Can an Area/Category have a Description and remain unselectable?

[Legacy User]

Today we use the Description field on Areas and Categories in Service Desk to assist users with selecting the correct one. We also leverage folders to organize areas into sub-areas such as "Area.Sub-Area". The problem we have is we only want "Area.Sub-Area" to be a valid area for our tickets, we don't want the users to be able to select "Area". We can accomplish this if we remove the Description from "Area"; however we found there is significant value in having a Description so that is not an option. To enforce what we actually want we have a custom field "IsTopLevel" and use it's value on status transitions. If the area in the ticket is a top-level area then we will not allow the analyst to close the ticket, they must change it to "Area.Sub-Area" first. We also send a notification to the user if they select "Area" to remind them to please select "Area.Sub-Area" in the future.

 

As an example consider the following areas:

Access Request - expand this area for all access requests and select the option that best matches your need

Access Request.New - I need to request new access to an application or service

Access Request.Change - I need my existing access for an application or service changed

Access Request.Remove - I need to have access removed for an application or service

 

In this example "Access Request" is top-level and should not be allowed as an area on the ticket because it doesn't provide us with the detail we want for reporting. If an analyst receives a ticket with "Access Request" as the area, they must change it to one of the sub-areas before they are allowed to close it. It would be so much easier to administer and remove the burden from the analyst if we could simply have an Area with a Description and not allow the user to select it when they are submitting a ticket. Does anyone know if this is possible?

[Anon Anon]

I agree this would be a very useful update to the interface.

I thought someone had created a customized hierarchical form script a few years ago but I can't find it.  I had requested this as an enhancement some time ago.

 

If no one has a workaround this I would support this as an Idea.

 

Regards,

 

JW

[Tammy Zadell]

Hi jmascaro,

 

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your post correctly or not, but we also don't permit the selecting of the top level category, and that can be easily controlled by how you structure your category definitions.

 

Using your example:

 

Access Request

Access Request.New

Access Request.Change

Access Request.Remove

 

If I  want tickets to always be categorized with both category levels (Access Request.New or Access Request.Change or Access Request.Remove), then you should only define those 3 categories -- Don't also define the top level of 'Access Request' as a separate category entry.

 

Access Request.New

Access Request.Change

Access Request.Remove

 

When you define them this way, they are forced to always expand the category tree until they reach the level that you want them to stop at, and they won't be able to stop at a higher level.  We have ours defined this way, and each of our categories also have a description and it works fine.

 

Tammy

[Legacy User]

Tammy, we had the area configuration you are describing; however in that situation the top-level “Access Request” has no description:

Access Request

New - <description>

Change - <description>

Remove - <description>

 

We specifically created an area “Access Request” so we could have a description. Unfortunately once you do that the area is then capable of being used.

[Tammy Zadell]

Hi jmascaro,

 

Oh, so you would like to not have the top level defined separately so that they are forced to expand to the lower levels, but you would still like to have a description showing at the top level?  Ok, I get it now.  I don't know of any way to do that, sorry.  I don't have a problem with them having to expand the category tree to the lower levels before seeing the descriptions. 

 

Tammy

[Legacy User]

It would not be possible to have the top level description displayed if the record does not exist in the first place, even though the system kind of allows the record to display when it is not defined. The only workaround I can think of is to create the top level category with a description but make this top level category inactive.

 

See if this workaround meets your requirement?

 

Kind Regards,

Brian

[Legacy User]

Unfortunately setting the top-level Inactive produces the same results as if it didn't exist, the area is visible and un-selectable; however the Description text is not displayed.

[Legacy User]

Hi jmascaro,

 

My guess is that this may be a limitation on the tool at this current stage and not possible to achieve. Perhaps raise an Idea (Enhancement Request)?

 

Kind Regards,

Brian

[Legacy User]

Idea posted for improved customization of Area/Category tree which includes this capability.

Improved Customization of Area/Category Tree

[Carol Piccus]

Hi jmascaro - Have you looked at adding CA Service Catalog and using the new end-user interface (Unified Self-Service)? The folder structure of service offerings in CA Service Catalog allows you to achieve the kind of organization you are asking about.

 

Regards,

Carol