Basics:Explore

From Cerberus Helpdesk Wiki

The Explorer toolbar is a global navigation frame used for paging through any list in the Helpdesk -- i.e. instead of jumping back to the ticket list after each reply, you'd use the explorer to cycle to the next ticket instantly. Explorer doesn't just work with tickets though, a majority of all the default sections (tasks, organizations) are compatible, plus any filtered searches or saved workspaces; just look for the 'explore' link in the blue title bar.

Ticket Explorer

Ticket lists are probably the most common use case, so let's stick with something simple: replying to your assigned tickets in 'Overview'. By default explorer starts with the first item on the current page, however you can jump in at any point by selecting (checkmarking) a row beforehand.

• Select a ticket and then click 'explore'.

The paging order is naturally determined by how you're sorting the list, you can always change the list order by sorting the opposite way or against a different column.

Observe the additional frame now sitting at the top of the page, notice the URL in your web browser is a "unique" explorer link (cerb5/index.php/explore/adf7fcc.../3). That means you could open a second explorer in a new browser window and have two lists going at once, OR you could share your explorer with someone else and they would have access to the same list.

The standard explorer bar.

Even if you browse away from your tickets to another area, explorer will stay active until you deliberately close it; the main benefit being all the navigation buttons still function relative to where you were in the list.

• Cerb logo: Functions as a "home" button of sorts; click it to return to the list you "explored" from. In some cases this will be an approximation of where you left off -- instead of the organization's 'mail history' tab you get sent back to the default 'notes' tab.
• Green Title: What you're browsing; usually this is the same as the worklist name you see at the top of a list. For tickets it could be as simple as the group and bucket.
• URL: A link to what you're looking at in the Helpdesk; click to open the contents in a new window. Feel free to pass the link to your co-workers for quick access.
• Prev/Next: Page back and forth through the list; the [ and ] keys act as shortcuts.
• X (Exit): Closes the explorer bar.

Note: Ticket Explorer does replace the old page navigation box from previous versions; if you want to use the prev/next links and keyboard shortcuts, you must use the new explorer.

The 4.x version is no more.

Other Examples

The basic explorer generally works the same way no matter what type of list you're viewing, but a couple of them have some additional options.

Forum Explorer

Activate the explorer from the 'activity', 'Forums' tab and you should be taken to your linked forums.

The forums plugin is no longer included with Cerb.

Notice the top bar now includes two extra shortcuts, an 'Assign Worker' picklist and a 'Close' button. Both of these are for manipulating the status of a thread inside the Helpdesk, without leaving the forum itself. After you reply to a thread you can close it out and navigate to the next one; if you return to a closed thread, the 'Close' button changes to 'Re-Open'.

• To install the forums plugin download it from SVN into the cerb5/storage/plugins directory, then enable it from 'helpdesk setup', 'Features & Plugins'. (http://svn.webgroupmedia.com/cerb5/trunk/plugins/official/)

Notifications Explorer

Activate the explorer from the 'home', 'Notifications' tab and you can flip through all the work that needs your attention. In Cerb4 paging was limited to just tickets, but because the explorer can handle multiple contexts (tickets, tasks, forums), paging between them will now work properly.

Browse all your forum and ticket assignments, watchers, sticky notes, comments and task notes.

• Unlike clicking into a notification directly, viewing a notification through the explorer does NOT automatically mark it read.