» General settings
Website title
A short title of your website, for example "My lovely website". This will be used as the title of the link that is be displayed in top left corner of customer interface and enables them to return to your website.
Website URL
URL of your website, for example "http://www.yourwebsite.com". Make sure this is a valid URL and you start it with either http:// or https:// . This will be used as the URL of the link that is be displayed in top left corner of customer interface and enable them to return to your website.
» Language settings
Default Language
If you have several languages installed for Hesk this will be the default language. All properly installed languages are displayed in the drop-down box. Please refer to the readme.html file for instructions on how to install more languages. The "Test language folder" link will help you troubleshoot non-working language installations.
By checking the "Make this my preferred Language" box the selected language will be set as your preferred personal language (this is only in effect if multiple languages are enabled). If multiple languages are enabled you can always set your preferred language on the "Profile" page.
Multiple languages
Enabling this setting will allow your users and staff to choose their preferred language from the list of installed languages. Do not enable this feature unless you provide support in all of the installed languages!
Support e-mail
Default support e-mail address. Make sure you enter a valid e-mail address.
Webmaster e-mail
Default webmaster e-mail address. Make sure you enter a valid e-mail address, it can be the same as Support e-mail.
No reply e-mail
Your "no reply" e-mail address. This is the e-mail address that will be shown as e-mail sender (From: header) in all e-mails sent from Hesk. Usually it is an e-mail you don't read and don't reply to. Make sure you enter a valid e-mail address, it can be the same as Support e-mail but it is recommended to use a different one.
» Help desk settings
Hesk title
Title of your support desk, for example "XY company support"
Hesk URL
URL of the folder where your Hesk will be installed. Do NOT add a trailing / to the URL!
CORRECT: http://www.yourdomain.com/support
WRONG: http://www.yourdomain.com/support/ (don't end the URL with a / )
System/root path
Full server path ("root path", "system path") to your Hesk folder. Hesk will try to find the correct path automatically, if not consult your hosting company for the correct path.
Listings per page
The default number of tickets listed per page in admin panel. Use digits only.
Print font size
Font size on the "Printer friendly version" pages of support tickets
Debug mode
Turns ON/OFF the debug mode. In normal usage debug mode should be turned OFF. Turn ON only if you are having problems and Hesk is not working properly. Don't forget to turn back OFF when Hesk is working normally again.
Use anti-SPAM image
Toggles use of the anti-SPAM security image. If ON customers are required to enter a valid security number to be able to create a ticket. This feature requires GD library for PHP installed and enabled on your server, refer to the readme.html file for details.
Use anti-SPAM question
Toggles use of the anti-SPAM security question. This is a very simple yet quite effective way of combating spammers (not if they decide to target your website specifically but it should block all the spambots travelling the web). The idea is to create a unique question that only humans can answer to. You can use HTML code in the question. Answers are not CaSe SeNSiTiVe. Some examples:
| -> Question | -> Answer |
| What color is water? | Blue |
| What is the next number after four? (use only digits) | 5 |
| Type access code ABCDE here: | ABCDE |
| Access code: (find it on the bottom of our links page) | Somecode |
Warning! DO NOT use these examples, use a unique question that will only be used on your website!
List usernames
If set to ON staff usernames be listed in a select box on the admin login page and they will only need to type their password in. Recommended setting: OFF (staff will have to type both their username and password to login)
Allow automatic login
If set to YES staff will have an option to automatically login to their account every time they open HESK administration panel from their computer. If disabled HESK will only be able to remember usernames, not passwords.
Autoclose tickets
If a ticket has no activity from the customer for X days it automatically closes. Set to 0 to disable autoclose.
Reopen tickets
Set to ON to allow customers to reopen a ticket once it has been closed. When set to OFF once closed the customer will have to open a new ticket.
Reply rating
If set to ON customers will be able to mark staff replies as Helpful or Not helpful. This customer feedback will be used to rate staff.
Customer priority
If set to ON customers will be able to set priority/urgency for their tickets ranging from Low to High. If set to OFF all tickets will be submitted with the default priority (Low) and only staff will be able to change the priority level to a higher one.
