Admin Ticket Management

1. What does this feature do? (High-Level Overview)

Admin Ticket Management gives support/admin staff a centralized workspace to triage, assign, and resolve customer support tickets. It improves operational control by combining queue visibility, status control, and ticket conversation handling in one flow.

2. Who is this for? (Roles & Permissions)

• Users with manage_tickets: Can access the admin ticket list, view tickets in their allowed scope, assign tickets, change status, set category, and add internal notes.
• Users with create_tickets only: Do not have admin management actions; they can only work with their own requests.
• SUPERADMIN: Includes manage_tickets capabilities and is additionally allowed to delete tickets.
• Default role examples from current permissions config: OWNER and MANAGER include manage_tickets.

3. Business Rules & Enforcements

• Rule 1: Admin-facing ticket actions require manage_tickets permission.
• Rule 2: Ticket data is location-scoped; users only manage tickets in locations they are authorized for.
• Rule 3: Admin list supports filtering by search, status, priority, and category.
• Rule 4: Ticket categories are restricted to support, bug, feature, or empty (Uncategorized).
• Rule 5: Ticket status values are restricted to open, in_progress, resolved, and closed.
• Rule 6: When staff responds to an open ticket, the system automatically moves it to in_progress.
• Rule 7: Internal responses are staff-only and are not visible to non-staff users.
• Rule 8: Staff unread counters are actionable-only: unresolved tickets (open/in_progress) and assigned to the current staff user or unassigned.
• Rule 9: Deleting tickets is restricted to SUPERADMIN.

4. UI Placement

1. Admin sidebar: Tickets menu (/tickets/list) appears for admin-view users with manage_tickets.
2. Tickets list page: Customer Service Tickets table with filters, sorting, and unread indicators.
3. Ticket detail page: Support Request #<id> (/tickets/view/:id) includes:
   • Request details
   • Full conversation thread
   • Admin actions (Assign to me, category selection, status buttons)

5. How-To Guide (Step-by-Step)

Scenario A: Triage the incoming ticket queue

1. Open Tickets from the admin sidebar.
2. Use filters (Status, Priority, Category) and Search to narrow the queue.
3. Look for unread indicators and unassigned markers to prioritize work.
4. Open a ticket to review details and conversation context.

Scenario B: Take ownership and progress a ticket

1. Open the ticket detail page.
2. Click Assign to me if the ticket is not assigned to you.
3. Set or update the Category (Support, Bug, Feature).
4. Update status as needed (Open, In Progress, Resolved, Closed).
5. Add a response to move the conversation forward.

Scenario C: Use internal collaboration notes

1. In ticket detail, open Add Your Response.
2. Enable Internal note (only visible to staff).
3. Write context for the support team (investigation notes, handoff details, or follow-up actions).
4. Send response.

6. What happens if…? (Edge Cases / FAQ)

• Q: What happens if a staff member opens a ticket assigned to someone else?

  • A: They can view the ticket if authorized, but unread-clearing logic is restricted for staff when the ticket is assigned to a different user.

• Q: Why does a ticket disappear from the staff unread queue after being resolved or closed?

  • A: Staff unread queue logic only tracks actionable tickets (not resolved/closed).

• Q: Can any admin user delete tickets?

  • A: No. Ticket deletion is limited to SUPERADMIN.