Using the legacy Sunshine Custom Objects app

Important: A new custom object experience is in early access. You can sign up for the EAP here.

Note: The legacy Sunshine Custom Objects app described in this article was never made generally available. It was released in early access and the program was closed. Zendesk is no longer accepting customer requests for this app.

With the legacy Sunshine Custom Objects app, agents can see custom object records related to the ticket requester. In addition to the Zendesk native data objects for storing and managing your customer data, custom objects provide you the ability to tailor your Zendesk account to meet your business needs. For example, an e-commerce company might want to use custom objects to look up information about a customer's orders, and respond with accurate information about the status of a product's availability.

The legacy Custom Objects app brings records into the context of a ticket and requester in Support, reducing an agent's need to navigate multiple interfaces to get a complete picture of a requester's relationship to your business. The benefits include reduced solve time and higher CSAT scores.

To populate the data needed for the app, you'll need to create custom objects, records, and relationships to users, tickets, and more, through the Sunshine API, or in Admin Center. To able to use this app you will need to have relationships configured between one or more custom objects, and your users, tickets or organizations.

The article includes the following sections:

• About the legacy Sunshine Custom Objects app
• Viewing or editing related legacy objects
• Filtering the available records

Related articles and announcements

• Sunshine custom objects guide for admins

About the legacy Sunshine Custom Objects app

Once you have created relationships to ticket requesters, agents can see the related object records in the Custom Objects app on the ticket. For instructions on creating custom objects and relationships, see Sunshine custom objects guide for admins. Agents can view any of the related objects which have the following native Zendesk object types as a source:

• zen:ticket
• zen:organization
• zen:user

The Custom Objects app contains a tabbed interface that allows agents to either view and edit related records, or filter records. In the Related tab, agents select a source, and then an object from that source for display.

When a related record is displayed, agents can click on the record and see the details for it. Agents who have been granted permissions on the custom object can edit the object's details. Agents can help keep object record data current by editing inaccurate custom object records from within the app.

While working on tickets, agents may want to examine other unrelated object records, and to possibly identify new relationships to create. In the Filter tab, agents can specify queries to identify particular object records of interest. When an unrelated object is identified that should be related to a ticket requester, agents can create a relationship in the app. For example, an agent learns from another system that the customer has a subscription that should be linked to her.

Viewing or editing related legacy objects

When displaying a related object, you select the source or target of a relationship type, and then you select the specific object from that source that you want to display. You can select a source for your related-object results from the predefined native Zendesk object types.

To select related legacy objects for display

1. In the ticket, select Apps from the upper-right toolbar.
2. Expand Custom Objects.
3. Select a relationship type between the ones that exist from the Select relationship menu.

   The app displays a list of custom object results for the relationship. This example shows the selection of the shoes_order relationship from the zen:user relationships source.

   

4. Click a result to see the object details.

   For example, an agent may want to examine the property in_stock. The agent notes that the value of the property is zero, and can respond accordingly to the ticket requester about the order.

   

To edit a legacy object's details

1. In the object details, click the edit icon to the right of any of the object's attributes.
2. Enter a new value for the attribute.
3. Click the check mark icon to save your change.

   The new attribute value is stored in the object record.

   

Filtering the available records

You can filter and display all your available custom object records.

To filter the displayed records

1. In the ticket, select Apps from the upper-right toolbar.
2. Expand Custom Objects.
3. Select the Filter tab.
4. Select a custom object type from the Select object field.
5. Specify one or more attributes in which to search for a string in the Select attributes field.
6. Specify a full-word string for which you want to search in the Includes field.

   For example, you enter Acme as a brand name. Note these considerations:

   • You should enter a string value that matches a full word. An exact match must be found.
   • Entering a full word will return results that include multiple-word phrases.

     For example, a search for the string "Acme" will also return "Acme Corporation".

   

7. Click Filter.

   The app displays a list of results for your search criteria.

   

To edit an object

1. In the results on the Filter tab, click an object to view its details.
2. Click the edit icon to the right of any of the object's attributes.
3. Enter a new value for the attribute.
4. Click the check mark icon to save your change.

   The new attribute value is stored in the object record.

To add a relationship to a legacy object

Agents can relate a found object from the Filter tab to zen:user, zen:ticket, or zen:organization sources. When doing so, agents select one of the existing relationships for the selected source.

1. Review the results on the Filter tab. You can click an object to view its details.
2. Click the plus icon to the right of the object for which you want to create a relationship.
3. Select a source from the Relate to menu to create a relationship.

   

   You can see the new relationship in the Related tab.

   Note these considerations that may affect your results:

   • Only the relationships that involve the selected source in the first step relating dropdown (zen:user, zen:ticket, and zen:organization) and the currently selected object type (here: shoes), will be displayed.
   • The Filter tab doesn't filter out objects that are already related. This is because it is possible to relate an object to a source through different relationship types, although this is not a recommended practice.