Projects

The Projects icon located on the left of the Administrator menu allows the administrator to manage and set up individual projects.

To create a new project, click on the button . A form opens and you can write a project abbreviation (3-5 characters) and a project name. It is also possible to set a folder in which the project will be nested (for more see Project Folders), copy project members from an existing project and set up Inactivity notifications (for more see the following subchapter General).

Once the project is saved, it appears in the list of all open projects on the left side of the screen. Each project can be edited or deactivated here. (Users do not see a deactivated project. A deactivated project can be activated or deleted forever.)

Click on a specific project and its details will be displayed on the right side of the screen. Details are divided by the following tabs: General, Project members, Statuses, Ticket types, Ticket priorities, Template, Helpdesk, (Whitelisted emails), Email templates.

General

General information about a project includes an abbreviation, a name, and eventually a name of the folder in which the project it nested. The name of the project can be changed any time, the abbreviation cannot. (The abbreviation is part of the unique name of tickets.) If you want to nest a project in a folder, the folder has to already be created (see Project Folders).

You can set up inactivity notifications in the project. This means that EDA will automatically send notifications if there is no activity in tickets for certain period of time. This applies to all tickets in the project (but it can be changed in individual tickets by their editing).

Project Members

The tab Project Members displays a list of all users and user groups that are part of a particular project. New members can be added to the project via the icon , and they can be deleted from the project using the icon . When adding a member to a project, it is always necessary to set the role/roles the user will have in the project. (For more about role settings see the chapter Roles.)

A project member can also be ticked as a Default assignee. This means that every new ticket in this project will have a pre-filled Assigned field with this member.

TIP: The default assignee function can be used if tickets in a particular project are always handled by a certain user or if you wish to make sure that in new tickets, the field “Assigned” is not left blank.

Statuses

You can choose in each project if the basic statuses offered by EDA will be used (namely: To-Do, In progress, Waiting for information, Done) or if the project will have its own custom statuses. If you choose basic statuses for the project, then there is nothing to set up (a note “No records found.” displays in the Statuses tab).

If you want to set your own statuses in the project, use the Add status button . Write the name of the status and choose a superior status (one of the basic statuses.) The custom status is then similar to the superior status – see the example below for better understanding. Custom statuses can be edited and deleted.

EXAMPLE: Tasks in the “XY Project” are strictly about approvals. Therefore, here you would create new statuses concerned with approval. Like, Waiting for approval, Approved, Not Approved. The status Waiting for approval will have the superior status To-Do because tickets with this status are still to be completed. The status Approved will have the superior status Done because it has been completed. The status Not Approved will have the superior status Waiting for information or Done, depending on the circumstance.

Ticket types

You can choose in each project if the basic types offered by EDA will be used (namely: Bug, Requirement, Support, Knowledge Base) or if the project will have its own custom types. Setting of custom types is similar to setting of custom statuses (see the chapter above).

Ticket priorities

You can choose in each project if the basic priorities offered by EDA will be used (namely: Low, Normal, High, Highest) or if the project will have its own custom priorities. Setting of custom priorities is similar to setting your own statuses (see the chapter above).

Template

In every project, you can set up what the newly created ticket will look like. The description section can be blank or pre-filled. If you want tickets in the project to have a pre-filled text, define it in the Template tab. Just select the Use template button, write the text and save it.

It is also possible to preset duration of tickets in the Template tab. Use the “Deadline” field to set how long it should take to complete tickets in the project. The newly created ticket will then have an automatically pre-filled Deadline, e.g. a day, a week, a month, etc. from the date the ticket was created.

Helpdesk

Activate and set up a helpdesk in the chosen project. (First, look at what a helpdesk is and how to set up its account here.) Activate the Use helpdesk button and fill in the following:

  • account: select one existing helpdesk accounts,
  • status: choose the status a newly created ticket will have via the helpdesk,
  • helpdesk members: select project members who will be automatically assigned to new tickets created via the helpdesk and who will have the authority to send a comment to unregistered users,
  • helpdesk admins: select members who will be able to send replies to unregistered users, but will not be automatically assigned to tickets,
  • form address: URL address of your helpdesk form, which serves only as an informative link for cases when the system cannot process incoming emails.

After saving this setting, the helpdesk should work in the chosen project. In order to make it more complete you may also set up whitelisted emails and email templates (see the following sub-chapters).

Whitelisted emails

The Whitelisted emails tab is displayed only if the helpdesk is enabled in the project. The email addresses saved in this tab can communicate with EDA without being registered under specific users. It is therefore possible to create tickets directly from them – without using a web form – and they can be Followers of existing tickets (through email copies). (Both features are enabled automatically, but can be disabled.) Add a new whitelisted email using the button , delete an existing email using the icon . If you fill in the Customer field, then all tickets created from this email address will have the Customer field filled in automatically.

Email Templates

When using the helpdesk, it is possible to define emails that will be sent to unregistered users (customers). You can create a template for:

  • confirmation of ticket creation to a customer,
  • helpdesk answer to a customer (i.e. the text in which the comment sent by a helpdesk member will be wrapped),
  • ticket creation failure (if for some reason the ticket creation fails or it is not possible to merge a response with an existing ticket, the unregistered user is informed).

The administrator can set up how the emails will look like using the variables listed in the templates. It is also possible to set up the template language in which the link to the public page will be written in the email.