Hesk
PHP Helpdesk software

PHP helpdesk software (Hesk)
Version: 0.93.1 from 17th September 2005
Originally written on 23rd April 2005 by Klemen Stirn (info AT phpjunkyard DOT com)
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Helpdesk software Hesk
Support and developers forum

INDEX

Copyright notice and license
Description & requirements
Upgrade from version 0.93
Installation
Customizing the look
Customizing e-mails
Translating Hesk to your language
Troubleshooting and getting help
Copyright removal, newsletter, rating this script and other

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Copyright 2005 Klemen Stirn. All Rights Reserved.

The Hesk may be used and modified free of charge by anyone AS LONG AS COPYRIGHT NOTICES AND ALL THE COMMENTS REMAIN INTACT. By using this code you agree to indemnify Klemen Stirn from any liability that might arise from it's use.

Selling the code for this program, in part or full, without prior written consent is expressly forbidden.

Obtain permission before redistributing this software over the Internet or in any other medium. In all cases copyright and header must remain intact. This Copyright is in full effect in any country that has International Trade Agreements with the United States of America or with the European Union.

Removing copyright notice ("Help desk software Hesk" statement)
Removing or editing any of the copyright notices without purchasing a license is illegal, this includes the "Powered by" statements! To remove PHPJunkyard copyright notice you must purchase a license for this script. For more information on how to obtain a license please visit the site below:
http://www.phpjunkyard.com/copyright-removal.php

DESCRIPTION

A PHP/MySQL ticket based support system.

Requirements

• UNIX or Windows server (it *might* work on others too)
• PHP 4.3.x support
• 1 MySQL database
• FTP access and a FTP program

>> Upgrade from version 0.93

The 0.93.1 is an upgrade from 0.93 which fixes a security issue discovered by OS2A team (thanks guys!).

To upgrade your current 0.93 installation to 0.93.1 just upload these files to the server and overwrite the existing ones:

- admin.php
- hesk_settings.inc.php (don't forget to edit it!)
- inc/common.inc.php

No other files should be uploaded and you will keep all your existing tickets and customization.

>> Installation

Before you can install Hesk you will need to obtain your MySQL database information, such as database name, database user and password. You have to get this information from your HOSTING COMPANY, PHPJunkyard CANNOT help you get this information!

Open file hesk_settings.inc.php in your favorite PLAIN TEXT editor (like Notepad or Wordpad on Windows systems, DO NOT use MS Word or similar editor) and set these variables:

• $settings['website_title'] - A short title of your website, eg "My lovely website"
  
  
• $settings['website_url'] - URL of your website.
  
  
• $hesk_settings['hesk_url'] - URL of the folder where you will install Hesk. Do NOT add a trailing / to the URL!
  
  WRONG: http://www.yourdomain.com/support/
  CORRECT: http://www.yourdomain.com/support
  
  
• $hesk_settings['hesk_title'] - Title of your support desk, for example "My support desk".
  
  
• $hesk_settings['max_listings'] - The default number of tickets listed per page in admin panel.
  
  
• $hesk_settings['language'] - Language of your Hesk. The name should be lowercase (not UPPERCASE) and make sure you have the proper language file lcoated in your "language" folder! For more information on translating Hesk to your language see information further down.
  
  EXAMPLE: if you have file german.inc.php in your "language" folder you can activate German language by setting this variable to:
  $hesk_settings['language']="german"
  
  
• $hesk_settings['print_font_size'] - Font size on the "Printer friendly version" pages.
  
  
• NEW: $hesk_settings['debug_mode'] - Turns on/off the debug mode (error reporting). Set to 1 if you have problems installing Hesk and it will display any error messages. For normal usage it should be turned off (set to 0).
  
  
• $hesk_settings['support_mail'] - Default support staff e-mail.
  
  
• $hesk_settings['webmaster_mail'] - Default webmaster e-mail. Can be the same as $hesk_settings['support_mail']
  
  
• $hesk_settings['webmaster_mail'] - Your "noreply" e-mail. This is the e-mail that will be shown as From: tag in all e-mails sent from Hesk. Usually it is an e-mail you don't read and don't reply to. Can be the same as $hesk_settings['support_mail'] , but it is recommended to use a different one.
  
  
• $hesk_settings['server_path'] - Full server path to your Hesk folder. You can find this info in the install.php file, see instructions further down
  
  
• $hesk_settings['database_host'] - Database host server. "localhost" usually works. Do NOT change this unless you know what your MySQL host is. Ask your hosting company if not sure.
  
  
• $hesk_settings['database_name'] - The name of your MySQL database. You should create one or ask your hosting company for this info.
  
  
• $hesk_settings['database_user'] - MySQL database username. You should create one or ask your hosting company for this info.
  
  
• $hesk_settings['database_pass'] - MySQL database user password. You should create one or ask your hosting company for this info.
  
  

You can test your MySQL settings in the install.php file, see instructions further down.

Save and close the hesk_settings.inc.php file.

FTP files to server
If you don't know how to FTP files to your server read my simple FTP tutorial

Go to your FTP client and FTP to the public directory on your server (where the rest of your website is; usually "public_html", "www" or "site") and create a folder where you will install Hesk.
Example: /public_html/hesk
Corresponding URL: http://www.yourdomain.com/hesk

Upload all Hesk files to this folder in ASCII mode (not binary!), including folders "emails" and "inc" and files within them.

Once all files are uploaded open file install.php in your browser, for example
http://www.yourdomain.com/hesk/install.php

When opened, you should see the correct setting for your $hesk_settings['server_path'] variable (if you don't know that already).

Testing database connection

Enter your database details in the field provided and click "Test database connection" button. If all your database details are correct you should get a We've got connection message. If you receive an error message check your database settings. Once you get the We've got connection message make sure the correct details are also set in hesk_settings.inc.php file!

