Products, departments, and categories form the organizational backbone of your helpdesk. They control how tickets are routed, who handles them, and what options your customers see when opening a ticket. Setting these up correctly ensures that every support request reaches the right team with the right context.
This guide covers everything you need to know to configure and manage all three levels of the routing hierarchy.
Table of Contents
- How the Hierarchy Works
- Products
- Departments
- Categories
- Ticket Routing Flow
- Settings Reference
- Best Practices
1. How the Hierarchy Works
JoomHelpDesk uses a three-level hierarchy to organize and route tickets:
Product (top level)
|
+-- Department (middle level, linked to one or more products)
|
+-- Category (optional, linked to products and/or departments)
- Products are the broadest grouping. They represent the things you support, such as different software applications, service plans, or business lines.
- Departments sit inside products. They represent the teams or functional areas that handle tickets, such as Sales, Technical Support, or Billing.
- Categories are optional subdivisions within departments. They provide finer classification, such as "Installation Issue" or "Feature Request" within a Technical Support department.
When a customer opens a ticket, they select a product first, then a department within that product, and optionally a category within that department. This step-by-step flow ensures the ticket lands in the right hands.
2. Products
What Products Represent
Products are the top-level container in your helpdesk hierarchy. Use them to represent anything your organization supports that needs its own set of departments. Common examples:
- Software companies: Each application or product line (e.g., "Photo Editor Pro", "Video Suite", "Cloud Storage")
- Service providers: Each service offering (e.g., "Web Hosting", "Domain Registration", "SSL Certificates")
- Multi-brand businesses: Each brand or division (e.g., "Consumer Products", "Enterprise Solutions")
- Single-product companies: Even if you only have one product, creating it keeps the routing structure clean and allows you to add more later
Products can also appear in other areas of JoomHelpDesk beyond support tickets, including the Knowledge Base and Testing sections, each controlled by a separate toggle.
Creating a Product
- In the Joomla administrator panel, go to Components > JoomHelpDesk > Products
- Click the New button in the toolbar
- Fill in the product fields (see reference below)
- Click Save & Close
Product Fields Reference
The product edit form is organized with a title/alias bar at the top, a General tab with the main fields, and a sidebar for status and access.
Title & Alias
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The name of the product as displayed to customers and staff (required). Keep it clear and recognizable. |
| Alias | A URL-friendly version of the title, auto-generated if left blank. Used in SEF URLs. Must be unique across all products. |
General Tab
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Category | A free-text label to group this product within the product list. This is not the same as ticket categories. For example, you might label several products as "Cloud Services" to visually group them. |
| Sub Category | A secondary grouping label within the Category. Displayed as "Category / Sub Category" in the product list. |
| Image | A product image or logo selected from the Joomla Media Manager. Displayed in the product list and on the frontend product selection cards. Recommended for the Card display mode. |
| Description | A rich-text description of the product. Shown to customers on the frontend during the product selection step (truncated to 100-150 characters depending on display mode). |
| Extra Panel Text | Additional rich-text content that can appear in supplementary panels. Use this for extended product information beyond the short description. |
| Show in KB | Yes/No toggle. When set to Yes, this product appears in the Knowledge Base section so you can organize KB articles by product. |
| Show in Support | Yes/No toggle. When set to Yes, this product appears in the support ticket system. Set to No to hide a product from the ticket opening flow without unpublishing it. |
| Show in Test | Yes/No toggle. Controls whether the product appears in the Testing section. |
Sidebar
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Status | Published, Unpublished, Archived, or Trashed. Only published products are visible to customers. |
| Access Level | The Joomla access level required to see this product (e.g., Public, Registered, Special). Use this to restrict certain products to specific user groups. |
Managing the Product List
Navigate to Components > JoomHelpDesk > Products to see all your products in a sortable table.
The list view shows the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Ordering | Drag handle to reorder products. The order here determines the order on the frontend. You must sort by the Ordering column for drag-and-drop to be active. |
| Status | Click the icon to quickly publish or unpublish a product. |
| Title | The product name. Click to open the edit form. |
| Image | A thumbnail preview of the product image (120px wide). |
| Category | Shows the Category / Sub Category grouping labels. |
| Show KB | Click to toggle the Knowledge Base visibility on or off without opening the edit form. |
| Show Support | Click to toggle support ticket visibility on or off. |
| Show Test | Click to toggle testing visibility on or off. |
| Access Level | The Joomla viewing access level assigned to this product. |
| ID | The database record ID. |
You can use the search bar and filters at the top of the list to find products by title, status, or other criteria.
3. Departments
What Departments Represent
Departments represent the teams or functional areas within your organization that handle specific types of support requests. When a customer selects a product, they then choose a department to route their ticket to the right team.
Common department examples:
- Technical Support -- for troubleshooting and technical issues
- Sales -- for pre-sales questions and quotes
- Billing -- for invoices, payments, and account questions
- Feature Requests -- for product suggestions and feedback
- General Inquiry -- a catch-all for anything that does not fit elsewhere
Creating a Department
- In the Joomla administrator panel, go to Components > JoomHelpDesk > Departments
- Click the New button in the toolbar
- Fill in the department fields (see reference below)
- Click Save
Department Fields Reference
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The department name displayed to customers and staff (required). |
| Alias | A URL-friendly version of the title. Auto-generated if left blank. |
| Image | An image or icon for this department, selected from the Joomla Media Manager. Displayed on frontend department selection cards. |
| Products | Controls which products this department appears under. Show for all products: When set to Yes, the department appears under every product. When set to No, a multi-select list appears where you choose specific products. |
| Category | A free-text grouping label for organizing departments in the admin list. Not related to ticket categories. |
| Sub Category | A secondary grouping label within Category. |
| Description | A rich-text description of the department shown to customers during the department selection step on the frontend. |
| Translation | Stores translations for multi-language sites. Use the Translate toolbar button to add translations for the title, category, sub category, and description fields. |
Departments are automatically published and assigned the next ordering position when first created.
Linking Departments to Products
The product-department link is configured on the department edit form:
- Show for all products = Yes (default): The department appears under every published product. This is the simplest setup and works well when your departments are universal (e.g., every product has Sales and Support).
- Show for all products = No: A product selection list appears. Check the specific products this department should be available for. This is useful when certain departments only apply to certain products (e.g., a "Plugin Development" department that only applies to your developer tools product).
In the department list view, the Products column shows either "All" or a "View" link. Click "View" to see which specific products are assigned to that department in a popup window.
Managing the Department List
Navigate to Components > JoomHelpDesk > Departments to see all departments.
The list view shows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| # | The record ID. |
| Title | Department name. Click to edit. |
| Description | The department description (HTML-rendered). |
| Image | Thumbnail preview of the department image. |
| Products | Shows "All" if the department applies to all products, or "View" to see the specific product assignments. |
| Category | The Category / Sub Category grouping labels. |
| Published | Click to toggle publish status. |
| Order | Ordering arrows and input field. Controls the display order on the frontend. |
Use the search box at the top to filter by title, and the Published dropdown to filter by status.
4. Categories
What Categories Represent
Categories are an optional third level of classification. They provide finer-grained ticket routing within a department. Categories are entirely optional -- if you do not create any, the ticket opening flow simply goes from Product to Department to the ticket form.
Common category examples (within a "Technical Support" department):
- Installation Issues
- Configuration Help
- Bug Reports
- Performance Problems
- Integration Questions
Creating a Category
- In the Joomla administrator panel, go to Components > JoomHelpDesk > Categories
- Click the New button in the toolbar
- Fill in the category fields (see reference below)
- Click Save
Category Fields Reference
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The category name displayed to customers and staff (required). |
| Alias | A URL-friendly version of the title. Auto-generated if left blank. |
| List Heading | A section heading or grouping label. When multiple categories share the same List Heading, they can be visually grouped together on the frontend. |
| Products | Controls which products this category appears under. Show for all products = Yes (default): The category is available under every product. Show for all products = No: A product selection list appears for choosing specific products. |
| Departments | Controls which departments this category appears under. Show for all departments = Yes (default): The category is available under every department. Show for all departments = No: A department selection list appears for choosing specific departments. |
| Translation | Stores translations for multi-language sites. Use the Translate toolbar button to add translations for the title and list heading fields. |
Categories are automatically published and assigned the next ordering position when first created.
Linking Categories to Products and Departments
Categories have two independent linking controls:
- Product link: Determines under which products the category is available. Works the same way as the department-product link.
- Department link: Determines under which departments the category is available. This is unique to categories.
By combining these two links, you can create very specific routing. For example, a "Billing Dispute" category could be set to only appear under the "Enterprise Plan" product and only within the "Billing" department.
In the category list view, both the Products and Departments columns show either "All" or a "View" link that opens a popup with the specific assignments.
Managing the Category List
Navigate to Components > JoomHelpDesk > Categories to see all categories.
The list view shows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| # | The record ID. |
| Title | Category name. Click to edit. |
| List Heading | The section/grouping label for this category. |
| Products | Shows "All" or "View" for specific product assignments. |
| Departments | Shows "All" or "View" for specific department assignments. |
| Published | Click to toggle publish status. |
| Order | Ordering arrows and input field. Controls the display order on the frontend. |
5. Ticket Routing Flow
The Selection Process
When a customer opens a new ticket on the frontend, they go through a step-by-step selection process:
- Select a Product -- All published products with "Show in Support" enabled are displayed. The customer clicks one.
- Select a Department -- Departments linked to the chosen product are displayed. The customer clicks one.
- Select a Category (if categories exist for that product/department combination) -- Matching categories are displayed for optional further classification.
- Fill in the ticket form -- The standard ticket form appears with the routing pre-filled.
If you only have one product, one department, or no categories, the system can skip the corresponding step automatically.
