only available if no other template is in use as standard template for emails / comments. If another template is already selected for this purpose, you have to remove this setting first by clicking Unset comment standard or Unset email standard in the context menu of the affected template. You can locate the default templates by looking for the text E-mail standard or Comment standard after the template name.

  Usually, a signature is used as a standard template for emails. A standard template must not contain text blocks or parameters.

Writing Text Templates

You can perform the following steps to write a text template:

1. Create a template of the type Letter. You can enter text and format it using the rich text editor. In addition you can insert variables from the library of markers. See Using Variables in Text Templates. You can add attachments to the template. If the template should only be available in specific queues or if specific data fields are filled out in the ticket, you can restrict the template accordingly. See Binding a Text Template.

   Alternatively, you can create a new template from an outgoing email in the ticket history. Click the entry Use as template in the context menu of the email to open the template creation screen.

2. Optional. Add attachments to the letter. When selecting the template in the comment or email editor, the attachments are preselected. They are attached to the ticket upon saving the comment or sending the email. When an email template with attachments is used by the workflow, the attachments are ignored.
3. Optional. Create a template of the type Text block. You can enter text and format it using the rich text editor. In addition you can insert variables from the library of markers. See Using Variables in Text Templates.
4. Optional. Create a template of the type Include. You can enter text and format it using the rich text editor. In addition you can insert variables from the library of markers. See Using Variables in Text Templates. You can use all kinds of variables except for text blocks and other includes. A common use case for includes is the email signature, which is added to all letters used for emails.
5. Optional, administrator permissions required. Create a template of the type Script. You can enter text and use Freemarker code to add logic. If you select the Allow HTML checkbox, you can use HTML tags to format the script content.
6. Optional. Reference text blocks, includes and scripts in the letter. See Using Variables in Text Templates.

It is not possible to use executable JavaScript code in text templates. Any <script> tags are escaped automatically by the system.

Using Variables in Text Templates

The library of markers allows to insert variables into text templates. There are three kinds of variables:

• References to other text templates (includes, text blocks, scripts)

  The referenced templates are included automatically. The only case where there is user interaction are text blocks, which the user can select or deselect.

  Text blocks are not available in letters which can be used in the workflow.

• References to ticket and customer fields

  The referenced fields are automatically replaced by their values in the current ticket / ticket customer. If the field is empty, it is omitted in the template. No user interaction is required.

  If you use customer fields, the template is only available in tickets whose main customer belongs to a customer group whose data model includes the respective fields.

• Parameters to be filled out by the user

  There are two kinds of parameters: string parameters and enum parameters. The user needs to fill out the variable when using the text template.

  Parameters are not available in letters which can be used in the workflow.

The following table lists the available variables with a short description. Different colors are used in the template administration to make it easier to distinguish between the different kinds of variables.

Variable	Description	Color
Customer data models	Allows to insert customer fields. Select the customer group and customer object (company or contact) to see the available data fields.	Blue
Customer Group	Allows to insert the name of the customer group.	Blue
Queue	Allows to insert the name of the queue.	Blue
Custom fields	Allows to insert ticket fields. Select the field group to see the available data fields.	Blue
Ticket	Allows to insert basic ticket data (ID, name, subject, creation date, escalation date). You can click the Engineer option to insert data of the assigned engineer, e.g. the name or phone number (see Engineers for details about the available fields).	Blue
Engineer	Allows to insert data of the current engineer, e.g. the name or phone number (see Engineers for details about the available fields).	Blue
Includes	Allows to insert templates of the type Include.	Orange
Text blocks	Allows to insert templates of the type Text block.	Green
Workflow includes	Allows to insert templates of the type Include which have the option Is workflow checked, so that they can be used in templates which are used in the workflow.	Orange
Scripts	Allows to insert templates of the type Script.	Lila
String parameter	Displays a text field above the comment / email editor where the user can enter a text which is inserted in the configured place within the template.	Red
Enum parameter	Displays a selector above the comment / email editor where the user can select one of the enum values to insert it in the configured place within the template.	Red

Please proceed as follows to insert references to text templates and fields:

1. Place the cursor at the desired position within the text.
2. Navigate to the desired item in the Library of markers section and click to insert the item.

