Creating a case type

A case type is a template. Get it right once and every case of that kind runs against the same rules.

Before you start

Have the answers to three questions. Configuring without them means guessing, and the guesses are hard to unpick later.

1. What has to be captured when a case of this kind opens?
2. What stages does it pass through, and what makes it move between them?
3. What deadlines apply, and does the clock start on receipt or on acknowledgement?

That third one causes more trouble than the other two combined.

Create it

1. Settings → Case types → New case type.
2. Name it as your team names it. If everyone says "complaint", do not call it "Customer Feedback Case".
3. Add the fields that must be captured on creation. Keep this list short — anything that is not needed to open the case belongs on a stage instead.
4. Define the stages in order. Each stage gets a name and, optionally, a deadline.
5. Set the deadline basis for each stage: working days or calendar days, counted from entry to that stage.
6. Save.

Test it before you use it

Create one case, walk it through every stage, and let a deadline lapse deliberately in a test case to see what happens. The behaviour at the boundary is the part worth checking, and it is much cheaper to find now.

Next

Attach a workflow so the stages do something: Building your first workflow.