What are text templates and how do I use them?

1. Click Settings () on the Helpshift toolbar, and then click Text Templates in the Workflows area. 

   

   The Text Templates page opens. It lists your brand’s defined folders and text templates.
   
   NOTE: When no folders are listed, this means that no folders OR text templates are available for your use. You must create at least one folder before you can create any text templates.

2. (Conditional) To create your first folder for text templates, click + NEW FOLDER. Then, enter a folder name and click Save.For more details, see How do I edit or delete a folder?
   
3. (Conditional) Alternatively, to begin editing a text template, click the gear icon () in the same row that describes the template.
4. To specify where Helpshift should create your new text template, choose a folder from the folders list. Then, click + NEW TEXT TEMPLATE.
   
   The Create Text Template dialog box opens.
   
5. Do the following.
   1. Enter a title for your new text template.
   2. (Optional) To use a different folder than the one you chose a moment ago, choose again from the folders list.
   3. Click + DEFAULT CONTENT. Then:
      • Choose a default language — perhaps English, for example.
      • Use the provided text box to enter a brief message in the same language that you chose as the default for this text template.The purpose of this message is to represent one or more ideas or sentiments that could be appropriate and useful during a friendly customer support engagement. Possibilities include “Before I can process your refund, I’ll need for you to verify your home address,” or “Let me see if I can restore your access.” That sort of thing.TIP: You might also include one or more variables in a message, although this is not required. A variable represents a fixed value that can, nonetheless, differ from one customer support engagement to another. It may represent a database value that is unique to one consumer, such as a registered username or email address. Whenever you use a variable in a text template, you must also define its fallback value. The fallback value is a literal word or phrase that is not unique to any one consumer, such as “Prestige Elite member” or “guest.” Your text template uses the fallback value as a substitute if the variable does not load its expected value. Consider the case of a personalized greeting, such as: “Good morning, Smiley_Clickmore! How can I help you?” If the variable that should load a username doesn’t actually do so, its fallback value can at least preserve the approachable spirit that you intended, by sending out the generic but still friendly greeting, “Good morning, my friend! How can I help you?”
   4. Do the following repeatedly, once for each language that your text template should support.
      1. Click + TRANSLATION to specify a language.
      2. Use the provided text box to enter the translated, equivalent text in the language you chose.
         
   5. (Optional) To use a variable in your text template, click Add variable.NOTE: When the default language version of a text template includes any variable, each translated version of this same text template must use the identical variable.TIP: Each time that you use a variable in any language, be sure to set a fallback value for it, which makes sense in its current context and language.
6. Click Save.
   
7. (Optional) To view your new text template, click its row in the Text Templates table.TIP: Each template’s summary description in this table cites its default language and counts its number of translations.
   
   Note: A single folder can house multiple text templates.For more information, see How do I manage text templates?

You can create a text template outside of the Text Templates user interface. However, it cannot be the first text template that your brand creates for use on your Helpshift instance. 

This restriction is due to the requirement that you use a specially crafted CSV file. The only way for you to obtain a sample CSV file for this purpose — a file that meets our structural and formatting requirements exactly — is to export a usable text template to CSV.

This procedure explains how to obtain a sample CSV file, edit it to suit your current need, and then upload it to your Helpshift instance for use as a text template.

1. Click Settings () on the Helpshift toolbar, and then click Text Templates in the Workflows area.
   
   The Text Templates page opens.
2. To prepare one of your defined text templates for export, click the gear icon () in the same row that describes the template. Then, choose Edit from the list.
3. Do not change any text in the Title field.
4. Do not change the active selection in the Folder list.
5. If the default language is correct for your current need, do not change it or any of its associated text. But if it is wrong, fix it.
6. If the languages for translated versions are correct for your current need, do not change them or any of their associated text. But if any of them are wrong, fix them.
   
   
7. Click the gear icon () next to the search field, and then choose Export Text Templates as CSV from the list.
   
   
   The Export Text Templates as CSV dialog box opens.
8. Complete the “Export and download a text template in CSV format” procedure, elsewhere in this article.
9. Open the downloaded CSV file with your preferred spreadsheet software. Then, update or replace its values where appropriate, being careful not to break any aspect of its fundamental organization.
10. Save your work in the CSV file, being careful not to save it with any other file format than CSV.
11. Return to the Helpshift user interface for text templates.
12. Click the gear icon () next to the search field, and then choose Create/Update Text Templates via CSV upload from the list.
    
    
    The Create/Update Text Templates via CSV Upload dialog box opens.
13. Click SELECT FILE to locate and choose your edited CSV file for upload.
    
    
14. Click Verify Changes to view the summary of changes made to the CSV file, as well as any errors.
    
15. Click Confirm Update to upload and apply your work.
    

TIP: In the event of an error, we recommend that you correct the CSV file and then click Re-Upload. Doing so returns you to the Create/Update Text Templates via CSV Upload dialog box, where you can repeat the same steps as before to upload the CSV file.

1. Click the gear icon ()next to the search field, and then choose Export Text Templates as CSV.
   
2. The Export Text Templates as CSV dialog box opens.
3. Click a radio button to choose if the exported file should include only the text from the default language, or if it should also include whichever other language versions your brand has prepared for this text template. Then, click Export.NOTE: Export all Text Templates is the default selection.
   

Download then begins for the language version (or versions) that you specified.

Administrators can grant supervisors the permission to create and manage text templates.

1. Click Settings () on the Helpshift toolbar, and then click Permissions in the Organization area.
   
   

   The Feature Access table lists which permission settings you can toggle on or off for people with certain assigned user roles. Its row for text template permissions helps you to control whether someone with the supervisor user role can manage your brand’s text templates.

   When the toggle is in its rightmost position, and is colored green, supervisors are permitted to manage text templates. Their access is turned On.

   When the toggle is in its leftmost position, and is colored gray, supervisors are prevented from managing text templates. Their access is turned Off.

2. Click the toggle to switch this permission setting on or off.Supervisors can see and use features on the Text Templates page only while they have permission to manage text templates.

Custom bots support the use of text templates. For details, see Localization of Custom Bots.