Require tag or custom field

Front's Require tag or custom field rule ensures that every conversation in any shared inbox carries the information you need for your internal categorization and analytics. Teammates must apply the required tags and fill in the required conversation custom fields before archiving or moving a conversation.

Use this feature to up-level your tracking of specific topics, automate routing of messages, and get insights into your customer's needs.

There are many ways this rule can help with your workflows. Below are a few suggestions:

• Customer support: Ensure every message is tagged accordingly to identify the topic of inbound messages; such as bugs, password issues, pricing, feature requests, etc. You can then use analytics to understand the volume of the different topics you receive.

• Product: Require specific Product issue tags to uncover what parts of the product needs more attention. Use analytics to gain insight into what area of your product needs most attention.

• Multiple required tags: When conversations require multiple types of tags, make sure every one is applied — for instance, tag the specific product line as well as the type of lead it is.

• Automation: Trigger another rule from the tag being added; such as when you add the Billing tag, a sequential rule will move the conversation to the Finance inbox automatically. The rule can even automatically add a comment letting the Finance team know the conversation has been moved from another inbox.

• Data collection: Require conversation custom fields, such as a root cause or a severity, so the information lands in a field you can report on rather than in a tag.

• Front's rule library contains a Require tag or custom field rule template, where you choose the inboxes the rule applies to, curate the list of tags teammates should use, and name the groups of conversation custom fields they must fill in. A single rule can require tag lists, custom field groups, or both.

• Once the rule is set up, your teammates will be required to tag the conversations or fill in custom fields before conversations can be moved or archived, ensuring that your conversations are properly categorized. See this FAQ for the actions that trigger the rule.

• The biggest benefit of tagging your conversations or filling in custom fields is that you can run analytics and gain actionable insight to improve your operations and product.

Step 1

Click the gear icon, then select the workspace you would like to create the rule in.

Step 2

Click Rules and macros in the sidebar, then click Create rule. Select the Require tag or field template from the rule library.

Step 3

Give your rule a name, select the inboxes this rule applies to, and add any additional rule conditions.

Step 4

Depending on whether you want to require tags, custom fields, or both:

• Required tags: Choose whether teammates should select one or multiple tags, pick the tags that teammates can select, then enter a name for the tag list. 

• Required custom fields: Add a field group, select each required conversation custom field, then enter a name for the field group. Every custom field in a group is required.

Step 5

Click Create.

Step 6

Once your rule is active, you'll see a red asterisk in the tag and custom field menus when viewing conversations in your targeted inboxes. This serves as a visual reminder in the conversation.

Tag menu:

Custom field menu:

Step 7

If you archive or move the conversation before the required fields are filled in, you’ll see a pop-up prompting you to fill in the required tags and custom fields. Click Save & Archive or Save & Move once all the fields are filled in.

After you create a required tag or custom field rule, only new activities on conversations will trigger the rule.

These actions add the red asterisk to conversations, indicating that tags or custom fields are required:

• New message

• Comment

• Tag or untag

• Assign

• Move

• Conversation custom field value edited

Once the conversation has the red asterisk, these actions will trigger the pop-up prompting you to tag or fill in custom fields your conversation:

• Move

• Archive/resolve

No, required tag or custom field rules only act on conversations after the rule has been created. They do not retroactively apply to past conversations. Similarly, when you edit a required tag or custom field rule, the new rule will only apply to conversations matching the criteria moving forward. New activity will need to occur on the existing conversations in order to trigger the required tag or custom field rule. 

No, required tag or custom field rules do not impact your other rules that are set up to archive your conversations, regardless of your rule order. In other words, your other rules that normally archive conversations will still archive those conversations automatically and you will not be asked to tag or fill in custom field values for them.

To turn off a required tag or custom field rule, you will need to delete the rule completely. There is no enable/disable toggle for these rules at this time.

If you prefer not to completely delete the rule, a workaround to mimic disabling the rule. Add a condition that will always be false, such as if body contains [random string of text], so that the condition will never be fulfilled and thus the rule will never run.

It depends. A required tag or custom field rule does not work on conversations that are brand new started by you if you use Send & archive. The reason is that the conversation technically does not exist until you send it, so the required tag or custom field rule cannot catch this new outbound message and prevent you from the archiving portion of the Send & archive.

However, if you use the Send button rather than Send & archive and allow the message to finish sending, your subsequent manual archive will trigger the required tag or custom field rule.

Not at this time. The required tag or custom field rule will not apply to conversations moved or archived through Front's mobile app.

This feature is available on the Professional plan or above.