Setting up to provide email-only support

Many Zendesk accounts prefer not requiring their end-users to sign in to Zendesk. Removing the sign-in requirement means end-users can't view or track their requests on the Help Center or Web portal. These tasks require users to sign in. Instead, all communication between agents and end-users occurs using channels such as email, voice, or chat.

End-users can still request support without signing in by using any the following channels:

• Sending email directly to your support email address (for example, [e-mail])
• Submitting a support request using the Zendesk Feedback Tab
• Chatting with an agent
• Leaving a voicemail
• Sending a request using Twitter

Regardless of the channel by which new requests are submitted, requests become tickets that agents manage using views, creating and applying macros, generating reports, and so on. All communication between agents and end-users is captured on those tickets and emails are sent back and forth between both parties.

Setting up your Zendesk to provide support without requiring end-users to sign in involves making the following changes:

• Allowing anyone to submit tickets
• Removing links to ticket pages in your email notifications
• Removing sign-in links from your knowledge base

End-users can still access your knowledge base on Zendesk to search for answers. The following strategies can help you promote this self-service support option:

• Providing your end-users with the link to your knowledge base (for example, http://mycompany.zendesk.com/hc)
• Using the Zendesk Feedback Tab with knowledge-base search enabled

The advantage of using the Zendesk Feedback Tab is that your end-users get a simple request form coupled with a search of your knowledge base and, optionally, live chat with your support agents. For more information, see Setting up your Feedback Tab channel.

Allowing anyone to submit tickets

To allow requests without requiring end-users to sign in to Zendesk, you need to modify your end-user settings. Only administrators can make the following changes to the end-user settings.

To modify account settings to provide email-only support

1. Click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select Customers.
   Zendesk Classic: Select the Settings menu, then select End-users.
2. In the Anyone can submit tickets section, check the Enabled option.
3. Next, uncheck the option called Ask users to register.
   Note: If you started using Zendesk after August 20, 2013, this option is not visible if you haven't activated the Help Center yet. See Getting started with the Help Center.
4. Finally, in the User welcome email section, uncheck the Also send verification email when a new user is created by an agent or administrator option.
5. Click Save Changes.

When an unregistered end-user submits a request for the first time, they are added to your Zendesk as a new end-user. They receive the request confirmation email but not the verification request email. They remain unverified in your Zendesk.

Note: You might be wondering about the Allow users to view and edit their basic profile data and Allow users to change their password options. You can leave these enabled since your email-only end-users will never be able to sign in to do either of these things. Both are still relevant to your administrators and agents.

Allowing ticket attachments

You'll probably want to also allow your end-users to add attachments to their email requests. If you don't currently have this enabled, you can do so by updating the Tickets settings page. Attachments can be either public or private. However, adding private attachments requires end-users to sign in to your Zendesk. So, the only option you have for attachments when providing email-only support is to allow public attachments.

Note: Private attachments are available only if you use the Web portal. They're not available if you have the Help Center. If you're not sure which one you have, see About the different versions of Zendesk.

To allow public attachments in incoming email support requests

1. Click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select Settings > Tickets.
   Zendesk Classic: Select the Settings menu, then select Tickets.
2. In the Attachments section, click the Customers can attach files setting.
3. Click Save tab.

Removing links to ticket pages from your email notifications

You must sign in to view ticket pages in the Help Center or Web portal. Because you don't want to require end-users to sign in, remove any links to ticket pages from any email notifications sent to end-users. Some of your default triggers create notifications with ticket links. If you signed up to Zendesk before July 12, 2012, the legacy email template also contains a ticket link.

• Removing ticket links from your notifications
• Removing the ticket link from the legacy email template

Removing ticket links from your notifications

Remove any links to ticket pages from the default Zendesk triggers that send email notifications to requesters. Here are the Zendesk triggers that need to modified:

• Notify requester of received request
• Notify requester of comment update
• Notify requester of solved request

You'll also need to modify any similar notification triggers (if any) that you created in your Zendesk. Only administrators can edit the triggers.

If you've enabled CCs (Admin icon () > Settings > Tickets > Enable CCs on tickets), you should also modify your CC notification email.

To remove ticket links from email notification triggers

1. Click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select Business Rules > Triggers.
   Zendesk Classic: Select the Manage menu, then select Triggers and mail notifications.
2. Edit the Notify requester of received request trigger by selecting Edit.
3. Remove the {{ticket.id}} and {{ticket.url}} placeholders from the text in the email body. For example, here are before and after versions of the email text in the Notify requester of received request trigger.

   Before:

   Your request (#{{ticket.id}}) has been received, and is being reviewed by our support staff. 
   
   To review the status of the request and add additional comments, follow the link below:
   http://{{ticket.url}}
   
   {{ticket.comments_formatted}}

   After:

   Your request (#{{ticket.title}}) has been received, and is being reviewed by our support staff. 
   
