Announcing general availability of custom objects in Guide

Announced on	Rollout on
November 7, 2024	November 7, 2024

Zendesk is excited to announce the support of lookup relationship fields to custom objects in Guide help centers. 

This announcement includes the following topics:

• What is changing?
• Why is Zendesk making this change?
• What do I need to do?

What is changing?

Zendesk is continuing to expand what you can do with your business data through custom objects. This release is comprised of two parts:

• Support for lookup relationship fields in help center ticket forms. The inclusion of lookup relationship fields associated with custom objects in help center request forms makes it possible to expose custom object record data in ticket forms.
  

• Ability to configure end user permissions for custom object records. Just as permissions are defined by role for team members, you can now configure end user permissions as well. When you allow end users to view or otherwise interact with custom object records, they can select related records in lookup relationship fields included in ticket forms.
  Configuring end user permissions for custom object records also makes it possible for developers to build custom experiences with the Custom Object Records API.
  

Together, these make it possible for end users to engage with custom object records through lookup fields in ticket forms. This includes support for lookup relationship fields in ticket forms as well as end user permissions to view and interact with custom object records.

Previously, this functionality was part of an early access program, and worked only for the latest Guide theme. With this release, lookup relationship fields pointing to custom objects are supported for all themes.

Some example use cases include:

• In a product or service catalog scenario, end users can select the relevant product or service from a list of all products or services while submitting a ticket.
• In an asset management scenario, employees can select an asset they currently possess when submitting a request for replacement.
• In an order management scenario, customers can choose a device they have registered when submitting a service request for the device.

For a more detailed example use case, see Workflow recipe: Building a product catalog with custom objects for customers to use.

Why is Zendesk making this change?

Support for lookup relationship fields in ticket forms and the ability to allow end users to interact with custom object records open up many opportunities for process automation and streamlining, and simplifies trigger configurations. By leveraging custom objects and lookup relationship fields, admins avoid the constraints of using drop-down fields to surface custom data. It also makes it easier for users to search for and select the correct values in their ticket submissions, which increases the efficiency with which the ticket can be resolved.

For example, if users specify an iPhone 6, 7, 8, or 9, you can route those tickets directly to the group of agents who support Apple products instead of having an agent triage the ticket to identify the the make and model of the phone and then route it. Another example would be checking whether an asset related to the ticket is still under warranty and automatically deflecting tickets related to assets outside of the warranty period.

What do I need to do?

These features are automatically available to all accounts with access to custom objects. 

To make the most of these features, you can do the following:

• Use the Custom Object APIs to build powerful end user experiences by surfacing custom data to end users and using it in triggers to optimize your workflows.
• Migrate your long lists currently in drop-down fields to custom objects. Doing so will help optimize your trigger setup, enhance reporting capabilities, and set you up to scale more easily.
• Update your custom object's end user permissions to allow them to access custom object data and opening up more complex workflows with your custom data.
  If you do give end users permission to view or interact with custom object records, you'll need to maintain your end user permissions for custom object records judiciously. Custom objects have object-level permissions, which means that if you give access to end users, they will have access to all records for the object. For this reason, we recommend against storing sensitive data in custom objects that users can access.

If you have feedback or questions related to this announcement, visit our community forum where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk Customer Support.