Reuse text with snippets
Last Update: Sep 2024 • Est. Read Time: 3 MINSnippets are a powerful way to formulate multi-language responses and insert translated content into customer replies, email templates, and your knowledge base theme and forms.
Snippets can also be used as a repository for common copy and phrasing to use as building blocks while constructing text shortcuts. For example, you might build a snippet that greets your customer in various languages and uses dynamic text like {{customer.firstName}} {{customer.lastName}}
to address the customer by name. You can then insert this snippet into any shortcut where you want to greet the customer by name. Any future changes to the snippet are reflected in any shortcut using it, ensuring your team's reusable responses are always up to date.
Who can access this feature? | |
User types | Admins and all users who have been granted merge permissions can access this. |
In this article
- Language detection with snippets
- Create snippets
- Mark snippets as out-of-date
- Organize snippets in categories
Language detection with snippets
How snippets detect the language to use depends on how and where you are using the snippet.
Note: Snippets are not available in workflows.
- Knowledge base themes and forms
Snippets can be used throughout your knowledge base themes and forms to ensure visitors who speak another language can read your help articles. Snippets will primarily use the end user's default browser language setting to display your help center and form in the correct language. Users can also manually change the language they are viewing the knowledge base in by selecting it from the language picker. - Conversation replies
By default, agents will see snippets in the language set in their Personal Preferences. For more information on sending a reply with a snippet, see Use snippets to send translated messages.
When using snippets in a conversation reply, the language can be automatically detected or you can manually set the default language in Conversation attributes. To do so, open a conversation, go to Conversation Options, and select Edit Conversation Attributes to choose a language.
Moving forward, snippets will automatically default to the selected language for that particular conversation.
When replying to a chat message, the language a customer uses is detected through their browser's default language (or "locale") or their device language. Visit our Developer Portal to learn more about changing the default language used in the iOS and Android SDK.
Create snippets
You can create and manage all your snippets and their translations from one page. This page also shows you which snippets are missing translations or have outdated content.
Note: You must activate other languages in your environment before they become a translation option in Snippets. For more information, see Customize localization settings.
To create a snippet:
- Go to Settings> Administration > Snippets.
- Select Add Snippet.
- Enter a title and description and select Create.
- Enter the default language text for the Snippet in the Content box.
- Optionally, enter the translated snippet into the boxes of any other languages you have turned on in your organization.
- Select Save Changes.
Mark snippets as out-of-date
You can mark a snippet as out of date to inform users that any text requires updating. You have the option to:
- Mark the default language out of date by selecting the Outdated check box.
- Mark all translations out of date by selecting the Mark Translations Outdated link.
- Select the Outdated check box in line with each translation to indicate that specific one needs updating.
Once you mark a snippet as out of date, the icon next to the language name turns red to indicate that it needs to be updated.
Organize snippets in categories
You can use snippet categories to organize all your snippets into logical groupings that users can easily navigate through when responding to a conversation. You can create up to 200 categories.
To create a snippet category:
- Go to Settings> Administration > Snippets.
- Select the Categories tab.
- Select Add Category.
- Enter the Name of the category you want to create and select Create. The category will be listed. To see its available actions, hover over the category name.
- If you want to create a sub-category, select Add Category.
- Enter a name for the new category, and select its parent from the drop-down menu.
- Select Create.
To add a snippet to a category:
- Go to the Snippets page and select the snippet you wish to add to a category.
- Select a category from the Category drop-down menu.
Note: To select a subcategory, expand the parent to find it.
- Select Save Changes.
Now, whenever you want to use a snippet, categories will appear to help you locate the snippet you need faster.
Related articles
- Use snippets to send translated messages
- Build feedback and request forms
- Customize your knowledge base theme