Setting up a requests-only (tickets-only) help center

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">This article details how to set up a request-only help center. That is, a help center that enables end users to submit requests (tickets), and view existing requests only, and does not contain any self-service content.</p>
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<p class="p">This article details how to set up a request-only help center. That is, a help center that
enables end users to submit requests (tickets), and view existing requests only, and does not
contain any self-service content. </p>
<p class="p">There are several ways that you can accomplish this, but in this tip we'll edit the help
center home page to provide options for end-users to submit a new request or check their
existing requests. The home page will not contain anything else. For example:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic-1__image_42n_zrk_dx" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/hc_requests_only_example.png"></p>
<p class="p">The benefit of this tip is that it does not use a Javascript redirect to create a
request-only help center. Javascript can, and does, work as well. However it often diminishes
the agent experience when using the help center by making it challenging to access due to
restrictions on agents viewing the New Request page and My Activities, (the default behavior
is to redirect to the Zendesk Support agent interface). </p>
<p class="p">This tip avoids other challenges of JS, for example, accounting for user sign-in, having an
open or closed help center, and having multiple locales enabled. Simply, this tip accounts for
various desired workflows without the need of additional customizations.  </p>
<div class="p">This article contains the following sections:<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_x1z_xsk_dx">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_vws_tnk_dx">Updating your home page for requests
only</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_s2s_x4k_dx">Hiding unneeded elements of your help
center</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_qrr_5nk_dx">(Optional) Localizing your home page
buttons</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_lsk_vnk_dx">(Optional) Changing the default button
styling</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_vws_tnk_dx">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Updating your home page for requests only</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">First, we'll edit the help center home page to provide two buttons for end-users to submit a new
request and check their existing requests. We recommend that you use the Copenhagen theme
for your request-only help center, as it is mobile responsive.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To edit your home page to add the new request and existing requests buttons</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_vws_tnk_dx__ol_ypb_xnk_dx">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9041943683354#topic_b5q_nwn_s2c" target="_blank">Knowledge admin</a>, click <strong class="ph b">Customize design</strong>
(<img class="image" id="topic_vws_tnk_dx__d7e59" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/guide_icon_customize.png">) in the sidebar.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click your theme to open it, then click <strong class="ph b">Edit Code</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Open the Home Page template.</li>
<li class="li">Comment out the existing code by wrapping it in <code class="ph codeph">{{!-- ... --}}</code>.
<p class="p">If you do this correctly, all of the code text will change to gray. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">Above the commented out code of the homepage add the following code. <div class="p">
<pre class="pre codeblock"><code>&lt;div id="divhomecontainer"&gt;
&lt;h1&gt;Welcome to Rebecca's Support Portal&lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h2&gt; Select below to Submit a New Request or Check your Existing Requests&lt;h2&gt;

&lt;form style="display: block; text-align: center; margin: 20px;" class="submitbutton"
action="{{page_path 'new_request'}}"&gt;
&lt;input type="submit" value="Submit a Request"&gt;
&lt;/form&gt;

