Ticket Categories

A category is the primary label for what a ticket is about - Payments, Account Issues, Technical Support, KYC. One ticket has one category.

Categories are what turn a pile of tickets into an answer to "why are customers contacting us?" Ticket Analytics breaks volume and trends down by them. Views, triggers, and templates can use them too.

This is not the same as a knowledge base category. Knowledge base categories organise help articles for customers. Ticket categories classify support issues for your team.

Categories, tags, and groups

These three are easy to mix up. They do different jobs:

Category - Primary classification of the issue type

Tags - Extra context, often temporary or for automation

Group - Which team owns and sees the ticket

Use the category for the main problem. Use tags for secondary detail. Use the group for routing. Do not use tags in place of categories for reporting - tag data is messier, and your reports will show it.

Before you begin

To set a category on a ticket, you need:

• Access to the Help Desk (a role with ticket view permission).
• At least one active category in the workspace.

To manage the category tree, you need:

• A role that can edit ticket categories (usually an administrator).
• The Settings area - the sidebar item is Ticket Category.

Build the category tree

Categories are managed under Settings > Ticket Category. The page heading is Ticket Categories.

1. Select Settings from the main navigation.
2. Select Ticket Category.
3. Work in the Active tab - that list is what agents and rules can use.

Add a top-level category - Select Add Category. Enter the Category name, then Save

Add a sub-category - On a row, select Add Sub Category for that name. Enter the name, then Save

Rename - Select Edit on the row. The dialog is Edit Category. Renaming keeps the same place in the tree

Search - Use Search Categories. Matching branches expand so nested results are visible

Archive - Select the delete control on the row. The dialog is Archive Category

The Archived tab lists categories that are no longer available for new work. Each row shows Last update and a relative date. There are no restore or edit actions on that tab.

Set a category on a ticket

On a new ticket, Category sits in the left-hand panel with Brand and Requester. It is required. Submit stays disabled until one is selected. The tooltip reads Please enter all the required fields.

1. Select Help Desk from the main navigation.
2. Open a ticket, or select Add Ticket to create one.
3. In Category, search or drill into the tree, then select the category that matches the customer's problem.

On an existing ticket, change Category in the properties sidebar. The change saves with the ticket. You cannot change it while the ticket is closed.

If the category on a ticket has been archived, the field still shows it, but you must pick an active category before you can submit further changes. The message reads The selected category is archived. Please select another category.

When you add a ticket by hand, fill the category before you submit.

Understand what archive does

Archiving removes a category from the active list. It does not wipe history.

When you confirm Archive Category, Pleased warns that:

• All sub-categories under it are archived too.
• The category is removed from any template that used it.
• The action is irreversible in the product.

Existing tickets keep the category they already had, so reporting history stays intact. Renaming is safe for the same reason - tickets keep the same category; only the label changes. Re-organising the tree does not reclassify old tickets.

If templates use the category, the archive dialog lists Templates that will be affected, with links to edit or search them. If none do, it shows No templates are currently using this category.

Prefer triggers over hand-labelling

Agents under time pressure pick the first plausible category. Triggers do not.

Set categories automatically when a ticket is created or updated - for example when a subject, channel, brand, or tag matches a known pattern. Use a condition such as Category is Z, or an action that updates the category field.

Automations can use the same kind of conditions and field updates on a schedule.

Consistency matters more than granularity. A smaller set everyone applies the same way beats a precise tree applied differently by each agent.

Best practice

• Keep the list short enough to remember. If agents have to scroll to find a category, they will pick the first one that looks close enough.
• Name by the customer problem, not the internal team. "Withdrawal failed" is what the customer experienced. "Payments Team" is who handles it - that belongs in Group.
• Nest only when it helps. A parent like Payments with children for failed deposits and failed withdrawals is useful. Deep trees that nobody navigates are not.
• Review the tail. Categories that almost never get tickets are badly named, duplicated, or unnecessary - archive them.
• Automate the common cases. Triggers set the high-volume categories; agents handle the exceptions.
• Do not use tags as a substitute for categories when you care about Ticket Analytics. Category is the reporting dimension; tags are supporting detail.

Troubleshooting

I cannot see Ticket Category in Settings. Your role needs permission to edit ticket categories. Ask an administrator to check your role.

Submit is disabled on a new ticket. Category is required, along with subject, requester, and a public reply or internal note.

The category I need is missing. It may be archived, or it may never have been created. Check the Archived tab under Settings > Ticket Category, or ask an administrator to add it under Active.

I archived a category and its children disappeared. Archiving a parent archives every sub-category under it. That cannot be undone from the UI.

I renamed a category and old tickets look wrong in reports. Renaming changes the label everywhere that category id is used. Old tickets still point at the same category - they show the new name. If the meaning of the category changed, that is a new category, not a rename.

Agents keep choosing different categories for the same issue. The tree is too large, or the names overlap. Narrow the set, clarify the names, and set the common cases with triggers.

My Ticket Analytics split by category looks empty or noisy. Categories only help when they are applied. Check that creation triggers set a category, and that manual tickets are not left on a catch-all.