Tutorial 3.2: Customizing webforms and editing cases

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Adding Custom Fields to web forms

You can also create custom fields to add to your web form. Custom fields allow you to customize your web forms to suit your business. There are almost no limits to how much you can customize your web form, and This is a simple four step process.

1. Enter a field name. This will appear on the web form above the input field.

2. Select a field type. You can choose from several types, including:

1. 1. Date. For this field type, the customer will be presented a date picker to allow them to choose a date
   2. Checkbox List. The customer can choose from a list. They can choose multiple options from the list.
   3. List box List. The customer can choose from a list. They can choose multiple options from the list.
   4. Dropdown List. The customer can choose from a list. They can choose only one option from the list.
   5. Radio List. The customer can choose from a list. They can choose only one option from the list
   6. Number. A text box that must have a number entered in it
   7. Text (Multi-line). A text box that accepts multiple lines of text
   8. Text (String). A text box that accepts only one line of text
   9. True/False. A check box for yes/no answers.

3. If a list was selected, we enter in the options for that list, separated by commas. Put an asterisks (*) at the end of any value to make it selected.

4. Click Add.

Now repeat these steps for each required custom field.

After creating fields, you cannot change their type; instead you must add a new field and potentially delete the old one. You can, however, change the items in a list if desired.

We strongly recommend you take advantage of the Preview tab to review your web form as you create it.

Whenever you make changes to an existing web form, you will need to re-insert the form on to the relevant web page / pages.

Cases

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What is a Case

A Case is a record of a customers interaction with your business.

A case can be created automatically or manually entered into the system.

Cases are created automatically when a web form is submitted on your web site. The custom fields on that web form are also captured in the resulting Case Record. Most cases in the system will be created via web form submissions.

The ability to create cases manually is provided so that your sales or customer service representatives can enter the relevant details when contact is not made via the website...i.e. when the customer contacts your business directly, either in person, via the phone or via email.

Its important that a case is created each time a customer interacts with your business. This enables you to keep a history of all interactions with the customer and refer to them at anytime in the future.

Creating a Case Manually

To add a case manually click on Customer Cases link in the Relates box of the customer record. Click Create a New Case. You can enter the subject of the case and create notes and tasks as necessary. You can choose a workflow for your case. Once you have saved your case you can initiate the workflow and notify the relevant people who are responsible for completing the relevant tasks associated with the case.

Case Ownership

Case ownership is decided by who created the case. If the case was created via a web form, anyone can take ownership of the case by selecting a user from the Assigned To drop down. The case will get assigned to this person. This is primarily for reporting purposes.

Case Relationships

Case relationships are a way of creating links between a single case to more than one customer. This is useful if a case relates to multiple customers, for example, if you are a builder, then the building of a house may relate to:

• The customer who owns the house
• Suppliers who are involved in the construction

By relating the case to the suppliers as well, you can then create secure zones on your website to allow your suppliers and your customer to login and view their cases, their status and any other related information.

For more details on this, see the section on publishing cases.

Case Threads

Threads allow you to create a running conversation between you and the customer via email related to the current case. Click on Threads to bring up the online editor that allows you to write an email to send to the customer directly from the web-based Administration interface. When you are finished, click Send Message to email the customer. Your email will be saved against the case for future reference.

Case Files

You can upload and attach one or more files to your cases. These are files related to the current case and serve as a reference. If a web form consists of the file upload field, then any files upload will be automatically attached to the case. If you are publishing cases in secure zones, you can also publish case files and allow customers to easily download them. This is discussed in further detail in a later topic.

Case Workflows

Under Case Workflows you can view the workflows that apply to this case. By clicking on History you can view the history of the different workflow steps that have been completed. You can run the same or different workflows for a case. However no two workflows can run at the same time.

3^rd Party Notifications

Quick Add allows you to quickly add this customer to a workflow process that supports 3^rd party notifications. Manage Notifications allows you to add other customers to this cases 3^rd party customer notifications. Please refer to previous section to learn more about 3^rd party notifications. In essence 3^rd Party Notification can keep your customers in the loop as a workflow process progresses internally within your organization. For example if you are processing a loan application for a customer, you may want to keep the customer in the loop as the loan application progresses internally towards approval.

Publishing Case History for Customers on Your Website

There are many situations where you might want to allow your customers to view their cases online. For example a finance company may want to show customers the progress of their application. You can do this in a few easy steps.

1. Set up a Secure Zone for your customers.
2. Create a new web page and add it to the secure zone.
3. For that web page, click on the Editor tab and open up the Module Manager.
4. Under Secure Zones, you will see the case related modules such as
   1. Case Search, to search for cases by their name or ID number
   2. Customer Case History, to display all of the cases for that customer, or all of the cases related to a particular workflow (such as a loan request workflow for the finance company).

NOTE:

• Your Online Business also provides a web services framework to allow the addition and updating of cases.
• To enhance customer experience you may place the Case Search module in a secure zone to allow customers to search through their cases and retrieve them quickly.
• When publishing cases in secure zones, customers will see their cases and any other case that have been directly linked to them using the Cases Relationships option. Refer to the Case Relationships topic to learn more.

Customizing the Case History Layout

As with everything in the system, how the case list and history is laid out is entirely up to you. You can completely customize this in Admin -> More Customization Options. Click on Customer Cases Templates. You can modify the List template, and add and remove the tags you want to display (refer to Customizing Your Online Business).

You can also modify the Details template, adding and removing the tags you desire, and rearranging the HTML to suit your desired look and feel. You can publish the case details, conversation threads, case files (with the ability to download) and any custom fields that may be attached.

* Link to legacy reference articles on the Wiki that relate to your tutorial (from Mario's existing articles that he put in the spreadsheet