Building a Support Ticket Section 1

[noellees1]

Hi,
I need to know how to go about making the following
A support ticket section that a user can submit a support ticket, and then if they need to append to it.
I need it to then let an admin user reply to the support ticket
Then again let the user reply to the ticket
I need this to be viewable by thread (contact_ref) the user may well haeve more than one support ticket at a time
Can someone just help me figure out how to do this, i can try the coding im just not sure how to begin making the links and how it would work with database tables etc.
So basically a layout/plan for one would be nice.
I.E. Wullie has built an amazing support ticket section for FLH any one who has seen it will know, how would i go about making something similar to that.
Thank all,

http://www.spano.co.uk

The way web design should be

 

[tlhawkins]

Hey,


There is a lot that could be said about that. When I went to make one of these I started with a regular Forum and just made it more secure where only the user who opened the ticket and the admin could see the posts. The tek-tips forum is a great layout to follow.





Travis Hawkins
BeachBum Software
travis@cfm2asp.com

http://www.beachbumsoftware.com

 

[noellees1]

So how is this forum made
In relation to tables
How replys work
Im just not sure on any of it really i need to kno w what i am trying to make!
DO i need to relate a 1 to many relationship between user_id in user table and user_id in contact table then do a select * where user_id = session.user_id or something??

Hope this helps,

http://www.spano.co.uk

The way web design should be

 

[Wullie]

Hi,

I can't comment on the best way to do it, but a very basic example would be something like:

helpdesk_tickets
[ul]
[li]id[/li]
[li]username[/li]
[li]problem[/li]
[/ul]

helpdesk_updates
[ul]
[li]id[/li]
[li]ticket_id[/li]
[li]update_by[/li]
[li]reply[/li]
[/ul]

To pull the details out you would have somnething similar to:

SELECT *
FROM helpdesk_ticket
WHERE id = '#url.id#'

then you would loop through and get any record from helpdesk_updates where ticket_id = id.

Obviously this is the very basic functionality, you would need to build in security checks to make sure the person was authorised to view the ticket and you would also need status of ticket etc.

The ticket section I built took about 7 hours from start to finish, but since then I have added extra functionality to make life easier.

Hope this helps

Wullie

http://www.freshlookhosting.com

http://www.tutorial-world.com

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell

 

[xtendscott]

Wullie,

Nice thought out example. Nice to hear from thoughs that have experienced the direct issue.


xtendscott
Web Site Design and CF Programming

 

[imstillatwork]

yeah, you should be able to come up with a basic, no frills, heres me problem, here are follow-ups, throw in a few categories ticket system in a matter of hours. add user logins and past/curret ticket reviews / ability to asign tickets to resources, etc. I have one that I have been working on on and off fo the last year or so, never finishing it, just one of those things we all have on our servers that we would like to work on someday i guess.

 

[noellees1]

Humm im confused wullies example as simple as it is i cannot implement.
How do i make the id be the same in both tables and then have a seprate ticket id im on access here.
I just cant figure it out!
Do i need to insert a id into both tables or should it be an autonumber then the other table relate to it?
Im very confused!

Hope this helps,

http://www.spano.co.uk

The way web design should be

 

[Wullie]

helpdesk_tickets.id would hold the ticket number, then when you store a reply into helpdesk_updates, you would store the ticket id as helpdesk_updates.ticket_id

Hope this helps


Wullie

http://www.freshlookhosting.com

http://www.tutorial-world.com

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell