A couple of ideas which are absolute requirements.

[BMF]

Hi there.

We've been using cerberus for a few years, been through some ups and downs with it, we're currently using 3.6 and we're stuck with a bug where sometimes we get caught with a ticket that when you reply to it it actually replies to a different ticket :D

The fix for that problem was to upgrade to the beta/rc of 4.0, we've had some reservations about upgrading to the beta/rc of 4.0 due to a few different philosophical reasons.

1) No importing of user accounts from 3 to 4.. we have literally hundreds of support center users... people are already dubious enough about not having unified logins between the sales/CRM and the support center without having to create a new login when we transition to 4.0

2) apparently there is no way to set a 'timer' on a ticket nor is there a way to allow a watcher to change the status of a ticket without going into the web mail system. Previously noone hardly ever logged into the webmail system unless we needed to change settings. We use exchange and sharepoint and push all of our tickets into public folders and then people respond to them and they're pushed into the POP3 accounts which cerberus monitors, then people respond to them in the public folders. It is just alot faster than using a web browser. Previously you could setup rules to change status by modifying the subject line, you can no longer do this.

-- We were really hoping in the new version you could setup rules like.. if no changes have been made to a ticket by either the requester or the service center (us) in x amount of time do x to it (i.e. close it).. --

Different organizations have different needs, I understand the idea that you guys took with your technological standpoint but defining how people should handle their actual practices of customer service may be a little... well; over shooting it.

If you do not plan on adding the ability to simply import accounts from 3.x to 4.0 or any ability to update status on tickets or change status without going into webmail can you at least fix the bug with the "replies to wrong tickets when ticket was opened via the support center" bug in 3.x?

thank you,
BMF

[jstanden]

Hey BMF!

we're currently using 3.6 and we're stuck with a bug where sometimes we get caught with a ticket that when you reply to it it actually replies to a different ticketI'd have to ask Dan@WGM about this, but since Cerb 3.x depends on the subject line mask (rather than the headers) I can see where this is possible.

The fix for that problem was to upgrade to the beta/rc of 4.0...Because of the improved way 4.0 uses message headers it should be impossible for it to mis-thread messages like you described above -- regardless of the message subject line. (At worst it would open a new ticket)

No importing of user accounts from 3 to 4.. we have literally hundreds of support center users...It would literally take minutes to generate the SQL script to import those accounts. I'll add it to the knowledgebase.

apparently there is no way to set a 'timer' on a ticketSure, but that's an absolute blocker on a 4.0 upgrade for you? It didn't exist in 3.x either, right?

nor is there a way to allow a watcher to change the status of a ticket without going into the web mail systemThis is currently undocumented, but in 4.0 you can issue watcher commands to [take] and [close] tickets from any e-mail client or device without using the GUI.

http://www.wgmdev.com/jira/browse/CHD-292

-- We were really hoping in the new version you could setup rules like.. if no changes have been made to a ticket by either the requester or the service center (us) in x amount of time do x to it (i.e. close it).. --In 4.0 you can create an event listener plugin to do anything about anything. Again, this needs documentation, but I can't emphasize enough how much cleaner and more extensible 4.0 is over 3.x in this regard.

Different organizations have different needs, I understand the idea that you guys took with your technological standpoint but defining how people should handle their actual practices of customer service may be a little... well; over shooting it.Really, the point of 4.0 is to not hardcode anything. Using the new plug-in system and API you can extend the system, or completely replace any part of the GUI easily.

I understand that it's hard to understand that just by looking at the demo or the website. We really need to wrap up the developer documentation.

We could offer hundreds of settings inside the GUI to fine-tune it, but you'd still ultimately be boxed in if we did that. We opted to design an extensible system and offer the source code and API documentation.

That allows us to develop plugins for specific segments of the community, but it also allows you to bypass us a bottleneck completely -- any developer can extend things for you. We provide the platform and baseline implementation that works well for most people.

Thanks!

[jstanden]

Alright!

I just committed the ability to Export/Import contact's passwords.

Follow the normal 3.x to 4.x Migration Instructions (http://wiki.cerberusdemo.com/index.php/Migrating_from_Cerberus_Helpdesk_3.x_to_4.0), they will now export passwords.

When you import the .csv file into the Address Book in Cerb4, you'll now have the 'Password' column.

There's also a new option for "Replace all passwords from import". By default the import will not overwrite any passwords that already exist (allowing iterative updates by people who already migrated and want to pull in that data).

[axlp]

I couldn't find the kb article which says how to import users from cerb3
So, I tried to dig in and managed to import users crudely by using following query

insert into cerb44.worker (first_name,email,pass,is_superuser)
SELECT user_name,user_email,user_password,user_superuser FROM cerb4.user


cerb44 is the database for the new cerberus 4 installation into which I wish to import.
cerb4 is the cerberus 3.x database.

Before running the query you have to modify the cerberus 4 database and modify table "worker" to have column "id" to be auto_increment.

-Axl

[jstanden]

Before running the query you have to modify the cerberus 4 database and modify table "worker" to have column "id" to be auto_increment.

Hey there,

You absolutely don't want to do that. We don't use auto increments anywhere in Cerb4 -- we use sequences (or simulated sequences where they aren't supported).

In Cerb4, Workers and Groups are different enough from Cerb3 that it's best to re-input them. If you're worried about losing passwords, you could simply copy them back over in the same manner you are now -- as an UPDATE statement with a WHERE clause on the worker's email address.

[BMF]

Alright!

I just committed the ability to Export/Import contact's passwords.

Follow the normal 3.x to 4.x Migration Instructions (http://wiki.cerberusdemo.com/index.php/Migrating_from_Cerberus_Helpdesk_3.x_to_4.0), they will now export passwords.

When you import the .csv file into the Address Book in Cerb4, you'll now have the 'Password' column.

There's also a new option for "Replace all passwords from import". By default the import will not overwrite any passwords that already exist (allowing iterative updates by people who already migrated and want to pull in that data).


Is the "Address book" the same as users in the support center?

We don't actually manage an address book (we hardly ever (if ever) login to the web side of cerberus unless we need to search for something old...)

BMF

[BMF]

This is currently undocumented, but in 4.0 you can issue watcher commands to [take] and [close] tickets from any e-mail client or device without using the GUI.
http://www.wgmdev.com/jira/browse/CHD-292

-----
Ah, I was told it was impossible by the technical support folks...
-----

In 4.0 you can create an event listener plugin to do anything about anything. Again, this needs documentation, but I can't emphasize enough how much cleaner and more extensible 4.0 is over 3.x in this regard.

-----
For things as fundamentally perhaps universal as if x days pass without a response do y maybe you could include that functionality out of the box? that would be a tremendous help, if not even as an example of how the plugin system works???
-----


Really, the point of 4.0 is to not hardcode anything. Using the new plug-in system and API you can extend the system, or completely replace any part of the GUI easily.

I understand that it's hard to understand that just by looking at the demo or the website. We really need to wrap up the developer documentation.

We could offer hundreds of settings inside the GUI to fine-tune it, but you'd still ultimately be boxed in if we did that. We opted to design an extensible system and offer the source code and API documentation.

That allows us to develop plugins for specific segments of the community, but it also allows you to bypass us a bottleneck completely -- any developer can extend things for you. We provide the platform and baseline implementation that works well for most people.

Thanks![/QUOTE]

thank you...

BMF

[jstanden]

Ah, I was told it was impossible by the technical support folks...

It's still undocumented, and they don't read source code (and unfortunately aren't omniscient), so it's not completely surprising. ;)

For things as fundamentally perhaps universal as if x days pass without a response do y maybe you could include that functionality out of the box? that would be a tremendous help, if not even as an example of how the plugin system works???

That's entirely reasonable. :) That would make an excellent example plugin.

[BMF]

So,

does anyone know if there has been any movement on any of the topics discussed here? :-)

BMF

[jstanden]

does anyone know if there has been any movement on any of the topics discussed here? :-)

Hey BMF!

I haven't wiki'd/blogged that "if x days pass without a response" example plugin yet, but it's on my short Remember The Milk (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/) todo list.

The importing of Support Center logins was done a couple weeks ago too.

Was there anything else you were specifically waiting on? :)

Thanks!