Free Online Help Tips for Staff

[Matthew]

The Staff control panel can be intimidating for new users, and even 'seasoned' ones often don't know what to do with tabs such as 'Release', 'Follow-Up', and so on.

I decided to put in a very simple 'random tip' system. This prints a row near the top of the page (typically right above a text editor), with random text drawn from a collection of strings stored in a php file. I have one on the Reply Tab, New Ticket, Insert Article (for KB), and in other locations where I want to provide a little guidance and/or protection against common mistakes.

Here's how.

Insert this function at the end of \includes\functions_html.php. This is what renders the help row:

PHP Code:

function printHelpRow($title, $helptip)
{
    echo '<tr class="'. getRowBG() .'">
    <td width="100" align="left"><span class="tabletitle">'.$title.'</span></td>
    <td align="left"><b>'. $helptip.'</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td></tr>';
    return true;
} 


Now create a file called help_staffposts.php (for example) in \locale\en-us\. The contents of the file look like the following, substituting your own help tips for the ones shown:

PHP Code:

<?php
/*==============================================*/
/*     Online Help Strings                    */
/*==============================================*/
if (!defined("INSWIFT")) {
    trigger_error("Unable to process $PHP_SELF", E_USER_ERROR);
}
$__LANG = array (
    'help_title' => 'Helpful Tip',
    'help_maxtips' => '3', //the number of tips in this help file
    'help_1' => 'Text Editor: Use the <font color="red">Paste from Word</font> button to safely convert text from Microsoft Word, Outlook, and other programs.',
    'help_2' => 'Text Editor: The <font color="red">Paste as Plain Text</font> button will remove all HTML and Microsoft style information from pasted text.',
    'help_3' => 'Text Editor: Toggle the <font color="red">full-screen mode</font> when you need to edit long articles or ticket responses.',
);

?>

Note that help_maxtips should correspond to the total number of tips in your help file.

(Later, you can make other help files with distinct tip collections, using this model.)

Now in \modules\tickets\staff_viewticket.php, locate the following line, which prints the title bar above the text editor for staff replies:

PHP Code:

    printDescRow($_SWIFT["language"]["contents"]); 


Insert directly above it:

PHP Code:

    // Online Help Mod by Matthew Arciniega
    $template->loadLanguageSection("help_staffposts"); // corresponds to your help file
    printHelpRow($_SWIFT["language"]["help_title"], $_SWIFT["language"]["help_".rand(1,$_SWIFT["language"]["help_maxtips"])]);
    // End Online Help Mod 


That's all there is to it. You can insert the above code into other areas of the staff control panel, or even in the Admin CP. Each area can have a custom collection of tips.

[joshuah]

hello there,

i tried this, but it doensot seem to work.. i have also cleared cache etc...

Any idea how i can resolve this? Maybe some files missing or something?

[Matthew]

Originally Posted by joshuah

hello there,

i tried this, but it doensot seem to work.. i have also cleared cache etc...

Any idea how i can resolve this? Maybe some files missing or something?

There was an inconsistency between the filename I asked you to use in \locale\en-us\ and the reference in code. Oops. It should have been help_staffposts.php. I've corrected the post. See if that helps.

[joshuah]

Originally Posted by Matthew

TI've corrected the post. See if that helps.

Works perfect! thanks for that,

Would it be too much trouble if i could request that all the other locations can be defined here? i.e.

Forward
Release
Audit log
History
Add notes

etc

Thanks :-) Great work!!!