How to Use Custom Fields from ChannelReply in Zendesk

The ChannelReply app can display Amazon, eBay, Back Market, Newegg, Shopify and Walmart info in your Zendesk sidebar. But what if you want to use that info as placeholders in Zendesk macros or autoresponders? Easy—all you need to do is set up custom fields.

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Table of Contents

• What Are Custom Fields For?
• How to Set Up Zendesk Custom Fields in ChannelReply
• Where Custom Fields Appear in Zendesk
• The “DUPLICATE TO MESSAGE BODY” Setting (Optional)
• How to Use ChannelReply Custom Fields as Zendesk Autoresponder & Macro Placeholders
• Using ChannelReply Custom Fields in Zendesk Triggers
• Using Custom Fields in Zendesk Views
• Deleting and Editing Custom Fields in ChannelReply

What Are Custom Fields For?

Custom fields allow you to transfer small bits of info from one program to another. With ChannelReply, they let you pull info from your marketplace accounts into Zendesk. This lets you use them in tools like search, macros, triggers, and autoresponders.

How to Set Up Zendesk Custom Fields in ChannelReply

Log in to ChannelReply. Then click “CRM Settings” on the dashboard or in the left-hand sidebar.

Click “CUSTOM FIELDS.”

This will show you your custom fields for Amazon, eBay, Back Market, Newegg, Shopify and Walmart. You can generate, edit, and manage them from here.

To instantly generate all custom fields possible, just hit “Generate custom fields in one click.” This will fill in the default titles for all custom fields and create them in Zendesk.

These fields are automatically saved.

If you only want the custom fields you actually need, you can create them one at a time. To create a custom field, just enter a title.

Press "Enter" or click anywhere outside the box to save your custom field. You’ll see a success notification, and the Duplicate to Message Body slider and Delete icon will appear.

Repeat this for each custom field you wish to add.

If you aren’t sure whether a particular custom field will be useful for you, be sure to see “Custom Fields FAQ and Definitions” to learn more about it.

Before we explain the “DUPLICATE TO MESSAGE BODY” setting, it’s best to understand…

Where Custom Fields Appear in Zendesk

By default, custom fields will appear in the left-hand Zendesk sidebar.

Your ChannelReply custom fields will update every time you open a ticket and allow the ChannelReply app to finish loading on the right.

Unlike data in the ChannelReply app, custom field data in the left-hand sidebar can be found with Zendesk searches.

Now we can explain…

The “DUPLICATE TO MESSAGE BODY” Setting (Optional)

The “DUPLICATE TO MESSAGE BODY” option is useful for some advanced users. Enabling it on a field will cause that field’s contents to appear inside the first message of each ChannelReply ticket in Zendesk.

For example, say you enabled it for the Item Title field. The title of the item the customer ordered would appear in the first message of each ticket.

To enable this feature, simply click the slider to the right of the field. It will move to the right and turn green. This change will save automatically.

You can turn “DUPLICATE” off again anytime by clicking on the slider again.

Data duplicated to the message body is searchable. Plus, unlike data in the app or the left-hand sidebar, custom field info in the message body is never updated. This feature can therefore be helpful for creating a record of data available when the ticket was created.

This can also be a useful feature if you need custom field data but don’t like to have your interface cluttered with sidebars.

How to Use ChannelReply Custom Fields as Zendesk Autoresponder & Macro Placeholders

Log in to your Zendesk account, then click "Products" (the four-squares icon in the upper right). Click "Admin Center."

Admin Center will open in a new tab. Open the "Objects and rules" menu on the left and click "Fields." Along with all your Zendesk system fields and any other custom fields you may have, you’ll find your ChannelReply custom fields.

Find the one you want to use in a macro or autoresponder. Copy the number from the “Field ID” column. Paste it somewhere for safekeeping, such as a Notepad file. (Alternatively, keep this screen open so you can copy and paste as needed, then continue in a new browser tab.)

Next, go to your macro or autoresponder.  If you're working with macros, you can find yours in Admin Center by going to Workspaces > Macros. Either create a new macro or edit an existing one. If you're working on an ecommerce autoresponder for Zendesk, go to Objects and rules > Triggers (or Automations, if you decided to build your autoresponder there).

Wherever you want to enter your custom field in your macro or auto-reply, use the following placeholder: {{ticket.ticket_field_xxxxxxxx}}

Simply replace "xxxxxxxx" with the number you copied earlier. So, if your custom field ID number was 12345678, you would enter the following: {{ticket.ticket_field_12345678}}

Note that it's OK to have punctuation or other text before or after a placeholder. It will still populate correctly.