DO NOT CONTINUE INSTALLATION UNTIL YOU GET THE DATABASE CONNECTION WORKING! Hesk will not work until the database connection test succeeds. For correct database information please contact your hosting company, PHPJunkyard cannot help you find this information!

We've got connection
When you establish a successful database connection make sure your hesk_settings.inc.php file has the same settings (update it if not) and then click the Continue link and submit the Install MySQL tables button in the install.php.

If tables are installed successfully DELETE THE INSTALL.PHP AND UPGRADE.PHP FILES FROM YOUR SERVER! If not check if you set correct database settings in hesk_settings.inc.php file.

Your first login

Now open the Admin panel admin.php in your browser: http://www.yourdomain/hesk/admin.php

You will be able to login using the default login "Administrator" and password admin (CaSe sEnSiTiVe!). Click link "Your profile" and set your name, e-mail, NEW PASSWORD and signature (optional).

You can add new users on the "Manage users" page. The default user (Administrator) cannot be deleted.

You can add new categories on the "Manage categories" page. The default category cannot be deleted, but it can be renamed.

Your customers will be able to post tickets on the index page:
http://www.yourdomain/hesk/index.php
or just
http://www.yourdomain/hesk

Good luck with the script!

>> Customizing the look

You may add your header HTML code to header.txt and footer HTML code to footer.txt file. This code will then be used throughout the Hesk. You will have to use full image URLs in the code. For example instead of <IMG SRC="images/image.jpg" ... > use <IMG SRC="http://www.yourdomain.com/images/image.jpg" ... >! Same goes for any Javascripts or CSS files if you are calling them from within the header or footer.

You may also edit the style.css file to customize colors and fonts of your helpdesk. The code inside is CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), you can learn CSS here.

>> Customizing e-mail messages

You can easily customize e-mail messages sent by Hesk. E-mail message templates can be found in the "emails" folder:

new_ticket.txt - e-mail sent to the person who submits a new ticket.
new_ticket_staff.txt - e-mail sent to staff (you) when someone submits a new ticket.
new_reply_by_staff.txt - e-mail sent to the customer who submitted the ticket after you (your staff) respond to the ticket.
new_reply_by_customer.txt - e-mail sent to staff (you) when the customer replies to the ticket.

Simply edit the e-mail template files and upload them over original ones. You can use these special tags in the templates and they will be replaced with actual values by Hesk:

You can turn off e-mail notifications in the "Your profile" page. The customer will still receive e-mails if you turn off your e-mails.

>> Translating Hesk to your language

As of version 0.93 Hesk comes with a language file which makes translating Hesk to other languages easily. Check if Hesk was already translated to your language.

To translate Hesk to your language follow these steps:

1. Locate file english.inc.php inside your language folder and open it in a plain text editor like Notepad or Wordpad.
2. Save the file as yourlanguage.inc.php (deutch.inc.php, francais.inc.php, ...). The entire name should be lowercase.
   OK: francais.inc.php
   WRONG: Francais.inc.php, FRANCAIS.inc.php
3. Edit the language file header (first lines that start with *) with your information. Please follow the provided format.
4. Translate all lines containing language. You may translate only the right side of each line, for example:
   
   $hesklang['DO_NOT_CHANGE_THIS']='TRANSLATE WORDS HERE';
   
   When translating make sure to:
   • keep the line format: single quotes (') around each phrase and lines must end with a semi-colon (;)
   • if you use single quotes in the words escape them with a backslash (\). WRONG: can't CORRECT: can\'t
   • do not change these codes as they are used by Hesk: %s %d
   
   
   
5. Save the file and upload it to your language folder.
6. Open the file in your browser to check syntax, for example:
   http://www.domain.com/hesk/language/francais.inc.php
   If everything is OK you should get a message like "No syntax errors detected in /francais.inc.php". If you get any errors then the syntax is wrong. The error should give you line number with error, check syntax around that line (make sure it ends with ; , single quotes must be escaped with \' etc.).
7. Edit the $hesk_settings['language'] variable in hesk_settings.inc.php
8. Test Hesk with your language and make sure it works ok.
9. You should also translate e-mail files in the "emails" folder and this readme.htm file (please name it readme-yourlanguage.htm, for example readme-fr.htm, readme-de.htm, ...).

If you translate Hesk to your language please send the translation to info (at) phpjunkyard (dot) com and I will put it up for others to download. The e-mail should contain your info (name, website), translated language file, translated e-mail files and (optionally) translated readme.htm file. You will receive all the credits for translating Hesk plus a free Hesk license!

>> Troubleshooting

How do I FTP files?

I have prepared a simple FTP and CHMOD tutorial which will help you FTP files to your server and set correct CHMOD settings.

My help desk doesn't work, HELP!

Here are a few things to check:

1. did you upload all files in ASCII mode?
2. are all the settings in hesk_settings.inc.php set correctly according to instructions above?
3. are your database details correct? Check with your hosting company

Since these scripts are free no support is guaranteed. If you can't get the script to work please go through this readme file again carefully and repeat the installation step-by-step (also delete old files and folders from the server). Also please feel free to post any questions or problems you might have in PHPJunkyard forum!

>> Copyright removal

You may NOT edit or remove any copyright or Powered by statements in Hesk code without purchasing a license! For more information please visit
http://www.phpjunkyard.com/copyright-removal.php

>> Stay updated!

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>> What else?

That's it! If you use PHPJunkYard free scripts or any portion of their code please place a link to PHPJunkYard.com on your website. I won't sue you if you don't, but I believe it is a fair trade for a free script/code. Think about it. You can find link suggestions here.

Best regards,

Klemen Stirn
PHP JunkYard
http://www.PHPJunkYard.com