Display Modes
The way products and departments are presented to customers is controlled by the Product/Department Display Mode setting. There are four modes:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Card | Each product or department is shown as a visual card with an image, title, description (truncated to ~100 characters), and a "Select" button. Cards are arranged in a responsive grid. This is the best mode for visual appeal, especially when products have images or logos. |
| List | Each product or department is shown as a row in a list with a radio-button style indicator, optional image, title, description (truncated to ~150 characters), and a right-arrow icon. Compact and scannable, good for many items. |
| Tree | Products and departments are shown in a collapsible tree structure. Useful when products have category/sub-category groupings that you want customers to drill into. |
| Dropdown | Products and departments are shown as dropdown select menus. The most compact option, best when you have many products and want to minimize screen space. |
All four modes support breadcrumb navigation that appears when products are organized by category/sub-category, allowing customers to navigate back through the hierarchy.
Steps Style Indicator
The Open Ticket Steps Style setting adds a visual progress indicator at the top of the ticket opening flow, showing customers where they are in the process:
| Style | Description |
|---|---|
| Disabled | No progress indicator is shown. |
| Numbered | Steps are shown as numbered circles (1, 2, 3...). |
| Breadcrumb | Steps are shown as a breadcrumb trail (Product > Department > Details). |
| Progress | Steps are shown as a progress bar that fills as the customer advances. |
6. Settings Reference
All settings related to products, departments, and the ticket opening flow are found in Components > JoomHelpDesk > Settings > Support > Opening Tickets, under the "Product and Department" section.
| Setting | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Department Mode | Checkbox | When enabled, departments gain additional advanced configuration options. Enable this if you need more granular department-level control. |
| Products Per Page | Number | The number of products to show per page on the frontend selection screen. Use pagination when you have many products. Set to a high number to show all products at once. |
| Manual Category Ordering | Checkbox | When enabled, products use the manual ordering value you set in the product edit form rather than alphabetical ordering by category. Enable this when you want full control over the order products appear on the frontend. |
| Advanced Search | Checkbox | When enabled, adds a search/filter bar to the product and department selection screens, letting customers search by name. Useful when you have many products. |
| Accordion Mode | Checkbox | When enabled, the product/department selection uses an accordion layout where selecting a product expands to show its departments inline. |
| Product/Department Display Mode | Card, List, Tree, Dropdown | Controls how products and departments are visually presented to customers on the frontend. See Display Modes above. |
| Category Prefix | Text | A text prefix displayed before category names on the frontend. For example, setting this to "Type:" would display categories as "Type: Bug Report". Leave empty for no prefix. |
| Open Ticket Steps Style | Disabled, Numbered, Breadcrumb, Progress | Adds a visual progress indicator during the ticket opening flow. See Steps Style Indicator above. |
| Alternative Category Display | Checkbox | When enabled, categories are displayed in an alternative layout on the ticket form. Use this if the default category display does not fit your design. Found under the general Opening Tickets settings. |
| Restrict to Group Products | Checkbox | When enabled, customers only see products that are assigned to their Joomla user group. This is controlled through the product's Access Level field. Found under the general Opening Tickets settings. |
7. Best Practices
Start Simple, Add Complexity Later
Begin with just a few products and departments. You can always add more as your support needs grow. A clean, simple structure is easier for customers to navigate and for your team to manage.
Name Products and Departments Clearly
Use names that your customers will immediately understand. Avoid internal jargon. "Technical Support" is better than "L2 Ops". "Billing Questions" is better than "AR Dept".
Use Images for Card Display Mode
If you choose the Card display mode, add images to your products and departments. Visual cards with logos or icons help customers quickly identify the right selection. Without images, a placeholder icon is shown instead.
Keep Descriptions Short and Helpful
Product and department descriptions are truncated on the frontend (100 characters for cards, 150 for lists). Write the most important information first. Focus on helping customers decide whether this is the right choice for their ticket.
Use "Show for All Products" Wisely
For departments and categories that truly apply everywhere (like "General Inquiry" or "Billing"), keep "Show for all products" set to Yes. For specialized departments, link them only to the relevant products. This keeps the customer's selection screen clean and focused.
Plan Your Category Structure Before Building
Categories are optional, but if you use them, plan the full structure before creating them. Think about what information your support agents need to triage tickets effectively. Too many categories slow customers down; too few categories reduce routing value.
Use Access Levels for Product Segmentation
If certain products should only be visible to specific customer groups (e.g., enterprise clients, beta testers, or internal staff), set the product's Access Level accordingly. Combined with the "Restrict to Group Products" setting, this ensures customers only see the products relevant to them.
Order Products by Popularity
Use the ordering controls to put your most popular products and departments at the top of the list. Customers should find their most likely choice without scrolling.
Consider the Dropdown Mode for Many Products
If you have more than 10-15 products, consider the Dropdown display mode instead of Card or List. Dropdown menus scale better with large numbers of items and do not require scrolling through long visual lists.
Test the Customer Experience
After setting up your products, departments, and categories, open a test ticket as a regular user to experience the selection flow. Make sure the steps are intuitive, the descriptions are helpful, and the routing makes sense. Adjust ordering, descriptions, and display mode based on what you observe.