Show a configurable Service Desk Email Alias on the Service Desk Title Page
Release notes
Problem to solve
As a support agent, I want to tell users the correct email address to send tickets in order to receive them at the respective project's Service Desk inbox.
As an administrator, I want to follow Gitlab's recommendation (see below) to not directly use the servicedesk addresses generated by Gitlab (e.g. gitlab-incoming+<key>@gitlab.domain.tld
), but forward an alias address (e.g. support-projectname@company.tld
) configured on the regular email system.
Currently, the Service Desk Start page in a project prominently displays the address where Gitlab expects to receive mail directed to this Service Desk:
The recommendation I am referring to is at https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/project/service_desk.html (and has been recently improved by !53669 (merged) ):
"This email address can be used by anyone to create an issue on this project, regardless of their access level to your GitLab instance. We recommend putting this behind an alias so it can be changed if needed."
Intended users
- Sidney (Systems Administrator)
- Support Team
User experience goal
-
do not confuse administrators whether the address generated by Gitlab should be hidden/protected while prominently displaying it at the service desk start page
-
give Suport staff a natural way to look up the servicedesk inbox email address designated by the administrator.
Proposal
While writing this proposal, I noticed the message in question seems to be restricted to the administrator (or other provileged) role. I was of the impression that the to-be-protected-address was displayed there for all users.
Step 1: improve documentation
-
the documentation should mention that the service desk start page will reveal the real email address only to administrators (or whatever priviledge the code acutally checks).
-
the actual message should include a hint that it is only displayed for administrators.
Step 2: enhance functionality
- allow the administrator to specify the external email alias (e.g.
support-projectname@company.tld
) to the project's settings. - if set, a message similar to the current one could be displayed for any user on the servicedesk start page.
- for privileged users, display both the internal and the external address.