# Getting help

## Choose the right help surface

Desk is the work area for triaging and following up support threads. Issues is the area for
reviewing reported problems and directing them to an issue list or board.

Use this page when you need to route a request, reply to a support thread, or review reported
issues. For a full explanation of Desk, see [Desk overview](doc:desk-overview). For the complete
Desk procedure, see [Work from Desk](doc:work-from-desk). For Desk states and transitions, see
[Desk states and actions](doc:desk-states-and-actions).

| If you need to… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Choose a queue for a support request | [Open Desk or Issues](#open-desk-or-issues) |
| Reply to a customer or keep a note for your team | [Work a support request in Desk](#work-a-support-request-in-desk) |
| Change a support thread's state | [Desk states and actions](doc:desk-states-and-actions) |
| Review reported problems and their charts | [Review reported issues](#review-reported-issues) |
| Work on one issue record | [Work with an issue](doc:work-with-an-issue) |
| Manage an issue board | [Manage issue boards](doc:manage-issue-boards) |
| Recover from a broader problem | [Common issues and solutions](doc:common-issues-and-solutions) |

## Before you start

**Prerequisites**

- Have a project selected in the project switcher.
- Know whether you are routing a support thread or reviewing a reported issue.

Desk and Issues are both scoped to the selected project. Without a selected project, each surface
shows its project-selection empty state.

## Open Desk or Issues

**Prerequisites**

- A project is selected.

**Steps**

1. Open the navigation and choose one destination.

   | If you need to… | Choose |
   |---|---|
   | Triage or follow up a support request | **Desk** |
   | Review reported problems | **Issues** |

2. If you opened Desk, choose the queue or view that matches the work.

   | If you need to… | Choose |
   |---|---|
   | Find requests waiting for a first reply | **Needs first response** |
   | Find requests waiting for another reply | **Needs next response** |
   | Find requests being investigated | **Investigating** |
   | Find requests waiting for the customer | **Waiting for customer** |
   | Find requests paused for later | **Paused for later** |
   | See work completed today | **Done today** |
   | See the triage queue | **Triage** |
   | See your threads | **Your threads** |
   | See threads without an assignee | **Unassigned** |

**Result:** Desk opens the selected queue or view, or Issues opens its overview.

## Understand the help surfaces

The Desk composer is where you write a customer reply or an internal note. The duplicate dialog
uses a ticket-number field. The Issues overview uses a time-range selector to change the reporting
period.

| Surface | What to use | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Desk thread composer | **Reply to the customer… (Markdown supported)** | Enter the reply that you plan to send to the customer. |
| Desk thread composer | **Internal note — only your team sees this…** | Enter a note intended for your team. |
| Duplicate dialog | **Ticket # (e.g. 13)** | Enter the ticket number of the canonical thread. |
| Issues overview | **Time range** | Select the reporting period. |

The no-thread and missing-email branches are handled in [Handle empty and unavailable states](#handle-empty-and-unavailable-states).

## Work a support request in Desk

A support thread is the place to respond to a request, keep team-only context, and move the work
through its Desk state.

**Prerequisites**

- Desk is open with a thread selected.
- For a customer reply, the composer contains the reply text before you send it.

**Steps**

1. In **Reply to the customer… (Markdown supported)**, enter the response for the customer.
2. To keep the text for your team instead, select **Internal note** before entering it in
   **Internal note — only your team sees this…**.
3. Select **Preview** to review the customer-facing Markdown.
4. Choose the send action that matches the work.

   | If you need to… | Choose |
   |---|---|
   | Send the reply and keep the thread open for follow-up | **Send** |
   | Send the reply and mark the thread complete | **Send & done** |

5. Select the next thread state.

   | If you need to… | Choose |
   |---|---|
   | Mark the thread as being investigated | **Investigating** |
   | Mark the thread as waiting for the customer | **Waiting for customer** |
   | Mark the thread complete | **Done** |
   | Reopen a paused thread | **Wake now** |
   | Reopen a completed thread | **Reopen** |

6. To postpone the thread, select **Paused** and choose one snooze period.

   | If you need to… | Choose |
   |---|---|
   | Return to the thread in one hour | **1 hour** |
   | Return tomorrow morning | **Tomorrow 9:00** |
   | Return next week | **Next week** |

7. In the duplicate dialog, enter the canonical ticket number in **Ticket # (e.g. 13)**.
8. Select **Merge into ticket** to merge the current thread into the entered ticket.
9. If you opened the duplicate dialog without merging, select **Cancel**.

When the composer is blank, **Preview**, **Send**, and **Send & done** are unavailable. A paused
thread shows **Wake now**, and a completed thread shows **Reopen**.

**Result:** The reply, internal note, state change, snooze choice, or duplicate merge appears in
the Desk thread view. For the next Desk state or action, continue with [Desk states and actions](doc:desk-states-and-actions).

## Review reported issues

An issue is a reported problem that you review from the Issues overview before opening the detailed
issue list or a board.

**Prerequisites**

- A project is selected.
- Issues is open.

**Steps**

1. Select **Time range** to set the reporting period.
2. Review the overview charts for the selected period.
3. Choose the next action.

   | If you need to… | Choose |
   |---|---|
   | Reload the issue statistics and issue list | **Refresh** |
   | Open the complete issue list | **All issues** |
   | Open issue boards | **Boards** |

4. In Recent Reports, select **View all** to open the complete issue list.

The overview can display `No activity in this period yet`, `No daily activity yet`, `No priority data yet`, `No resolved tickets yet to analyze`, `No category data yet`, `No audience data yet`,
or `No reported pages yet` when the corresponding view has no data.

**Result:** The Issues overview shows the selected period, or the application opens All issues or
Boards for the next step.

## Handle empty and unavailable states

An empty state tells you which required context to provide before the normal help surface can
appear.

| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| `No project selected` on Desk | Use the project switcher, then return to Desk. |
| `Pick a project from the switcher to open the Desk.` | Select a project before opening Desk. |
| `No project selected` on Issues | Use the project switcher, then return to Issues. |
| `Pick a project from the switcher to see its reported issues.` | Select a project before opening Issues. |
| `No thread open` | Select a thread in Desk. |
| `No email on file — the customer can only see this on their tracking page.` | Use an internal note for team-only text, or understand that a customer reply is visible only on the tracking page. |

If an Issues chart has no data, keep the selected period or choose another period from **Time
range**. The chart message identifies which part of the overview has no data.

**Result:** The required project or thread is available, or the relevant empty-state message
remains visible with the next action identified.

## Recover from an error and continue

Desk applies a reply or state change in the thread view first, then reconciles it with the service
response. If the service rejects a transition, Desk restores the earlier thread state; if it
rejects a reply, Desk restores the earlier thread and draft.

| What you see | What to do next |
|---|---|
| `Reply failed — restored your draft` | Review the restored text and try **Send** or **Send & done** again when the thread is ready. |
| `Duplicate merge failed` | Check the ticket number in **Ticket # (e.g. 13)** and try **Merge into ticket** again. |

The Issues overview loads its statistics and issue list together. Refresh the overview with
**Refresh** when you need to request the current statistics and list again.

For the next Desk state or action, continue with [Desk states and actions](doc:desk-states-and-actions).
For a specific issue, continue with [Work with an issue](doc:work-with-an-issue). For board work,
continue with [Manage issue boards](doc:manage-issue-boards). For broader recovery paths, continue
with [Common issues and solutions](doc:common-issues-and-solutions).

**Result:** You have a next action for a failed Desk operation and a destination for continued
Desk, issue, or board work.