How To Create A Free Support Ticket System In WordPress
Are you using a SaaS tool for your WordPress support ticket system and have to pay a fee every single month? If so, you’re not the only one. While these tools are feature-packed and worthwhile, there are other options if you’re on a limited budget or just want to save some cash.
A solid support ticket system in WordPress can help you provide the customer service consumers have come to love and expect from online businesses.
But can a free support ticket plugin really give you what you need? We think so. Today we’re going to show you how to create a free support ticket system in WordPress.
So, what are you waiting for? Keep reading!
Why create a support ticket system in WordPress?
You might be asking yourself why a support ticket system in WordPress is needed. After all, you have a clear contact form on your website or a business email people can use right? Well, there happen to be a lot of great reasons a support ticket system can help growing online businesses do better:
- Handle multiple inquiries faster and more effectively
- Direct support requests to the right person or department
- Keep support inquiries organized and in one convenient location
Lastly, with a good support system in place, you can glean important information about what your customers need and want from you and your business and make data-driven decisions that will not only help your business grow, but will result in more satisfied customers that prefer you over the competition.
So, let’s create a free support ticket system in WordPress.
How to create a free ticket support system in WordPress
If you’re wanting to create a ticket support system for your WordPress site, without spending a dime, we recommend using the WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin by Awesome Support.
This free plugin is very user-friendly and comes with features like support ticketing, email notifications, multiple department assignment, data tracking, and much more. Plus, it’s WooCommerce compatible, meaning you can add a support ticket system to your online store with ease.
Let’s see how you can use it to get a support ticket system up and running in minutes.
Step 1: Install and activate WordPress Helpdesk & Support Plugin
To install and activate WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin on your WordPress website, go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
Search for ‘WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin’ and click Install Now.
Then, click Activate so the plugin will be ready for use.
Step 2: Launch the Setup Wizard
Once you activate the WordPress Helpdesk & Support Plugin, you’ll see a setup wizard that will help guide you through the setup process. You have the option to skip this if you want.
The first screen of the setup wizard welcomes you and asks you if you want to turn on support for multiple products.
If you have an online shop with multiple products, you might want to turn this feature on so customers can specify which product they need help with. If you don’t, then select No and then Continue.
WordPress Helpdesk & Support Plugin creates a new page on your site that customers can access when they want to submit a support ticket. However, this page needs to be added to one of your menus too so people can access it easily.
Select the menu you’d like to add your support ticket system to and click Continue.
Next, you’ll need to choose a menu to place your existing tickets page to. Again, choose your placement and click Continue.
This makes it easy for customers to see the support tickets they’ve submitted.
Keep in mind, if you don’t want these items added to your site’s menus, or you want to change their locations, you can do this later.
The next step in the wizard deals with ticket priorities. If you want to assign priorities to your support tickets, enable this feature.
The setup wizard lets you know that you can configure priority levels after the initial plugin setup by going to Tickets > Priorities.
If your company has multiple departments, and you want to be able to direct support tickets to different ones upon submission, enable this next feature and click Continue.
You’ll be able to configure the departments by going to Tickets > Departments when you’re done with the setup process.
The last step in the setup wizard asks you how you want to handle existing users. By default, this plugin will not allow existing users to submit tickets unless you enable them to do so here. If you don’t have any existing users on your site yet, just skip this skep and click Continue.
You’ll see a success message when the setup wizard and initial configuration is complete.
Step 3: Test a support ticket on the frontend of your site
After you finish the setup wizard, things are basically ready to go! Of course, there are small details to be handled such as your company’s departments and menu placements. But before you go to all that trouble, test a support ticket on the frontend of your site to make sure things are working.
Start by clicking Submit Ticket on the frontend of your website.
Here, you can log in or register as a new user.
Next, fill out the support ticket and click Submit ticket.
After you submit your test ticket, you’ll see the status of your ticket immediately. You can also access this information by navigating to the My Tickets menu item that the plugin created for you.
Step 4: Reply to support ticket submissions
Now, you can go back to your WordPress dashboard and see the support ticket you just submitted. Just go to Tickets > All Tickets.
Click on the ticket you want to respond to and then enter your reply into the editor.
In addition to the original support ticket message and your reply, you’ll also see information about the ticket’s status, creator, agent, and more.
To change the status of the ticket, just select New, In Progress, or On Hold from the drop down menu labeled Current Status or choose Close when the ticket has been handled successfully.
When you close a ticket, it’s automatically removed from your All Tickets section so you can concentrate on the tickets needing your attention and nothing more. You can always filter your tickets to show the closed ones, however, just in case you need to check back on an old ticket submission or re-open it.
Don’t forget, you’ll also receive support ticket email notifications so you never miss a ticket submission.
Wrapping up
And there you have it! One of the easiest ways to create a free support ticket system in WordPress using WordPress Helpdesk & Support Plugin.
Of course, there is so much more to this plugin than what we showed you. We just wanted you to get up and running with the least amount of hassle possible.
But the truth is, this plugin has a ton of potential. And with a price tag labeled “Free,” you really have nothing to lose and only happy, satisfied customers to gain.
