Issue symptoms
Not all my custom field options are displayed in my report. I created a new custom field, but in Explore I cannot locate an attribute associated with the field.
Resolution steps
For a custom field to be accessible in Explore as an attribute, there first needs to be data associated with the field. After this field has been filled out on tickets and Explore has had time to sync, the issue should be resolved.
In case field values were amended, you could report on tags as a workaround.
Finally, don't delete the ticket field in the meantime, as its data is not recoverable. Deleting a ticket field removes it from reports and dashboards.
For more information, see these resources:
11 comments
Sam
This limitation makes it difficult to begin building reports for those who need them, since it wouldn't be possible to predict when this data could originate (and thus be available in Explore). The only workaround would be to create junk tickets, which isn't ideal from an admin perspective. Does the Explore team have any plans to include custom fields without data as attributes?
This does have real-world impacts. Our team is regularly delayed for weeks on generating certain Explore reports for others due to an incomplete field list. We are then on the hook for continuously checking to see if the fields are available.
7
Mark de Leeuw
I have to agree with Samuel here: I just created a new field that is going to be the new way for us to register all our contacts and distribute the info throughout the organization. Since this is a multi-layer dropdown I want to prepare some work for the reports that we'll need to send later. I do not want to submit dummy tickets for 50+ fields just so I have the data to create the groups ect.
Would love to hear if there are any planned changes to this for the future?
4
Chris Gould
+1 - I've just spent ages trying to understand why the field isn't visible to me. "Is this an explore issue or an agent issue"? Would be good to see it, regardless of whether data exists or not.
2
CJ Johnson
+1, this makes it incredibly difficult to set up reporting proactively. I really need to be able to configure queries based on custom field values, before agents start using those fields.
1
Elena
+1, moreover there are values that I deleted like ages ago and they are still on the Explorer list and it's annoying
2
John DiGregorio
I inactivated a ticket custom field and the form it was used on and now I can't create a report using this value. Tried activating the field, waited an hour and still not there, so I creared a form and added it to that - now I will wait another hour
0
Dave Dyson
Was the custom ticket field in use before you deactivated it (in other words, did any tickets have values set in that field)? Ticket fields in Explore won't show up in Explore until they're used in tickets.
0
John DiGregorio
Hi Dave,
Yes they had values before... Activating the field and creating a new form with the field on it corrected the problem. Now I am trying to figure out how to combine 2 severity fields as we recently merged two brands, and one called is Criticity and the other called it Customer Severity
Regards
JD
0
Libby Tooke-Mitchell
+1 on this, it would be great if the custom fields showed in explore without associated data, it's been over a year since these issues were raised. Is there any plan to add this in the future. Like others I am trying to pro-actively create reports and this isn't possible at the moment.
0
Shawna James
0
Libby Tooke-Mitchell
Thanks for your reply Shawna, I've added it here: Custom fields to appear in Explore before they have data associated with them.
1