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Tutorial: Create a custom task

Last Update: Oct 2024 • Est. Read Time: 4 MIN
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Tasks help your teams manage non-conversation work and cross-collaborate with other teams in your organization. You can create custom tasks from a Klass that best suits your business's needs. For example, you can:

  • Create a Klass called Delivery Update and use this object to assign work to your delivery team.
  • Collect data from agents using a form as a template of questions they can fill out and save directly within the timeline.
  • Assign a Billing Klass to a member of your billing team when reviewing a credit for a customer's return.
Who can access this feature?
User typesAdmins can create custom tasks.


In this article

Prerequisite

Before you begin, identify the Klass that you want to use to create a custom task. You can use an existing Klass or create a new one

When deciding which Klass to use, think about what you want your team to communicate when creating a task and ensure each field has a corresponding attribute. For example, if you want them to be able to set a due date and take notes, make sure you add the Date and Description fields. 

Overview

In this article, you'll learn how to:

  • Add the ability to assign a custom object as a task
  • Add a date field to a task
  • Create a form your agents can see on the timeline
  • Set up a notification so users can be alerted about an upcoming date
  • View the form on the timeline

Through this article, we will build a sample order form that contains fields for agents to provide the necessary details for a Return department to complete a return request. We will use a Klass called Return order throughout this tutorial.

Add the ability to assign the object as a task

All tasks are objects that can be assigned to an agent or team. The default Tasks Klass has this functionality turned on by default. When creating a custom task, you must add the ability to assign the object. We can do this by going to the Attributes tab for the Return order Klass, turning on the Assign and route toggle, and selecting Activate.

Notes: 

  • Turning on this toggle will automatically activate the Status, Assigned User, and Assigned Team attributes. These attributes cannot be deactivated.
  • Tasks will not route until you set up queue rules.

Add custom attributes to the task

Custom attributes allow you to fully customize your tasks. Consider the fields your agents may find helpful when creating the task. For example, you may want to give agents the ability to set a date for when they want a teammate to respond to a comment left in the form or as a reminder to themselves when they need to perform an action. 

In this example, we will create a Date & Time field that agents can use to alert teammates when they need to perform the action. To do so, select Create Attribute and add a Date or Date & Time field.

Optionally, you can create a notification rule to alert users that this date is nearing. For more information, see Create notifications for an upcoming date

Decide how to show the task in a customer's timeline

There are multiple ways to show a task in a timeline so that your agents can access it. You can configure a timeline layout or Insight Card. (If you want to give agents and collaborators the ability to leave comments on the task, you can turn commenting on for timeline layouts.) You can also create a form that gives agents the ability to create tasks from a customer's timeline. 

In this example, we will create a form.

  1. Go to Settings > Platform > Klasses and open the Return order Klass.
  2. Next, go to the Forms tab and select Create Form.
  3. Then, select Edit to open the visual editor.
  4. Build the form by dragging the attributes that best suit your organization's needs into the main editor.
  5. Select Save Changes.
  6. On the Forms tab, select the Turn on form toggle so a user can create this task from the timeline.

Create notifications for an upcoming date

Optionally, if you added a Date field to your Klass, you can create notifications that alert users of the task's upcoming due date. You can create one notification for each date field. 

Note: You cannot create notification rules using a Date field more than once.

To create a notification rule:

  1. Go to the Notifications tab and select Add Notification.
  2. Enter a name for the notification and then the criteria for when you want it sent out. For example, you can create a notification that alerts users that a due date is five days away.
  3. Optionally, select specific criteria that must be met for the notification.
  4. Select whether you want the notification sent to Assigned Users, Assigned Teams, or both. You can also send the notifications to additional users or the user who created the task.
  5. Enter the notification message in the fields provided.
  6. Select Save Changes.

Create a task from the timeline

Once turned on, agents can access the form to create the task from a customer's timeline by hovering over the Compose icon, going to Add Task, and selecting it from the list of available tasks. The form will open in the Insight details pane.

After an agent fills out the form fields and creates the task, it will appear at the top of their timeline. Here, they can view details, leave comments for other team members, and change the assigned user/team and the task status.

Note: By default, users cannot edit additional fields for this view after creating the task. If you want users to edit these fields, go to the Klass, select the Settings & Permissions tab, and turn on the Edit object data on timeline toggle.

Route a task to a team

You can set up routing so that tasks are automatically routed to another team. For more information, see Tutorial: Route a task to a team.