With unified navigation, Zendesk provides a consistent, unified interface for navigating across products and features. This interface significantly reduces the learning curve required for admins and agents to use Zendesk products. It also helps agents and admins with their day-to-day work by providing a consistent, simplified approach to navigation.
This article contains these sections:
Key features of unified navigation
This section describes key features of unified navigation that work across products, including the product menu, side navigation, search fields, and more.
Using the product menu
To switch among products, the product menu appears in the same location within each Zendesk product. It’s located next to the side navigation panel within each product, making it easy to reach. See Switching among Zendesk products.
Using side navigation
Navigation within each product is controlled by a side navigation panel that appears in a consistent location across products. The navigation panel includes icons you can click to quickly open specific areas of the product. This topic includes examples for side navigation in Support, but similar navigation options are available in other Zendesk products.
To navigate within a product
-
Click an icon in the side navigation to switch between different
areas of the product.
By default Support has side navigation icons for Agent Home, Views, Customers, Organizations, and Custom Objects Records. You may see additional icons depending on what features and add-ons are installed. The Reporting icon and the Admin icon have been removed. Instead, you access analytics and Admin Center exclusively through the product menu.
Each navigation icon includes a tooltip to help guide you.
-
To see the tooltip, hover your mouse over the icon.
For a list of the default navigation icons in each product, see Unified navigation icons.
Using search fields
Where applicable, the Search field appears in a consistent location at the top of the page for each product that includes search. You don’t need to hunt for it.
To search within a product
-
Enter a search term in the Search field.
As you type, matches for your search term appear below the search field.
- Select a match to complete the search, or press Return.
Showing and hiding sidebar navigation
Admin Center includes show and hide controls at the bottom of the navigation panel, giving you more room if needed to do your work.
To show or hide sidebar navigation
-
Click the sidebar icon (
)
at the bottom of the navigation
panel to show or hide second-level navigation controls.
-
You can also use keyboard shortcuts to show and hide the
sidebar
navigation. Display the tooltip next to the sidebar icon
()
for details.
| Expanded navigation | Collapsed navigation |
|---|---|
|
|
Unified framework for user profiles
While still maintaining product-specific details, user profiles have the same look and feel across products, making them easy to reference and use.
Navigation badges
To highlight new features and other changes, unified navigation includes badges to tag pages with special features and options in your account. You’ll see badges for New features, early access program (EAP) releases, and Trial options.
Getting help
Admin Center and Support include access to resources that help you set up your Zendesk account and learn about Zendesk features, so you can start serving your customers faster.
-
To get help, click the help icon (
)
at the top of the page.
A list of setup instructions appears. You can use help to:- View step-by-step setup guides with tutorial videos.
- Find links to articles, community posts, and training courses.
- Search articles in the Zendesk help center.
Unified navigation icons
These tables show the default unified navigation icons for Zendesk
products and include the tooltip associated with each icon. Icons
are
unified to represent similar functions across products, making it
easier to
quickly recognize navigation points. For example, the people icon
(
)
and the settings icon (
).
Navigation features in Support
In addition to the unified top-level navigation across products. Support also includes navigation features that make it easier for your agents to manage ticket conversations. See below for details.
Highlighted ticket tabs
Agents often work on multiple tickets at the same time. Support highlights the ticket you’re currently working on so it’s easier to see.
Highlighting works for both light and dark mode in the ticket interface.
Reordering ticket tabs
To help you manage conversations in the ticket interface you can reorder the ticket tabs using drag-and-drop. For example, you might want to move ticket tabs from important customers to the left so you can easily access and respond to them.
To reorder ticket tabs
- Click the tab you want to move.
- Hold down the mouse button and drag the tab across the top ticket bar to a new location in the tab order.
- Release the mouse button.
- You can continue to drag-and-drop the tabs until they are in the order you’d like.
Viewing ticket overflow
When you have a large number of tickets open that don’t fit across the top ticket bar, you’ll see new ticket tabs open in an overflow options menu. You can use this menu to access open tickets or perform other tasks. By adding open ticket tabs into the options menu, it prevents the width of the ticket tabs from compressing and making the tabs unreadable. Tickets in the overflow menu can be moved to any tab position using drag-and-drop as well
To view the ticket tab overflow
-
Click the options menu icon (
)
in the top bar.
A list of additional tabs you have open appears.
Use this menu to select tickets or other types of tabs you have open. For example, end-user profiles.
In addition to the overflow menu, to help save room at the top
of the
ticket interface, the Support label in the product menu changes
to a
simple headphone icon (
)
when you have a lot of tabs open.
| Support label (full) | Support label (collapsed) |
|---|---|
|
|
Unified navigation limitations
The following are some limitations for unified navigation across products. Zendesk is working to fix these issues in future releases.
- Not all products have unified navigation. Unified navigation for Analytics, Chat, HyperArc, and Zendesk for Contact Center will be available at a later date.
- When you activate or deactivate unified navigation, it can take up to 24 hours for the unified navigation menus in Quality assurance and AI agents to turn on or off.
- The controls for expanding and collapsing the side navigation panel in Support haven’t been unified to the new Toggle panel icon and location, yet. Instead, you can use the expand (>) and collapse (<) controls near the top of the panel.
Activating and deactivating unified navigation
Admins have an account-wide setting that activates unified navigation across Zendesk products. You can try out unified navigation across products as part of the early access program (EAP). This setting is automatically available in all accounts. You participate in the EAP by activating unified navigation.
Activating unified navigation
When activated by an admin, unified navigation across products provides agents with a consistent, simplified approach to navigation. Unified navigation is not activated by default.
To turn on unified navigation
-
In Admin Center, click
Workspaces in the sidebar, then select Agent tools > Agent interface.
-
Select
Enable unified navigation for all agents.
An EAP agreement for unified navigation appears.
- Select I agree, then click Submit.
-
Click Save to save your settings.
When unified navigation is activated, all agents see consistent navigation menus across products.
Deactivating unified navigation
During the EAP period, you can deactivate unified navigation and return to the legacy navigation interface.
To turn off unified navigation
-
In Admin Center, click
Workspaces in the sidebar, then select Agent tools > Agent interface.
-
Deselect
Enable unified navigation for all agents.
-
Click Save to save your settings.
When unified navigation is deactivated, all your agents will see the legacy navigation menus across products.