Macros

What are macros

As per Zendesk:

A macro is a prepared response or action that an agent can manually apply when they are creating or updating tickets. Macros contain actions that can update ticket properties.

Unlike triggers and automations, macros only contain actions, not conditions. Conditions aren’t used because nothing is automatically evaluating tickets to determine if a macro should be applied. Agents evaluate tickets and apply macros manually as needed.

Creating a macro via Zendesk

To create a macro in Zendesk, you first need to go to the Admin Center (Zendesk Global / Zendesk US Federal). From there, you need to go to the Macros page (Workspaces > Agent tools > Macros).

After doing so, you will then click the Add macro button on the top-right side of the page. This will then load up the new macro page.

From here, you will:

1. enter a name for the macro.
2. select a description for the macro.
3. enter the actions for the macro to perform

After doing this, you will then click the blue Create button.

Editing a macro via Zendesk

To edit a macro in Zendesk, you first need to go to the Admin Center (Zendesk Global / Zendesk US Federal). From there, you need to go to the Macros page (Workspaces > Agent tools > Macros).

You will then locate the macro to edit in the list and click on the name (if your macro is currently inactive, you will need to click the Inactive tab, located above the list of macro).

Doing so will bring up the macros editor page. From here, you can tweak the various aspects of the macro. Once you have the edits in place, click the blue Save button.

Deactivating a macro via Zendesk

To deactivate a macro in Zendesk, you first need to go to the Admin Center (Zendesk Global / Zendesk US Federal). From there, you need to go to the Macros page (Workspaces > Agent tools > Macros).

There are actually two ways to deactivate a macro in the Zendesk UI. The quicker way is to go to the macros page, locate the macro in question, hover over it, and click the three vertical dots on the right-hand side. This will bring up a sub-menu, which contains the option to Deactivate. Click that option and the macro will be deactivated.

The alternative way to deactivate a macro in the Zendesk UI is from within the macro editor page. On that page, click the three horizontal dots in the top-right of the page and select Deactivate from the menu.

Positioning

While macros do have positions, we often do not worry about this. This is because the menu used by agents is searchable and readily findable. We also have a lot of macros, so trying to micro-manage the positions would not be efficient.

Macro standards

To ensure all macros we utilize are both consistent in nature and transparent in their actions, we strive to meet some standards on all macros we work with.

Naming standards

Macros are a bit unique in Zendesk. They have categorization, but it is not obvious in the UI. Instead, the categorization is determined based on the name of the macro itself. Essentially, every group of words becomes a “folder” of sorts in the macros dropdown selector. The separator currently used by Zendesk is two colons (::).

This can get a bit confusing and hard to learn the ins and outs of, so when in doubt, reach out to your fellow Support Ops team members.

Change management

As the organization macros are unique in deployment, please see Zendesk macros change management for more information.

Labels to use

For all issues and MRs involving macros, the label Support-Ops-Category::Macros should be used.

Change criticality

Due to the nearly non-existent impact adding/editing/deleting macros have, all issues/MRs related to Zendesk macros will be classified as criticality 4