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Use the Update action to post information to the request timeline. This feature helps you collaborate with team members and customers.

Administrators can enable or disable this action in the service configuration.
Add a comment
You can include text, images, and embedded multimedia or hyperlinks in your updates.
Links and embedded content
To share content or links, paste them directly into the Update box. Examples of supported content include:
- YouTube videos that users can view directly from the timeline.
- Hyperlinks to other Hornbill requests, workspace posts, or documents.
Wiki markup
Use wiki markup to format your text. You can apply formatting like italics and bold, or create bulleted and numbered lists.
- Use the CTRL+B keyboard shortcut for bold text.
- Use the CTRL+I keyboard shortcut for italic text.
Select the Preview wiki markup button
to see how your content will appear before you post it to the timeline.
Mentions
To notify a coworker about an update, use an @mention. Type the @ symbol followed by the first few letters of the coworker’s name. Select the correct person from the list that appears. The coworker will receive a notification that includes a link to the request.
HAi Text Assist
HAi Text Assist is an AI tool that helps you write request updates. Clear and concise updates improve communication with your team and customers. These updates also provide data for request summarization and knowledge article generation.
- Ask HAi: Enter an open-ended prompt to find solutions for common issues. For example, type “How to set up an email signature in Outlook in Office 365.”
- Change Tone: Adjust the tone of your text to suit your audience. Options include Apologetic, Professional, Friendly, and Technical.
- Improve Text: Correct spelling and grammar mistakes to improve readability.
- Shorten Text: Remove unnecessary words from your update.
- Listify: Convert blocks of text into a list format.
Customer email notifications
Email notifications can be automatically sent to customers when you add an update with the visibility level set to Customer. These emails include links to the original request so the customer can read and respond. Any subsequent comments on a customer-visible update also trigger a notification.
To ensure customers receive these emails, verify the following configurations:
- Default Email Template: Use the provided CustomerTimelineUpdateNotification template or a custom version.
- Email Template Setting: If you use a custom template, update the guest.app.requests.notification.emailTemplate.customerTimelineUpdate system setting with the new template name.
- Email Notification Setting: Change the guest.app.requests.notification.emailMailbox setting to the name of the mailbox you want to use for Service Manager notifications. This defaults to “helpdesk” upon installation.
- Notify Customer: Enable the Notify Customer option in the Request Action configuration.
Update linked requests
If a request has linked requests, you can send updates to the timelines of those linked requests simultaneously. After linking a request, the Update button includes an arrow.
Settings
This feature is disabled by default. You can enable it in the Service Manager Application Settings by changing the following system setting:
- app.request.update.enableLinkedRequestAction: Set this to enabled to allow updates to linked requests from the Update tab.
Usage
When linked requests exist, the Update button includes an arrow. Select Update this and linked requests… to open a dialog box.

Select Update this and linked requests… to open a dialog box. From the dialog box you can select which linked requests to include in the update.

- Select All: Select or deselect all requests in the list.
- Check boxes: Select specific requests to include in the update.
- Update: Apply the text to all selected requests.
Tip
Updates to linked requests are one-way. If a user comments on the update within a linked request, that comment does not appear in the original request.
- Version {{docApp.book.version}}
- Node {{docApp.node}} / {{docApp.build}}