Be sure to save the changes to your message. The next time you use your macro or your autoresponder fires, Zendesk will enter the data from ChannelReply in place of the placeholder.

Let’s say you wanted to feature the name of the shipping carrier in one of your macros. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the process:

1. In Zendesk, go to Admin Center > Objects and rules > Fields.
2. Find the Shipping Carrier custom field and copy its field ID (12345678 in this example).
3. Use that number to replace the x’s in the dummy placeholder {{ticket.ticket_field_xxxxxxxx}} to create this: {{ticket.ticket_field_12345678}}.
4. Open the macro where you want to use this custom field.
5. Add {{ticket.ticket_field_12345678}} anywhere you want to display the name of the shipping carrier.

Using ChannelReply Custom Fields in Zendesk Triggers

You can use custom field placeholders in comment/reply fields in Zendesk triggers and automations. That's why they work well in autoresponders, after all!

Beyond that, though, Zendesk rules are not built for custom fields. They can only detect whether a custom field is “present” or “not present.”

“Present” means data is available in that custom field. “Not present,” of course, means no data is available.

This can be useful in some situations. For example, if an eBay shopper adds a delivery note to their order, you may want to notify some of your staff. You could do this using the condition "eBay Buyer's Note | Present” with our New Order notifications.

Zendesk rules cannot detect the actual content of custom fields. But, they can detect the content of a message. By using “DUPLICATE TO MESSAGE BODY,” you can automatically copy custom field contents into the first message of each ticket.

Say you wanted to create a trigger that fires whenever USPS is delivering the customer’s order. You could set “Shipping Carrier” to duplicate to message body using the slider on the right.

Then you could use the trigger condition “Comment text | Contains at least one of the following words | USPS.”

If a customer were to write to you about an order where USPS were the carrier, ChannelReply would add “USPS” to the message body. The Zendesk trigger would see it and fire.

Using Custom Fields in Zendesk Views

You can use custom fields as columns in any Zendesk view. This lets you see details like what item the ticket was about, which marketplace the message came from, and much more, all in the ticket overview. You can even sort your tickets by the contents of custom fields.

To add a custom field column to a Zendesk view, go to Admin Center > Workspaces > Views in Zendesk.

You can click "Add view" to create a new view. To edit an existing one instead, mouse over the view, then click the column of three dots that appears on the right. A menu will pop up. Click "Edit view."

Scroll down to the "Formatting Options" section. Here you can use custom fields in all three settings: "Columns," "Group by," and "Order by."

Click "Add Column" to create a column with custom fields. You'll then be able to choose any of your fields from the menu that appears.

You'll then see the field in each ticket's summary in your view. You can even use this to sort the tickets according to field contents. In the view below, we've used the Order Total custom field to sort our eBay tickets according to the value of the customer's order.

You can also divide your tickets using the "Group by" feature. For example, when we group by our Item Title custom field, it separates all tickets in the view according to which item(s) the ticket is about.

Finally, you can change the column that Zendesk uses by default to sort tickets in this view using "Order by." That way, you can always have tickets sorted by a custom field without having to click on a column header every time you open the view. 

With either "Order by" or "Group by," you can set by ascending order (lowest value to highest value)...

...or by descending order (highest value to lowest value).

Whatever settings you choose for your view, remember to click "Save!"

Deleting and Editing Custom Fields in ChannelReply

If you want to get rid of a custom field you have already created, click the “Delete” button that appears next to it.

This will delete the current title for that field and prevent it from appearing on new tickets in Zendesk. If you ever wish to add it back, simply type in a new title, then click outside the box to save your changes.

To edit a custom field’s title, do the following:

1. Delete the field.
2. Type in a new title, then hit "Enter." Wait for the save confirmation to appear.
3. Scroll to the top of the page. If you see an "EDIT SETTINGS" button, click that, then hit “SAVE CHANGES.” Wait for the save success notification to appear in the bottom right.

If you simply change the field’s title and then save, it will create a new ticket field in Zendesk without deleting the old one. This can cause things to get cluttered fast. Also, if you do this, you’ll only be able to delete the outdated fields from inside Zendesk.

For info on managing your custom fields from within Zendesk, see their article, “Editing and managing your ticket fields.”

Need help? Contact us and one of our agents will be in touch.

Looking for more ways to make Zendesk more effective for Walmart, Shopify, Newegg, Back Market, eBay and Amazon support? Check out our guides to creating Zendesk views and setting up a marketplace autoresponder.