Organizing and managing your macros

Most support teams create and use lots of macros. As your list of macros grows, you may find it difficult to quickly locate macros when you’re trying to apply one to a ticket. You can remedy this by organizing and sorting your macros using a number of different techniques.

This article discusses the following topics related to organizing and managing macros:

• The Macros page
• Editing, cloning, deactivating, and deleting macros
• Categorizing macros
• Sorting the list of macros
• Reordering macros manually
• Disabling the most-used macros option

Related articles:

• Using macros to update tickets
• Creating macros for tickets
• Building macro action statements
• Creating macros from existing tickets

The Macros page

All of your available macros can be managed through the Macros page.

To access the Macros page

• Click the Admin icon () in the sidebar, then select Manage > Macros.The Macros page opens:

From here, you can browse, categorize, sort, reorder, and filter your macros.

Browsing the macros list

Macros are divided by activation status. The default view on the Macros page is the list of Active macros. You can view macros that have been deactivated by clicking the Inactive tab. For more information on activation status, see Editing, cloning, deactivating, and deleting macros.

By default, macros are listed in alphabetical order. If you have a large number of macros, the list will be paginated. You can scroll through the pages using the controls at the bottom of the page:

Searching the macros list

If you know the name, or partial name, of the macro you want to view, you can enter it into the search box at the top of the page:

All macros containing the search term appear in the list. The search term is highlighted in macros not using placeholders for the search term. 

Editing, cloning, deactivating, and deleting macros

You can edit, clone, deactivate, or delete a macro using the macro's options menu ().

These options are also available on each macro’s edit page, by clicking the actions menu icon ().

• Edit allows you to modify the title, actions, and permissions used.
• Clone creates a copy that you can modify and repurpose.
• Deactivate removes the macro from the Active macros list, and moves it onto the Inactive macros list, making it unavailable to Agents. Deactivated macros can be activated if needed.
• Delete permanently removes the macro. Only deactivated macros can be deleted. Deleted macros cannot be recovered.

Agents can only use these actions on their personal macros. Administrators can use them on their personal macros and all shared macros.

Note: The options menu also includes controls for changing the macro's position in the list. This functionality is covered in Reordering macros manually.

To edit a macro

1. On the Macros page, locate the macro you want to edit.
2. Hover your mouse over the macro to display the options menu icon ().
3. Click the options menu icon and select Edit.
4. Modify the title and actions as needed.
5. Click Save.

To clone a macro

1. On the Macros page, locate the macro you want to clone.
2. Hover your mouse over the macro to display the options menu icon ().
3. Click the options menu icon and select Clone.
4. Enter a new title for your macro and modify the actions as needed.
5. Click Create.

To deactivate a macro

1. On the Macros page, locate the macro you want to deactivate.
2. Hover your mouse over the macro to display the options menu icon ().
3. Click the options menu icon and select Deactivate.

   The macro is moved to the Inactive macros list.

   Note: You cannot deactivate macros that include unavailable values in the action statements. Attempting to deactivate the macro will fail, and the macro will remain in the Active macros list, marked with a red exclamation point.

To activate a deactivated macro

1. On the Macros page, click the Inactive tab to display all inactive macros.
2. Hover your mouse over the macro you want to activate to display the options menu icon () and select Activate.

   The macro is moved back to the Active macros list.

To delete a macro

1. On the Macros page, click the Inactive tab to display all inactive macros. If the macro is currently active, use the instructions above to deactivate it.
2. Hover your mouse over the macro you want to delete to display the options menu icon ().
3. Click the options menu icon and select Delete.

   The macro is permanently deleted.

Categorizing macros

Sorting your macros into categories can make locating a specific macro, or type of macro, much simpler. Categorizing allows agents to quickly apply macros when working with a ticket, and gives you an option for filtering macros on the Macros management page.

You categorize macros by including the categories in your macro titles and separating them with two colons (::), as in this example:

The macro title example above indicates that you’re assigning the ticket to yourself and setting the Type property to Question.

Using categories to apply macros to tickets

After you've categorized your macros, you can click through the levels of categorization using the Apply macro menu when creating or updating a ticket.

Using categories to filter macros

At the top of the macros table, drop-down menus allow you to filter the displayed macros based on categories you've created, as well as the macro type.

Note: To reorder macros manually, your macros list must be sorted by position, and filtered by either All Shared Macros, or Personal Macros. Filtering by category disables the manual reordering functions.

To filter macros by category

1. Click the All categories drop-down menu. Any category you've created (as described above) is included as a menu option.
2. Select the category you want to display.

   The filter is applied to both the Active and Inactive macros lists.

   You can revert to the unfiltered macros list by clicking the drop-down menu and selecting All categories.

To filter macros by type

1. Click the All shared macros drop-down menu.
2. Select the type of macro you want to display:
   • All agents, macros available to all agents.
   • Agents in group, macros available only to agents in the group specified. A drop-down menu to choose the group appears when you select this option.
   • Me only, macros available only to you.

     Return to the unfiltered list by clicking the drop-down menu and selecting All shared macros.

Sorting the list of macros

You sort your list of macros on a number of properties, including:

• Relevance (default)
• Position
• Name
• Date created
• Date updated

To sort your list of macros

1. On the Macros page, click the Sort by icon to open the menu.

   

2. Select the property you want to use.

   The macros are reorganized based on that property.

Reordering macros manually

You can reorder your macros manually in a number of ways:

• Using drag-and drop to move them around the list.
• Assigning them the first, last, or another specific position.

If the order of your macros isn't essential to your workflow, however, we recommend disabling manual order mode, so all newly-created macros will snap into place without manual intervention.

Note: To reorder macros manually, your macros list must be sorted by position, and filtered by either All Shared Macros, or Personal Macros. Filtering by category disables the manual reordering functions.

To reorder macros using drag-and-drop

1. On the Macros page, click the Settings icon () to open the menu:

   

2. Select Reorder page.

   If the Reorder page option is disabled (grayed out), select Settings, then toggle on Manual ordering and click Save:

   

3. Click and hold the drag-and-drop handle for the macro you want to move:

   

4. Drag the macro into position and release the handle. Repeat as needed to reorder your macros list.
5. Click Save.

To assign a position in the list to a macro

1. Hover your mouse over the macro you want to move to display the options menu icon ().
2. Click the options menu icon and select a new position for the macro:

   

   • Move to first position places the macro at the top of the macros list.
   • Move to last position places the macro at the bottom of the macros list.
   • Select position opens a window allowing you to select a position for the macro:

     

     1. Scroll through (or search) the list of macros.
     2. Select one to place the moving macro above.
     3. Click Move.
3. The macro is moved into its new position in the list.

Disabling the most-used macros option

By default, the five most-used macros from the past week are displayed at the top of the macros list. You can turn off this feature if it doesn't fit into your workflow.

To disable the most-used macros option

1. On the Macros page, click the Settings icon () to open the menu:

   

2. Select Settings.
3. In Macros settings, toggle off Display agents' most-used macros.

   

4. Click Save.