The Activity Feed module is intended to line up the communication process within the company between users, for example, between employees who set tasks and those who handle them.

This functionality allows keeping an eye either on Additional Comments or Work Notes left within some record or tracking the record field changes (all record fields or a field set specified by the user).

Activity Feed can be used on table records in both main interfaces (agent interface and Self-Service Portal), which allows using it by users without specific roles.

Creating activity feed

To use feed on forms, you need to configure the Activity Feed widget first. For this, please complete the steps below:

  1. Navigate to Portal Structure → Widgets.
  2. Click New to create a new widget.
  3. Fill in the fields as described below.
  4. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.


FieldMandatoryDescription
NameYWidget name. For example: "Activity feed widget".
DescriptionYWidget brief description. For example: "Enabling activity feed on tasks".
Active

Select this checkbox to activate a widget.

Until the widget is not activated, it cannot be used within objects.


TemplateN

Fill in the widget template. The default template value will contain <activityFeed> SimpleTag:

<activityFeed></activityFeed>

Check the widget creation guide for more information about this field.

CSSNSpecify CSS classes for the widget structure and style.
Client ScriptN

Fill in widget client logic if necessary. Check the widget creation guide for more information.

Generally, no additional logic is required in the described case.


Server ScriptN

Fill in widget server logic if necessary. Check the widget creation guide for more information.

Generally, no additional logic is required in the described case.


Demo DataNSpecify additional widget options if necessary. Check the widget creation guide for more information.
TablesNSpecify tables (one or more) to enable activity feed functionality on their forms.
InheritanceNSelect this checkbox if you want to make a widget available for adding to child table forms.


After saving the record, it will be available to add on the record form by the Form Layout functionality as described below.

Adding widget to forms

Add an activity feed widget created on the previous step on the record form using the Form Layout functionality. For this, please complete the steps below:

  1. Open the hamburger menu on the top left of the form.
  2. Navigate to the Configure → Form → Layout item and click on it.
  3. Find the Activity Feed widget in the Available area and move it to the Selected area.
  4. Click Save to apply changes. 

After this, your changes are displayed on the record form.

Perform these steps for every form on which you need to enable Activity feed functionality since it is not inherited, and every activity feed is related to the specified table.

By default, two activity feed field are available:

  • Additional Comment
  • Work Note

See the Creating custom activity feed field section of this article to customize your activity feed.

Activity feed view

After a widget is created and added to a form layout as described above, create a new record or open an existing one to find the activity feed view as shown below (this screenshot is given as an example; the out-of-the-box version in your application may differ from it).

Additional Comments and Work Notes fields are both of the Journal Input type and intended for cross-user communication.

  1. The Additional Comments field is for communication with the caller. It may be, for example, progress updates or clarifying questions. These comments are visible for the requestor on the portal view of the record.
  2. The Work Notes field is for internal communications of the task fulfillers (agents). These comments may be technical and can contain information that should not be shared with the caller.

Comments or work notes can be sent using the CTRL + ENTER keyboard shortcut.

Besides that, the Activity Feed displays history of field changes. It displays information about those fields the value of which have been changed.

  • Previous values are in grey color. The new values are black.
  • Field changes are displayed according to history display settings.

By clicking on the tabs under the input field, you can filter out the displayed information.

SectionDescription
AllThis section displays all field changes and all comments left to this record.
Work NotesThis section allows filtering out only work notes left to this record.
Additional CommentsThis section allows filtering out only additional comments left to this record.
HistoryThis section allows filtering out only record field changes.



Filtration

The displayed information can be filtered for specified users or user roles by using ACL functionality. Thereby, the activity feed view can differ for users granted different roles. For this, Create an ACL Rule for information filtering.

For securing fields that allow commenting records (such as Additional Comments or Work Notes), create an ACL rule for a corresponding column of the Journal Input type.

Otherwise, you may create an ACL rule that will restrict access to the Activity Types (sys_activity_type) table for specified roles.

In the Activity Column Filters (sys_activity_column_filter) table, activity type settings are saved for each user individually. 

To display changes of the specified fields in the History section instead of all fields changes, use the Available history fields handler functionality: 

  1. Click on the three dots on the right to open the kebab menu.
  2. Click Available history fields item.
  3. Unselect fields changes of which should not be displayed in the activity feed.
  4. Click Apply.

If history contains fields that have been changed but are not selected in the Available history fields handler, they will be replaced by the No fields selected text:

Even if the field value changes are not displayed here, they are logged and can be reached in the History dictionary.

Creating a custom feed type

By default, two commonly used fields of the Journal Input type are delivered for Task objects; these are Additional Comment and Work Notes fields.

To add custom journal input fields, please complete the steps below:

  1. Navigate to System Definition → All Columns.
  2. Click New and fill in the fields.
  3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.

Another way to add a column is through the related lists in the Table (sys_db_table) record. Open the table you want to add a new activity type, scroll down to the Related Lists area, open the Columns tab and click New.



FieldMandatoryDescription
TableYSpecify a table on which the activity feed widget is enabled (for example, the Task table).
Column TypeYIn this field, select the Journal Input value.
TitleY

Specify a column title for this additional field. It will be displayed on the record form and can be multilingual.

NameYThis field contains a system column name and is populated automatically once you have filled a column title.

See the Column Attributes article to learn about more precise configuration.


As a result, a new activity type will be created automatically by the system in the Activity Type (sys_activity_type) table.

Configuring feed set

You can easily configure the set of activity feed fields you need using the Form layout functionality.

To add or remove an activity feed field, perform the following steps:

  1. Open the record form which you need to configure.
  2. In the hamburger menu , navigate to Configure → Form → Layout.
  3. In the Section field, select the section containing the Activity Feed.
  4. Move the field of Journal Input type:
    • from the Available section to Selected to add the field to the Activity Feed
    • from the Selected section to Available to remove the field from the Activity Feed.
  5. Click Save.

When creating a new record, you will see the Journal Input fields as regular fields. In saved records, these fields are included into the Activity Feed.

Customization

To configure the new activity feed field, please complete the steps below:

  1. Navigate to Activity Feed → Activity Types.
  2. Open the activity you need and fill in the fields.
  3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.


FieldTypeDescription
TitleN

Custom activity feed field title displayed on the record form.

This field is of the Translated Text type, so you can define a title in all languages you need. To add a title for a language other than the default one, please complete the steps below:

  1. Open an activity type record to edit a title.
  2. Change interface language through the General Preferences menu on the right.
  3. Type the localized title value into the Title field.
  4. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.


NameNThis field contains an activity system name and is populated automatically out of the table name and the journal input column name. 
User CreatedNThis checkbox is intended to distinguish custom activity types from the OOB ones to be able to filter them out if needed.
Specific tab
Title (plural)NSpecify a title plural form if needed.
ParentNA parent activity type. If this activity type is of the highest level, then this field value will be empty.
TableNA table or tables for which this field is enabled (for example, Task).
Journal Input columnNA reference to the previously created column of the Journal Input type.
Style tab
Title colorN

Specify a title color that is displayed in the comment form.

Title background colorN

Specify a title background color that is displayed in the comment form.

For example, settings like shown on the screenshot below

will cause a result as follows


IconN

Here, you can add icon to customize the activity type. The system will display it instead of the default speech bubble icon .




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