Please proceed as follows to insert parameters:

1. Place the cursor at the desired position within the text.

2. Insert the parameter in the Library of markers section:

   String parameter:

   1. Click Add string parameter.
   2. Enter the name of the parameter in the field below New parameter.
   3. Click Add parameter.

   Enum parameter:

   1. Click Add enum parameter.
   2. Enter the name of the parameter in the field below New parameter.
   3. Select an enum. The checkbox Template enabled needs to be selected for the enum in the Managing Sorted Lists: Enums section.
   4. Click Add parameter.

See Using Parameters for information about the user perspective.

Binding a Text Template

The binding determines in which tickets a letter template is available. The availability of a text template depends on two factors:

• Settings in the Binding section of the template

  You can limit the availability of templates depending on the queue and ticket fields. The following settings are available:

  • Queue: Select the queue which the ticket has to be in.
  • Custom field: Select the value which needs to be set for a ticket field (only fields of the type enum).

  You can add several criteria by using the + icon. The following rules apply when combining several criteria:

  • Queue: Several queues are combined with OR, i.e. the ticket needs to be in one of the queues.
  • Ticket field: Several ticket fields are combined with AND. Several values of the same ticket field are combined with OR. This means that the ticket needs to have one of the specified values for each of the ticket fields.
  • Queue and ticket field: Queue and ticket fields are combined with AND, i.e. the ticket needs to be in the selected queue and have the specified value in the given ticket field.

  There are two kinds of binding: soft and hard. By default, the hard binding is used for all criteria, meaning that the template is only available if the criterion is met. You can select the checkbox soft next to a criterion to allow the Web Client users to “overwrite” the binding. In this case, the users can display the template by unchecking the option Show templates suitable for this context in the template selector of the email / comment editor, when the criterion is not met.

• Customer group of the ticket’s main customer

  If variables from customer data models are used (see Using Variables in Text Templates), the template is only available if the ticket’s customer belongs to a customer group with the respective data model.

If you do not need all the ticket fields of the type enum for text templates, you can exclude specific ticket fields using the page customization of markersLibrary (Type). This improves the load time of the template details page because the excluded field do not need to be loaded in the Binding section.

Using Text Templates

Text templates can be used in the comment and email editor of the Web Client and in the workflow. Text templates which are used in the workflow work in the same way as regular templates.

The following section describes how users work with text templates in the Web Client.

The user can select the desired templates in the Add template selector of the comment and email editor. He can edit the template text before saving the comment or sending the email. If a default template is used, the user can remove or edit the content of this template. The template is inserted as text, the text which belongs to variables has the same color as in the template administration. The purpose of the colors is to highlight the parts which are dynamically retrieved, the sent email or saved comment does not have these colors.

The following figure shows a template with two text blocks in the comment editor. Both text blocks are selected, so that they are included in the comment.

Figure 413: Template with text blocks (user perspective)

The following figure shows a template with one string parameter and one enum parameter. The user can provide the desired values above the editor to insert them.

Figure 414: Template with parameters (user perspective)

You can configure several editor settings regarding templates in the page customization of mailTemplate (Type).

Advanced Tasks

Using Scripts in Text Templates

Scripts allow to add logic to the templates. They can only be edited by users who have administrator permissions, see Tab Global Permissions. Using scripts you can implement for example customized salutations depending on contact fields.

Script templates are written in Freemarker (see https://freemarker.apache.org/). If you select the Allow HTML checkbox, you can use HTML tags to format the script content.

You have to use square brackets [] instead of the angle brackets used in standard Freemarker notation.

Coding Example: Queue-specific Signatures

The following example shows a script template used to include a specific signature depending on the current queue of the ticket. This way, you can use different signatures for different departments of the company.

Coding Example: Using List and Struct Fields in Templates

Data fields of the type list or struct cannot be selected directly using the library of markers. Instead, you need to create a script and include it in the letter template. The Allow HTML checkbox needs to be selected for the script template. The following example shows how to write a script which displays the content of the struct order_list in the ticket field group helpdesk_standard. The table header is displayed in bold font and contains the field names.