Department Settings Copier documentation

Requirements

• A Zoho Desk organisation in one of the supported data centres: US, EU, IN, AU, JP, CA or SA. The China data centre is not supported.
• Administrator rights in Zoho Desk, to install the extension, authorise its connection and copy settings.
• At least two departments: the source and one or more targets.

Installation

Install Department Settings Copier from Zoho Marketplace into your Zoho Desk organisation, then authorise its Zoho Desk connection when Zoho asks. The connection asks to read and create layouts, templates and automations (SLAs) and to read basic organisation data (the department list). It has no update or delete permission.

Open the Department Settings Copier tab in the Zoho Desk top bar.

Copying, step by step

• Step 1, choose: the source department, one or more target departments, the item types and what to do when a name already exists in a target (skip the item, or add " (copy)" to its name). Then choose Load items.
• Step 2, select: tick the items to copy and choose Preview.
• Step 3, preview and confirm: read each row. Create means the item will be copied to that department; Skip gives the reason. Nothing has been created yet. Type COPY and the number of items to create, for example COPY 12, and choose Copy.
• Step 4, results: the results table shows each item, its target department, the new ID and the result. Choose Download log (CSV) to keep a copy; the extension does not keep one.
• If a run is interrupted, open the tab again and choose Resume to continue where it stopped, or Discard to drop the unfinished run.

How each item type is copied

• Ticket layouts: copied with Zoho Desk's own layout clone. The copy is never the default layout of the target department.
• Email templates: the folder is matched by name in the target department and the sender address is kept. Zoho accepts the copy only if the target department uses that address; otherwise that item is reported as failed and the run goes on. Templates without a sender address are skipped. Templates with attachments are skipped. Zoho Desk's built-in notification templates are not listed, because each department already has its own.
• Ticket templates (beta): the layout is matched by name in the target department, or follows a layout copied in the same run. Contact, account and product references are cleared, and the preview shows which.
• SLAs (beta): always created inactive, so nothing goes live until you review and activate the copy in Zoho Desk. An SLA whose targets use business hours or escalations that cannot be matched in the target department is skipped, with the reason.
• Name collisions: an item whose name already exists in the target is skipped, or created with " (copy)" added to its name, as you chose.

Checks and limits

• Every copy is read back and its name and department are compared with what was sent. The run stops on any difference.
• Calls are made one at a time, at most 40 API calls a minute, and count towards your Zoho Desk API limits. Each copy takes several calls.
• If Zoho Desk reports that a limit or quota is reached, the run stops. Resume it later; items already copied are listed in the results and the log.

Administrator settings

On the extension's Configuration tab in Zoho Desk an administrator can switch off any item type (ticket layouts, email templates, ticket templates, SLAs), or switch copying off completely so that the extension only shows previews.

Not included in this version

• Workflow rules, macros and assignment rules: Zoho Desk offers no API to copy them.
• Creating fields, moving or deleting items, and undo. To remove a copy, delete it in Zoho Desk; the log gives its new ID.
• Email templates with attachments.
• Organisations in the China data centre.

Troubleshooting

• A permission error means that the person using the extension does not have administrator rights in Zoho Desk, or that the extension's Zoho Desk connection has not been authorised.
• A quota or rate-limit error stops the run. Items already created are in the results table and the log; resume the run later.
• An item skipped because a folder, layout or business hours has no match: create it in the target department with the same name, then preview again. An email template that failed because of its sender address: add that address to the target department in Zoho Desk, then copy it again.
• A run stopped after a read-back difference: download the log and email it to support before you run it again.

Licence and terms

Department Settings Copier is installed and billed through Zoho Marketplace, which will show its price when it is listed. Installing it is subject to Zoho Marketplace's terms and your agreement with Zoho, and to the Atesen Software terms of use.

Atesen Software terms of use