Request questions and troubleshooting
The questions below are the ones that come up most often. Each answer links to the page that explains it in full.
What a request is
Section titled “What a request is”What is the difference between a request and a job?
Section titled “What is the difference between a request and a job?”A request is work that has been asked for but not committed to — an enquiry, a ticket, a lead. A job is confirmed work: scheduled, assigned to a fieldworker, tracked and invoiced.
The usual path is request → quote → job → invoice, and the request keeps the whole chain attached to it. See the life of a request.
Our business does not have “requests” — we have enquiries and tickets
Section titled “Our business does not have “requests” — we have enquiries and tickets”Call them what you like. The form is yours to build, and you can build one for enquiries and another for tickets, each with its own fields; they appear as tabs, and every request records which form it came in on. See request forms.
Can clients raise their own requests?
Section titled “Can clients raise their own requests?”Yes — through the client portal, and through an enquiry or ticket form on your own website that feeds the admin portal directly. Either way it arrives in the same Request list. See where requests come from.
The form
Section titled “The form”The Add Request form does not ask for what I need
Section titled “The Add Request form does not ask for what I need”Add the field to the form. Settings → Modules → Request → Request Form(s) holds the form’s fields, and Add Field or Label puts a new one on it — either a system field or one you create yourself. See request forms.
Where do my custom fields show up on the request?
Section titled “Where do my custom fields show up on the request?”Under Custom Fields on the request page. Show More opens the rest of them.
Which form gets used if I have several?
Section titled “Which form gets used if I have several?”You choose as you raise the request: every enabled form is a tab across the top of the Add Request popup, each with its own fields. The one marked Set as Default is the form used unless you pick another tab.
A form you are not using can be disabled, and it stops appearing as a tab. See enabling and disabling forms.
Our fieldworkers do not see rates on a job — how do they know what the work is?
Section titled “Our fieldworkers do not see rates on a job — how do they know what the work is?”Leave Auto Copy Above Data to Description ticked on the request. It copies each service and its description into the request’s Description, and that description travels to the job when the request is converted — so where line detail and rates are hidden from fieldworkers, the description still tells the person on site what they are there to do.
See why the auto copy matters on the job.
Why is the description on my job repeating the services?
Section titled “Why is the description on my job repeating the services?”Auto Copy Above Data to Description is ticked on the request, which copies the services and their descriptions into the description that carries through to the job. Untick it on the request and write the description yourself.
Statuses
Section titled “Statuses”The status I want is not in the list
Section titled “The status I want is not in the list”Statuses are yours to create: Settings → Modules → Request → Request Status, then Add Request Status — a name and a colour. Only New, On hold and Closed are fixed, and even those can be renamed. See request statuses.
The bin is greyed out on a status and I cannot delete it
Section titled “The bin is greyed out on a status and I cannot delete it”It is one of the three defaults — New, On hold or Closed — which EyeOnTask relies on. The pencil still works, so you can rename it or change its colour instead. See the three defaults.
Where do I change a request’s status?
Section titled “Where do I change a request’s status?”Edit Request, then the Status dropdown in the footer, then Update. That is the only place it is set. See setting the status.
Does the client get told when I change the status?
Section titled “Does the client get told when I change the status?”No. A status records what you know. To tell the client something, send them a message on the request.
Editing and deleting
Section titled “Editing and deleting”The request will not delete — I get an error
Section titled “The request will not delete — I get an error”Something has been raised from it. A request with a job, appointment, quote or audit attached cannot be deleted, because deleting it would leave that work with nothing behind it. Remove what was raised from it first, then delete the request.
For an enquiry that came to nothing, set the status to Closed instead — that keeps the client, what they asked for and where they came from on record. See deleting a request.
“Client details cannot be changed as it is being used in other module”
Section titled ““Client details cannot be changed as it is being used in other module””The request already has a quote, appointment or job on it, so the client is locked. Everything else on the request is still editable. To put the work against a different client, raise a new request for that client. See client details are locked.
