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You are here: Chapter 9: Advanced Features > Advanced Issue Types > Global Issues > Creating Global Issues

Creating Global Issues

Global Issues are different from regular Issues in that they can be used to link many common or duplicate Issues into one entity.  At any one time, you may have three or four Global Issues, or you may have none at all.  It is not recommended to have too many Global Issues at one time, as they might be confusing to agents and customers or may duplicate the same problem.  They should be reserved for important, pervasive Issues that affect many users, such as system outages, application bugs, or virus warnings.

Because Global Issues are broadcast to many users (agents and, sometimes, customers), it may be advisable to restrict access to creating them.  A User Permission Role option is available for this purpose.

If an Agent has permission to create a Global Issue, there are two ways to do so:

Note

The name of this feature depends on the name given to records in FootPrints for the system/Workspace. For example, if the name "Ticket" has been defined for records in the current Workspace, the Global Issue is referred to as a "Global Ticket" throughout the Workspace. However, GlobalLinks are always referred to as "GlobalLinks". For consistency, all help files refer to the feature as "Global Issue" and "GlobalLinks".

Create a Global Issue from the FootPrintsToolbar

If an Agent or administrator knows that an Issue (such as a server crash) will soon be reported by many customers, then a Global Issue can be created from scratch to address the problem.

Note

Before you create a new Global Issue, it is a good practice to first check that there isn't already a similar or duplicate Global Issue.  You can view Global Issues from the FootPrints Home page.

To create a Global Issue:

  1. On the FootPrints Toolbar, select New Issue | New Global. If you do not have this option, then you do not have permission to create Global Issues.
  2. The Create Global Issue form is displayed.  It is similar to the regular Create Issue page, but with fewer fields and some different options.
  3. Enter a Title for the Global Issue—This should be clearly worded and as descriptive and concise as possible. This is the Title that is broadcast to Agents and customers and appears on the FootPrints Homepage.  Agents and customers should be able to tell from the Title whether the problem they are reporting is related to an existing Global Issue. For example, Big Problem, while it may be true, is not a good Title for a Global Issue.  Server 123 is Down is a better Title.  It is descriptive of the problem while being concise enough that it does not overwhelm the user.
  4. Broadcast Creation of Global Issue to All Agents in Workspace—If this is checked (the default), all Agents who belong to the Workspace receive a broadcast message in the form of a pop-up window alerting them to the new Global Issue.
  5. Priority—Give the Global Issue a priority just as you would a regular Issue. This becomes the default priority for all GlobalLinks associated with the Global Issue.
  6. Status—By default, a Global Issue is created with the Open status. This can be changed on this page to another active status (e.g., Pending, Working, etc.)  It is not recommended that a Global Issue begin with the Closed status, as one of the main features of the Global Issue is to Close all related Issues simultaneously when the Global Issue is closed.
  7. Issue Information—Fill in any Workspace field desired.  Mandatory fields must be filled in. GlobalLinks inherit the choices selected here.
  8. Description—Enter a Description of the Issue.  You can use this field to enter a more detailed Description of the Global Issue, including symptoms, diagnostic information, known systems affected, estimated time it will take to fix the problem, etc.  This description is inherited by Issues linked to the Global.
  9. Attachments—Attach any files you would like associated with the Global Issue. These files also link to Issues that are linked to the Global Issue. Administrators can define rules for attachments that include restrictions on size and/or file type as well as making attachments mandatory. Rules can be applied based on fields, such as the Status field, which means an attachment may be made mandatory when the status is Open, for example, but not for other statuses.
  10. Assignment—The user or Team selected here is responsible for updating and eventually closing the Global Issues.  Different users can be assigned to the various GlobalLinks that are subsequently created.

NOTE

When an existing Issue is turned into a Global Issue, FootPrints adds the assignees from the Global Issue to the existing issue.

  1. Email—The Agent or Team Assigned to the Global Issue receives email notification if the assignee checkbox is checked.
  2. Time Tracking—Time tracking information only applies to the Global Issue. GlobalLinks have their own Time Tracking information.

Note

It is important to ensure that each current Global Issue is unique, clearly worded, and not duplicated by any other active Global Issues.

  1. Click Save.  The Global Issue is created.  It is viewable to Agents on the Homepage, broadcast to Agents via a pop-up window, and optionally broadcast to customers as well (if they have permission to link to Global Issues).

Note

Note that contact information is not included in Global Issues.  This is because Global Issues are meant to be general and applicable to multiple users.  Each GlobalLink created contains the contact information for the individual user who reports the problem.

Convert a Regular Issue into a Global Issue

Existing Issues can be turned into Global Issues after they have been created.  For example, a customer may report a problem and, after some investigation, an Agent realizes that the Issue is pervasive and other customers will run into the same problem.

To convert a regular Issue into a Global Issue:

  1. On the Details page for an Issue, select Make Global from the Details menu.  If this option is not available, you might not have permission to create Global Issues or the type of Issue does not support Global Issues (as with a Subtask, Master Issue, etc.; refer to Restrictions for more information).
  2. The Create Global Issue form is displayed.  Make any necessary changes to the Issue to make it Global and generally applicable.  Make sure the Title is descriptive and concise, the Description is detailed, etc.
  3. Note that the contact information from the Issue is not displayed.  This information is not lost.  When the Global Issue is created, an associated GlobalLink is also created with the originating customer's contact information.
  4. Click Save.  The Global Issue is created. It is viewable to Agents on the Homepage, broadcast to Agents via a pop-up window, and optionally broadcast to customers if they have permission to link to Global Issues.  A GlobalLink is also created which includes the contact information from the original Issue.

 

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