Chapter 3. First Steps

Table of Contents

Agent Web Interface
Customer Web Interface
Public Web Interface
First Login
The Web Interface - an Overview
The Dashboard
What is a Queue?
What is the Queue Overview?
User Preferences

Abstract

The goal of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of OTRS and the structure of its web interface. The terms 'agents', 'customers', and 'administrators' are introduced. We also login as the OTRS administrator and take a closer look at the user preferences available on every account.

Agent Web Interface

Note

Before logging on for the first time, please consider activating the HTTPS on your web server in order for OTRS to be served as a secure app over SSL/TLS protocol. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please consult the documentation of your web server (e.g. Apache2).

After you activate HTTPS, please set the configuration option HttpType to https in SysConfig. This will make sure that all internal links in OTRS are indeed using HTTPS.

Good practice is to also redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS, in case someone tries to access the OTRS via an insecure link. This should be done on web server configuration level for maximum effect. However, in case this is not possible, you can set HTTPSForceRedirect to Yes in SysConfig to do it on application level.

The agent web interface allows agents to answer customer requests, create new tickets for customers or other agents, write tickets about telephone calls with customers, write FAQ entries, edit customer data, etc.

Supposing your OTRS host is reachable via the URL http://www.example.com , then the OTRS login screen can be reached by using the address http://www.example.com/otrs/index.pl in a web browser (see figure below).

Figure 3.1. Login screen of the agent interface

Login screen of the agent interface