Setting statuses on forms

Statuses can be limited per form, so agents on a returns ticket only see the statuses that make sense for returns.

Statuses can be limited per form, so agents on a returns ticket only see the statuses that make sense for returns.

Set the statuses for a form

1. Open Admin Center, then Objects and rules, then Tickets, then Ticket statuses.
2. Go to the Ticket statuses on form tab.
3. Choose per form which ticket statuses are available on it.
4. Save, and check on a real ticket using that form.

Why limit them

Once you have eight or ten statuses, most of them are irrelevant to any given ticket. "Awaiting parts" on a billing query is noise, and noise in a dropdown produces wrong choices.

There is a second reason, and it is mechanical. The picker shows ten statuses before an agent has to go looking. Restricting per form is how you make sure the ten that show on a returns ticket are the ten a returns agent needs.

Restricting per form gives each kind of work a short, correct list.

What happens to a ticket that changes form

If a ticket already has a status that the new form does not offer, it keeps it. Zendesk does not silently reset the status, which is the right behaviour but does mean you can see a status that is not in the current list.

Do not use this as a permission

Limiting statuses on a form shapes the choice; it does not enforce a process. Rules, not form configuration, are what stop a ticket being solved before something has happened. Treat this as helping agents pick well rather than as a control.

See also

• Creating and managing a custom status
• Creating multiple ticket forms