I filled in the preferred time but nothing was scheduled
Section titled “I filled in the preferred time but nothing was scheduled”That is what the field is for. Client’s Preferred time is the window the client asked for, not a booking and not an assignment. Scheduling happens when you create an appointment or a job from the request.
Money on a request
Section titled “Money on a request”The service is on the request but the total is $0.00
Section titled “The service is on the request but the total is $0.00”The service is on the request, but not in the cart. The request records what was asked for; the cart records what is being charged for. Open Edit Request and use Add to cart beside the service, or + Add to cart on the request page. See the cart.
The advance payment will not save
Section titled “The advance payment will not save”Advance Amount and Payment Mode are both required. An amount with no payment mode will not go through. See taking an advance payment.
Where does an advance payment show after I record it?
Section titled “Where does an advance payment show after I record it?”In the green banner at the top of the Advance Pay window, and against Paid in the totals under the cart.
Messages
Section titled “Messages”How do I get a message to the fieldworker rather than the client?
Section titled “How do I get a message to the fieldworker rather than the client?”Set Message Visibility to Message to Fieldworker in the Messages window. It is visible to admins and the fieldworker, and not to the client. Private Message (Comment) keeps it to admins only. See who can see it.
Message to Fieldworker is greyed out and I cannot pick it
Section titled “Message to Fieldworker is greyed out and I cannot pick it”No fieldworker is assigned yet, so there is nobody for the message to reach. Assign the work first, or send the message against the job or appointment they are on by changing Correspondence Reference.
The client has several people — which one gets my message?
Section titled “The client has several people — which one gets my message?”The one you pick. Under Send via client portal there is a dropdown of that client’s contact persons, so a message about access goes to the site manager and one about money goes to whoever pays. See delivery options.
Does a message to the client email them, or do they have to log in?
Section titled “Does a message to the client email them, or do they have to log in?”Either, and both. With Message to Client selected, Delivery Options offers Send via client portal and Send via Email — tick both for something they need to see whether or not they log in. See delivery options.
There are messages in the window that were not sent on this request
Section titled “There are messages in the window that were not sent on this request”Each message carries a Correspondence Reference — the record it is against — and the thread shows the correspondence for the request and everything raised from it, each entry labelled with the record it was on, such as On Job Dem-939. See the conversation so far.
The timeline
Section titled “The timeline”There is a purchase order and an invoice on the timeline that I never created from the request
Section titled “There is a purchase order and an invoice on the timeline that I never created from the request”The timeline shows the whole chain that grew out of the request, not only what you raised from the + directly. Anything created further down the line — a purchase order raised for the job, the proforma invoices, the final invoice — joins the same strip, in order. See the timeline.
The timeline does not start at the request
Section titled “The timeline does not start at the request”It does — the request is its first card. A long chain is scrolled forward, so use the chevron at the left end to go back to the earlier cards.
I am on a job and I can see the same timeline. Is it the same one?
Section titled “I am on a job and I can see the same timeline. Is it the same one?”Yes. The timeline follows the work: the chain that started with the request appears on the quote, the job and the contract that came out of it, so it can be read from whichever record you are on.
The request has three quotes on it — which one does the job use?
Section titled “The request has three quotes on it — which one does the job use?”The one you pick. Creating a job asks whether to build it from the request or from a quote, and where there is more than one quote it asks which. Only the quote you choose has its status changed afterwards, so the other offers stay as they were. See create a job.
I created a job from a request and the quote is still sitting in my quotes list
Section titled “I created a job from a request and the quote is still sitting in my quotes list”Creating a job from a quote asks whether to change the quote’s status, and it is easy to skip. Open the quote and set it to Approved, or answer Yes to that prompt next time. See when you build the job from a quote.
Can I still act on a request I have marked Closed?
Section titled “Can I still act on a request I have marked Closed?”Yes. The status is your own label for where the request has got to; it does not lock the request. The + on the timeline works regardless.