Server time offset
If your server time differs from your local time you can set the time difference here. Examples:
server time: 12:30, local time: 13:30, set hours to 1 and minutes to 0
server time: 12:30, local time: 14:45, set hours to 2 and minutes to 15
server time: 12:30, local time: 09:30, set hours to -3 and minutes to 0
server time: 12:30, local time: 11:00, set hours to -1 and minutes to -30
Daylight saving
ON if your country uses daylight saving time. Set to OFF to disable daylight saving time
Time format
Advanced users only! This is PHP date syntax for timestamps displayed by Hesk. Use only one space in the syntax (separating date and time), Hesk will use the space to break date and time into two lines! For full syntax to use see PHP date manual. Examples you can use to display 31st December 2008 14:35:53
Y-m-d H:i:s will show 2008-12-31 14:35:53
d-m-Y H:i:s will show 31-12-2008 14:35:53
m-d-Y H:i:s will show 12-31-2008 14:35:53
j-M-Y H:i:s will show 31-Dec-2008 14:35:53
j-M-Y g:ia will show 31-Dec-2008 2:35pm
Admin link
If selected a link to admin panel will be displayed on the bottom of your help desk index page.
» Knowledgebase settings
Knowledgebase (KB)
Set to ON to enable knowledgebase or to OFF to disable it. Knowledgebase is a categorized collection of answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) and articles.
TIP: A comprehensive, well written and organized knowledgebase is a great self help resource for your customers. Taking time to write and maintain knowledgebase articles can save you a lot of time and drastically reduce the number of support tickets you receive in the future! It also helps your customers solving problems quickly without having to wait for your reply.
Suggest KB articles
If set to YES Hesk will match ticket subject and message against knowledgebase articles and recommend customers to read matching articles before submitting a new support ticket.
Enable KB rating
Set to YES to allow customers to rate knowledgebase articles as Helpful or Not helpful
Enable KB search
Enabling this feature will show a search form on top of help desk customer interface and allow them to use the search form to search your knowledgebase.
You can choose to display a small search box (located in the top right corner) or a large one (more visible, covers entire page width).
Max search results
This is the maximum matching results Hesk will return when someone searches the knowledgebase.
Article preview length
The length (number of chars) of knowledgebase article content that will be displayed in article list when browsing knowledgebase categories.
Categories in row
Number of (sub)categories to be displayed in table row when browsing knowledgebase.
Subcategory articles
Number of (preview) articles listed in subcategory display.
Show popular articles
Number of popular (most visited) articles shown on help desk index and knowledgebase index pages. Set to 0 to disable listing popular articles.
Show latest articles
Number of latest (most recently submitted) articles shown on help desk index and knowledgebase index pages. Set to 0 to disable listing latest articles.
» Database settings
Database host
Database host server, "localhost" works for most users. Do NOT change this unless you know what your MySQL host is. Ask your hosting company if not sure or if you are having problems connecting to the MySQL database.
Database name
The name of your MySQL database. You should create one in your web hosting control panel or ask your hosting company for this info.
Database username
The username you use to connect to MySQL database. You should create a MySQL user in your web hosting control panel or ask your hosting company for this info
Database password
The password you use to connect to MySQL database. You should create a MySQL user in your web hosting control panel or ask your hosting company for this info
Table password
The prefix that will be added to all table names. If set to hesk_ table "users" will actually be named "hesk_users" in your database. This is useful if you want to run multiple installs of Hesk using one MySQL database, just give each install a unique table prefix name (hesk1_, hesk2_, hesk3_, ...)
» Attachments
Use attachments
Select YES to enable file attachments. If enabled customers and support staff will have the option to attach files to support tickets.
NOTE: If and how file attachments will work depends on your server settings, please refer to readme.html for considerations and possible limitations of file attachments on your server.
Number per post
Number of file attachments allowed per post. Optimal range is around 1 to 4. This setting is only available if "Use attachments" is set to YES.
File size limit (Kb)
File size limit per attachment measured in Kb (kilobytes). Enter only digits without "Kb". Note that the maximum upload file size is limited by your server settings, please refer to readme.html for more information on file attachment limits. This setting is only available if "Use attachments" is set to YES.
A few size transformations for reference:
1 Mb = 1024 Kb
0.5Mb = 512 Kb
2 Mb = 2048 Kb
Allowed file types
Allowed file extensions for attaching files. To add more extensions use the same formatting .ext and separate them with a comma. This setting is only available if "Use attachments" is set to YES.
» Custom fields
Custom fields can be used to collect additional information from your customers. You can enable up to 10 custom fields by selecting YES in the Enable column. Once a field is enabled you have several options to set.
» Type
Choose field type. It can be one of the following options:
» Required
Check to make the custom field a required, otherwise it is an optional one.
» Field name
Give the custom field a unique name that what will be displayed next to the field, for example "Postal address".
» Location
Choose whether the custom field should be displayed before or after the "Message" field when submitting a new support ticket.
» Options
Options you can set for each field depending on the selected Type: