About Issue Statuses and Substatuses

Issue Statuses

There are two Issue Statuses: Open and Closed. Issue Statuses are inherent to the system and do not require any additional steps to be activated. Many features like Automation and Dashboard are issue status dependent. For example, only Open issues will appear on dashboards and only Open issues can have a workflow associated with them. If you require to review data related to Closed issues you can do so through multiple ways including Reporting and Issues Searches.

Issue Substatuses

Issue Substatuses allow you to organize issues into more concise sub-categories within Open and Closed. We strongly recommend activating and using the Substatus feature. This helps you quickly identify to what extent issues have been addressed and where they are in the resolution process.

Substatuses can be managed from the Settings menu. Some examples of substatuses are:

  • Acknowledged
  • User Response Needed
  • Pending Approval
  • Awaiting Parts
  • In Testing
  • Deferred

All users can view Substatus-related data in issues and reports, but only users with Can select Substatus when submitting and maintaining Issues permissions can select a Substatus on an issue.

If the Issue Substatus field is activated, you can also add Substatus Rules to automatically update issues to a different Substatus when certain events occur. For example, if an issue’s Substatus is User Response Needed, its Substatus could be updated to Under Review as soon as the Submitter adds a note. Among these types of Substatus Rules, there is a Process Order that defines which Rule is to be applied when issues simultaneously qualify for multiple Substatus Rules.

Substatus Rules may also be used to pause the system clock when issues have certain Substatuses. Once the clock has been paused on an issue—its Adjusted Time Open (i.e. Total Time Open minus how long clock is/was paused) will be used for issues escalated by Workflows, SLAs, and standard reports instead of its Total Time Open (i.e. exactly how long issue is/was open). For example, if the Substatus User Response Needed pauses the system clock, an issue with this Substatus would not continue to accrue workflow or SLA processes until the Submitter adds a note or a user changes its Substatus.

 

Activating Substatuses

Only users with Sys Admin permissions can activate Substatuses within your system.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Optional Fields beneath Issue Setup.
  2. Select Issue Substatus.
  3. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear and the Substatuses option will be activated in the Settings Lightbox when this process is complete.

 

Activating Substatus Notifications

Only users with Sys Admin permissions can activate Substatus notifications within your system.

Substatus Change Notifications are sent to members of an issue’s On Note Subscribers List. However, these changes are recorded in the issue’s Substatus history and are not added as actual Notes. In most situations, we do not recommend activating this notification because of the volume of emails created and the potential for duplicate emails.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Outgoing Email beneath Email.
  2. Under the Outgoing Email Settings area, select Send Email on Substatus Change.
  3. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

 

Deactivating Substatus Notifications

Only users with Sys Admin permissions can deactivate Substatus notifications within your system.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Outgoing Email beneath Email.
  2. Under the Outgoing Email Settings area, deselect Send Email on Substatus Change.
  3. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

 

Adding Substatuses

Only users with Sys Admin or Can access and maintain Administration functions permissions can add, edit or delete Substatuses within your system.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Substatuses beneath Issue Setup > select Add beneath Substatuses on the right quick menu.
  2. Enter a name for the new Substatus.
  3. (Optional) Define the Display Order (e.g. 3 = third place) for this Substatus within related lists and drop-downs.
  4. Click Save.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

 

Editing Substatuses

Only users with Sys Admin or Can access and maintain Administration functions permissions can add, edit or delete Substatuses within your system.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Substatuses beneath Issue Setup.
  2. Click edit next to the Substatus you are modifying.
  3. Make your changes on the Edit Substatus screen.
  4. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

 

Deleting Substatuses

Only users with Sys Admin or Can access and maintain Administration functions permissions can add, edit or delete Substatuses within your system.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Substatuses beneath Issue Setup.
  2. Click del next to the Substatus you are deleting.
  3. Click OK when prompted to confirm.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

 

Deactivating Substatuses

Only users with Sys Admin permissions can deactivate Substatuses within your system.

  1. Click the gear icon in the upper right > click on Optional Fields beneath Issue Setup.
  2. Deselect Issue Substatus.
  3. Click Update.

A confirmation message will appear when this process is complete.

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