Creating categories

Categories allow you to create classifications for the data that you want to group or track for reporting purposes. You can organize your data by using category types and defining parent and child relationships between categories. Plan your categories so that the data in your system is consistent. Also, based on your requirement, you can configure suggested owners for your categories. For more information, see Configuring-suggested-owners.

The following topics are provided:

• • To create a category
  • Displaying categories in Self Service

To create a category

1. Click the Remedyforce Administration tab.
2. On the Home page, click the Configure Application tile, and from the menu select Category.
3. In the categories list view, click New.
    If you are creating a category for Self Service and you have accessed the Category option from the Configure Self Service tile, only the categories that can be shown in Self Service are listed.

4. In the Category field, type a name of the category.

   Note

   All the top level category names must be unique. Additionally, the category names in a tree hierarchy must not have the same name.

5. In the Abbreviation field, type a short label that you want to assign to the category.
    When you create charts or reports, you can use this field to represent the current action record in the chart or report. The field uses minimal screen space, which allows you to display more data in a chart or report.
6. From the Category Type list, select the type of category.

7. From the Parent Category list, select the category that can be designated as the parent category.
   Assigning a parent category to a category creates the category tree.

   Note

   BMC recommends that you assign a parent category that is of the same type as the current category. For example, if you select the Available for Incidents check box for the current category, assign an Incident category as the parent category.

8. To help the users to select the appropriate category from the category tree, in the Category Description field, type a description of the category.
    This text appears as a tooltip when you move your mouse over a category in the category tree in the Salesforce page layout, console layout, and Self Service 2.0.

9. To designate the category as available to Incident Management, select the Available for Incidents check box.

   Note

   If you select the Available for Service Requests and the Available for Incidents check boxes for a category, the category is available to both Incident Management and Service Request Management. This category is available for defining the Conditional and Invoke Template properties of Input fields.

   When you select this check box, the following sections are affected:

   • In the Incident form, when the staff member clicks the Category list to open the Select From Categories window, the category appears in this window by default. If the staff member wants to select a Service Request category for the incident, the staff member needs to select Filter Options > Service Request Categories to view the Service Request categories.
   • In the Incident form, when the staff member types the current category in the Category list, the current category appears in the list of matching entries. Service Request categories do not appear in the list of matching entries.
   • In Self Service, when the client user clicks the Submit a Ticket link and then click the Category list to open the Select From Categories window, the current category appears in this window. The Display in Self Service check box must be selected for the current category to appear in Self Service.
   • In Self Service, when the client user clicks the Request a Service tab, the current category does not appear in the Category tree. Incident categories appear in the Category tree if they are parent categories to Service Request categories. The Display in Self Service check box must be selected for the current category to appear in Self Service.
10. To designate the category as available to Service Request Management, select the Available for Service Requests check box.
     When you select the Available for Service Requests check box, BMC Remedyforce selects the Display in Self Service check box. In most cases, you want the Service Request categories to be displayed in Self Service. Self Service clients can use these categories when they are creating service requests. You can clear the Display in Self Service check box if you do not want the category to appear in Self Service.
    When you select this check box, the following sections are affected:
    • In the Request Definition form, when you click the Category list to open the Select From Categories window, the current category appears in this window by default. Incident categories appear in this window if they are parent categories to Service Request categories.
    • On the Fulfillment tab of the Request Definition form, only Service Request categories are available for defining the Conditional and Invoke Template properties of Input fields.
    • In Self Service, when the client user clicks the Submit a Ticket link and then clicks the Category list to open the Select From Categories window, Service Request categories are not displayed in this window.
    • In Self Service, when the client user clicks the Request a Service tab, the current category appears in the Category tree. The Display in Self Service check box must be selected for the current category to appear in Self Service.
    • While submitting a service request in Self Service or BMC Remedyforce, if you click an Input field that is a lookup to the Category field, the current category appears in the Select From Categories window. The Display in Self Service check box must be selected for the current category to appear in Self Service.
11. To display the category to all the users of BMC Remedyforce when they log on to Self Service, select the Display in Self Service check box.
     If the Display in Self Service check box is selected for child categories of current category and you clear this check box for the current category, an error message appears when you save the current category. The Display in Self Service check box must remain selected for the current category because child categories of the current category are displayed in Self Service and the current category is required to create the Category tree.
     When you select the Display in Self Service check box for the current category and save the category, this check box is selected for the parent categories of the current category. For example, you have the following categories:
    • Human Resource
    • Recruitment

    • Interview
       Human Resource is the parent category of Recruitment, and Recruitment is the parent category of Interview. When you select the Display in Self Service check box for the Interview category, this check box is selected for the Human Resource and Recruitment parent categories.

      Note

      All categories are available in the Change Request, Broadcast, Problem, Template, Task, and Release forms. The Filter options menu does not appear in these forms when you are selecting a category. Selecting the Available for Incidents, Available for Service Requests, or Display in Self Service check boxes does not affect the availability of categories in these forms.

12. In the Incident Handling Information section, enter the following information:
    1. Follow Up - Select this check box to designate incidents for follow-up when the category is assigned to an incident.
        These incidents are followed up when the incident is closed. You can define the follow-up time in the After Hours field.
    2. After Hours - Type the number of hours after an incident is closed when a follow-up should begin.
        This information is added to the closing data of an incident assigned with the category.
    3. Urgency ID - Select the urgency that you want to assign when creating an incident with the category.
        You can assign a level of urgency to the category depending on the importance of the category.
13. In the Supporting Information section, click the Child Categories tab.
    1. In the Child Categories tab, click Actions > Add.
    2. In the Categories window, repeat step 4 through step 16 to create the category that you want to add as a child category to this category.
    3. Click Save.
        The Categories window closes, and the child category appears on the Child Categories tab.
14. In the Supporting Information section, click the Standard Descriptions tab.
    1. In the Standard Descriptions tab, click Actions > Add.
    2. In the Standard Description window, create the standard description that you want to add to this category.
        For more information, see Creating-standard-descriptions.
15. Click Save.

16. (Optional) To designate the current record as inactive, select the Inactive check box.
    For example, the category for an outdated operating system is no longer applicable because computers in the account do not use the outdated operating system.

    Note

    Records marked as inactive are not included in any search performed on the database.

Displaying categories in Self Service

There are three options to be selected for the category to be displayed in Self Service in different forms.

To make a category available only in the Incident form in Self Service, the following options must be used:

• Display in Self Service - Selected
• Available for Incidents - Selected
• Available for Service Requests - Not Selected

To make a category available only in the Service Request form and in the Category tree of browse Service Requests in Self Service, the following options must be used:

• Display in Self Service - Selected
• Available for Incidents - Not Selected
• Available for Service Requests - Selected

To make a category available only in the Category tree of browse knowledge articles in Self Service, the following options must be used:

• Display in Self Service - Selected
• Available for Incidents - Not Selected
• Available for Service Requests - Not Selected

If you select all the three options, the category is available in Incident form, Service Request form, Category tree (browse service requests and browse knowledge articles) in Self Service.