   We'll contact you as soon as we have an answer for you. 
   
   {{ticket.comments_formatted}}

4. Click Update Trigger.
5. Repeat for the Notify requester of comment update and Notify requester of solved request triggers.

To remove ticket links from CC notifications

1. Click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select Settings > Tickets.
2. In the CCs section, edit the CC email text field.
3. Remove the {{ticket.id}} placeholder from the text in the email body, as shown here:

   Before:

   You are registered as a CC on this support request ({{ticket.id}}). Reply to this email to add a comment to the request.
   
   {{ticket.comments_formatted}}

   After:

   You are registered as a CC on this support request ({{ticket.title}}). Reply to this email to add a comment to the request.
   
   {{ticket.comments_formatted}}

4. Click Save tab.

Note: The {{ticket.title}} placeholder does not contain a URL back to your Zendesk; it's just the text of the request title.

Removing the ticket link from the legacy email template

If you signed up to Zendesk before July 12th, 2012, your default template contains a header element that has a link back to a ticket in your Zendesk, so you'll want to remove it. Here's what the header looks like to the end-user:

Note: If you signed up to Zendesk on or after July 12, 2012, you can skip this section. You have a different HTML template than doesn't have a link to the ticket in Zendesk.

Only administrators can make changes to the email template.

To remove the header from the email HTML template

1. Click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select Channels > Email.
   Zendesk Classic: Select the Settings menu, then select Channels > Email > Edit.
2. In the HTML email template section, locate and remove the line of HTML code that displays the header (shown in bold below).

   <html><body>
   <div style="margin:0px auto;text-align:center;font-size:12px;color:#A2A2A2;padding-bottom:6px">
     {{delimiter}}
   </div>
   <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%">
   <tr>
     <td>
       <table width="100%">
         <tr>
           <td style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #fff; line-height: 1.5em;font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; width: 100%;text-align: center;background: #98c332; padding:8px; margin:4px">
             <style>.zd_link {color:#FFF;}</style>{{header}}
           </td>
         </tr>
       </table>
     </td>
   </tr>
   ...
   

3. Click Save Changes.

You can undo this change (should you need to in the future) by clicking Revert to default.

Removing sign-in links from your knowledge base

Hide any elements in the knowledge base that link to the Zendesk sign-in page. The steps differ depending on whether you have the Help Center or the Web portal. If you're not sure which one you have, see About the different versions of Zendesk.

• Removing sign-in links from the Help Center
• Removing sign-in links from the Web portal

Note: Your agents, like your end-users, will no longer see a sign-in link for your Zendesk. To access the login page, your agents need to use the following URL: mycompany.zendesk.com/access. This is the login page.

Removing sign-in links from the Help Center

In the Help Center, removing elements that link to the sign-in page involves deleting or hiding template components. You must be signed in as a Help Center manager to edit template components.

Removing the ability to sign-in means that every visitor to the Help Center is treated as an anonymous user with limited privileges. Anonymous users can view the public areas of the Help Center and share links to content. They can't comment on articles or participate in the community. For more information, see Understanding Help Center user roles.

Because anonymous users can't participate in the community, consider disabling your community. For instructions, see Disabling the community.

To remove the links to the sign-in page

1. Click Customization design in the tools panel on the lower-right side of the page.

   

   The Help Center switches to Preview mode.

2. Click Edit Theme to open the Theme editor.
3. Select the Header template from the HTML menu in the Theme editor.

   

4. Delete the following component in the code:

   {{user_info}}

   The component displays a sign-in button on the right side of the header.

   Tip: If deleting code makes you nervous, use the comment tag to hide the component, like so:

   <!-- {{user_info}} -->

5. Select the Article template and delete or comment out the following elements:
   • {{vote}}
   • the entire <section class="article-comments"> section and the comment components it contains

   The vote component and the article-comments section prompt users to sign in.

6. Click Save at the top of the sidebar to save your changes.
7. Cick Publish changes at the top of the sidebar.

Removing sign-in links from the Web portal

In the Web portal, you add a CSS widget to your Zendesk to hide links to the login page. Widgets can only be added by an administrator.

To add the CSS widget

1. Click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select Settings > Extensions.
   Zendesk Classic: Select the Settings menu, then select Extensions.
2. Select the Widget tab and then click Add widget.
3. Select the Global CSS widget.
4. Enter a widget title, for example: Hide end-user access links.
5. Set the widget's availability to People who are not agents.
6. Insert the following CSS code into the Content text box:

   li.main.clazz.tab_new, li.main.clazz.tab_requests, #top-right, #voting_control, #footer, #comments_section {display: none;}
   
   body.entries.entries-show .content.content_green {display:none;}
   
   .login .footnotes {display:none;}

7. Click Submit.

The CSS widget removes all the elements of the user interface that provide access for end-users to log in to your Zendesk.