&lt;form  style="display: block; text-align: center; margin: 20px;"class="requestbutton"
action="{{page_path 'my_activities'}}"&gt;
&lt;input type="submit" value="Check your Existing Requests"&gt;
&lt;/form&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</code></pre>
</div>
<div class="p">What this code does: <ul class="ul" id="topic_vws_tnk_dx__ul_2nt_24k_dx">
<li class="li">
<p class="p">Adds a welcome message. Be sure to change the placeholder text with your own
welcome message. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<p class="p">Creates two buttons: one for the new request form and one to check existing
requests. Also, adds a unique class to the buttons to customize the CSS if
needed. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<p class="p">Adds CSS styles to the buttons inline to enhance the appearance. (Avoids having
to have customers also customize the CSS with could likely be confusing i.e. one
stop copy-paste solution.)</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
<p class="p">Prompts users who are not signed in to do so when they click the Check your
Existing Requests button. </p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">You can wait to publish changes until you <a class="xref" href="#topic_s2s_x4k_dx">hide unneeded elements of your help center</a> in the
next section.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_s2s_x4k_dx">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Hiding unneeded elements of your help center</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">After you edit your home page to add <a class="xref" href="#topic_vws_tnk_dx">the
requests-only buttons</a>, you'll want to ensure that end users do not accidentally
navigate to the content sections. To do so, you'll comment out a few additional lines of
code on various templates for:</p>
<div class="p">
<ul class="ul" id="topic_s2s_x4k_dx__ul_hzg_xzk_dx">
<li class="li">Community</li>
<li class="li">Submit a request button</li>
<li class="li">Navigation links</li>
<li class="li">Search</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Additionally, you should delete all pre-existing content in categories or set the
categories to draft mode, as described below, to prevent end-users from accessing the
content inadvertently. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To hide unneeded elements in your help center</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_s2s_x4k_dx__ol_txv_z4k_dx">
<li class="li">Open the <strong class="ph b">header</strong> template, then comment out the Community and Submit a Request
buttons by wrapping it in <code class="ph codeph">{{!-- ... --}}</code>. <p class="p">If you do this correctly,
all of the code text will change to gray.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Open the <strong class="ph b">request_page</strong> template, then comment out the
<code class="ph codeph">&lt;nav&gt;</code> code at the top. </li>
<li class="li">Open the <strong class="ph b">requests_page</strong> template, then comment out the
<code class="ph codeph">&lt;nav&gt;</code> code at the top. </li>
<li class="li">Open the <strong class="ph b">new_request_page</strong> template, then comment out
<code class="ph codeph">{{search}}</code>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To remove pre-existing help center content</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_s2s_x4k_dx__ol_f4x_pn4_kk">
<li class="li">Navigate to the category, then click <strong class="ph b">Edit category</strong> in the top menu bar.</li>
<li class="li">Click the <strong class="ph b">Mark as draft</strong> checkbox to hide the category and its content, or click <strong class="ph b">Delete
category</strong> at the bottom to permanently remove the category and its contents.</li>
<li class="li">If you selected draft, click <strong class="ph b">Update</strong>, and if you selected delete, click to confirm
that you want to delete the category.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_lsk_vnk_dx">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">(Optional) Changing the default button styling and color</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">The help center provides pre-built templates, so the CSS styling already exists for buttons in
your help center. If you are having issues overwriting the existing CSS, you will likely
need to edit the default styling. You can also change the button color without editing the
CSS.</p>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To find the default CSS button styling</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_lsk_vnk_dx__ol_thv_qqq_dx">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9041943683354#topic_b5q_nwn_s2c" target="_blank">Knowledge admin</a>, click <strong class="ph b">Customize design</strong>
(<img class="image" id="topic_lsk_vnk_dx__d7e59" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/guide_icon_customize.png">) in the sidebar.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click your theme to open it, then click <strong class="ph b">Edit Code</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Open the <strong class="ph b">style.css</strong> file.</li>
<li class="li">Search (control + F) for "Buttons".</li>
<li class="li">Make updates as you'd like, then click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To edit the button colors</strong><ol class="ol" id="topic_lsk_vnk_dx__ol_bm2_nrq_dx">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9041943683354#topic_b5q_nwn_s2c" target="_blank">Knowledge admin</a>, click <strong class="ph b">Customize design</strong>
(<img class="image" id="topic_lsk_vnk_dx__d7e59" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/guide_icon_customize.png">) in the sidebar.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click your theme to open it.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Colors</strong>, then change the colors as needed.<p class="p">Here’s how the colors map:
</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image img-screenshot" id="topic_lsk_vnk_dx__image_p3n_xrk_dx" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/hc_requests_only_button_colors.png"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_qrr_5nk_dx">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">(Optional) Localizing your home page buttons</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">
<div class="note note">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Support and Knowledge customers who are not on a Suite plan must have Support
Professional or Enterprise with any Knowledge plan to use this feature.</div>
You can use
dynamic content to localize content in your help center, especially if you want the button
text on your home page to be language specific for users accessing the page in different
languages.</div>
<div class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To localize your home page buttons</strong><ul class="ul" id="topic_qrr_5nk_dx__ul_jcg_cqq_dx">
<li class="li">Create the dynamic content in the Admin Center, then insert in the DC placeholder in
your help center to make the text dynamic for users accessing in different languages.
<p class="p">See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408894121754" target="_blank">Adding translated text to your help center</a> for instructions.</p>
</li>
</ul>
For example: </div>
<div class="p">
<pre class="pre codeblock"><code>&lt;div id="divhomecontainer"&gt;
&lt;h1 style="text-align: center;"&gt;{{dc ‘ADD_YOUR_DC'}} &lt;/h1&gt;
&lt;h2 style="text-align: center;"&gt; {{dc 'ADD_YOUR_DC'}}&lt;/h2&gt;

&lt;form style="display: block; text-align: center; margin: 20px;" class="submitbutton"
action="{{page_path 'new_request'}}"&gt;
&lt;input type="submit" value="Submit a Request"&gt;
&lt;/form&gt;

&lt;form  style="display: block; text-align: center; margin: 20px;" class="requestbutton" action="{{page_path 'my_activities'}}"&gt;
&lt;input type="submit" value="Check your Existing Requests"&gt;
&lt;/form&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</code></pre>
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