How to set up Zendesk as a Connection in GridBuddy Connect

This article details how to connect Zendesk as a GridBuddy Coonnect connection and how to edit Zendesk tickets and add comments using grids.

Prerequisites

For GridBuddy Connect to properly access the Zendesk connection, password access needs to be enabled in Zendesk. 

1. Sign into Zendesk as an agent.
2. Select the Admin (gear) icon in the far left navigation bar.
3. In the menu column, scroll down to the Channels section and select API.
4. Under the Settings tab, find the Password access row and toggle on the Enabled option.

Connecting to Zendesk 

1. In GridBuddy Connect, select the Organization tab in the top navigation bar.
2. Under Application Setup, select Conncetions and then select Create Connection.
3. Add your Conncetion Name (required) and Connection Description (optional).
4. Under the Connection Type dropdown menu, select Zendesk. Additional options will appear below.
5. Check the Active box.
6. Check the Create ReadyGrids box if you want to create your ReadyGrid automatically using your current Zendesk tickets.
7. Under the Authentication Type dropdown, select Username/Password.
8. Check the Shared User box if you want to create a shared user now. This feature works for the Zendesk connection exactly as it does for Salesforce.
9. Add the username and password you use to sign into Zendesk.
10. Add your Zendesk subdomain. If your Zendesk login URL is mycompany.zendesk.com, for example, your subdomain is mycompany.
11. Select the Save button at the top right.

If you checked the Create ReadyGrids box, use the link in the popup box or the Grids tab on the top navigation bar to move to your list of grids. Otherwise, move down to Creating a new grid in this document to learn how to create a grid.

Editing tickets and adding comments using grids

Select your new Zendesk Tickets & Comments ReadyGrid. In this grid, you will see each Zendesk ticket listed on its own row. Expanding a row will show all comments on that ticket. In this grid, the ticket is the parent object and the comment is a related object.

While you cannot create new Zendesk tickets using GridBuddy Connect, you can edit existing tickets and add comments.

To create a comment on a ticket: 

1. Select New beside the Comments section header for the ticket you want to update.
2. Use the rich text formatter under the HTML Body column to compose your comment. You can make words bold, italic, large or small, and so on.
3. If you want to make your comment public, select the Public checkbox.
4. When finished, select Save at the top left of the grid.

Unlike in Zendesk, editing a ticket or adding a comment in your grid does not require you to submit with a status (such as Submit as Open). You can control the status and priority of your ticket separately, using the dropdown menus under their columns in your grid. You can also filter on status or priority.

Links in cells, such as in the Assignee ID column, will open the Zendesk agent UI.

Creating a new grid

To create a new grid (for example, if you did not create a ReadyGrid automatically when setting up the connection), follow these steps: 

1. Navigate to the Manage Grids tab in the top navigation bar, then select New.
2. On the Configuration screen, give your grid a name and description (optional).
3. Under the Datasource for Parent Object dropdown menu, select the name of the Zendesk datasource you created. In most cases, this will be Zendesk.
4. Under the Parent Object dropdown menu, select Ticket.
5. Select Next at top right.
6. On the Select Fields and Formatting screen, choose the fields you want in your grid for the Ticket object.
7. Optionally, you can go to the Choose Objects column (column 1) and select Comment under Related Objects, then choose fields for the Comment object.
8. Select Save at top right and then open your new grid.

Editing a grid

To edit your grid, open the More dropdown menu in your grid, then select Edit Fields from the dropdown. This will open the Grid Wizard to the Select Fields and Formatting screen.