You can configure your Zendesk Support instance to be open, closed, or restricted (see Understanding options for end-user access and sign-in). This article describes how to set up an open Zendesk Support instance, so that any user can see your help center and submit support requests.
This article contains the following sections:
Understanding what an open Zendesk Support instance means
Not requiring registration means that all of your users are unverified (users are not prompted to verify their email addresses), which is fine if you don't need or want your users to visit and use your help center (for example, see Setting up to provide email-only support). Registered users are verified, meaning that they (or you) have verified their email addresses and user accounts have been created.
Even though you don't require users to register, your users still have the option of registering and creating a login to use your help center, unless you modify your help center to hide the Sign Up and Login pages.
If you would like to provide open support, you have two options: registered or unregistered end-users. You can add users or they can add themselves.
Keep in mind that if your settings allow anyone to submit tickets, any visitor to your site can register while submitting a support request. This means they'll be able to access Help center content restricted to signed-in users. For more information, see Configuring how end-users access and sign in to Zendesk Support.
Anybody can submit tickets, no registration required
You can permit any user to submit a ticket without registering. If you don't require registration, users do not receive the welcome email, which prompts them to verify their email address and create a password so that they can sign in to your help center. Instead, they get an email notification that their request has been received:
If you don't want your users to visit your help center, because you provide support via email only for example, you can remove the link to the ticket that is contained in the triggers that are used to send email notifications when tickets are received and updated (see Removing ticket links from your notifications).
If you leave the ticket link in the email notifications, the user has the option of clicking the link to register and create a password so that they can sign in and use your help center and track their existing tickets, submit new support requests, and so on. If a registered end-user submits a ticket without signing in, it will be flagged (see About flagged tickets from registered users who are not signed-in).
- In Admin Center, click
People in the sidebar, then select Configuration > End users. - In the Anybody can submit tickets section, select Enabled.
- If you use the Zendesk API to let users submit tickets, make sure Require
authentication for request and uploads APIs is not selected.
See Creating anonymous requests in the developer docs.
- Make sure Ask users to register is not selected.
This option is not visible if you haven't activated your help center yet.
- Click Save tab.
If you want to allow end-users to add attachments to their requests, see Enabling attachments in tickets.
Anybody can submit tickets, registration required
When you require your users to register, the support request workflow changes. Rather than the user's support request immediately becoming a ticket, it is held in limbo until the users (or you) have verified their email address. After verification, the ticket is added to your Zendesk.
The registration workflow is described in Options for end-user registration.
To allow anybody to submit tickets and require registration
- In Admin Center, click
People in the sidebar, then select Configuration > End users.
- Select Anybody can submit tickets
- Select Ask users to register.Note: If you started using Zendesk after August 20, 2013, this option is not available until you activate your help center. See Getting started with the help center.
- Click Save Tab.
If you want to allow end-users to add attachments to their requests, see Enabling attachments in tickets.