Help and support¶
FedMS distinguishes between help (the documentation you are reading) and technical support (an interactive ticket system). Both are reachable from the upper toolbar.
Help¶
The Help entry in the upper toolbar opens this documentation site in a new browser tab. You can browse, search, and follow links.
If you can't find what you need, please submit a ticket (see below)
or, if you're working on improving the docs themselves, open an
issue at
fedms/documentation.
Technical support¶
The Helpdesk entry in the upper toolbar opens the ticket system. The exact menu depends on your role:
| Role | Helpdesk menu entries |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Manage helpdesk — technical setup of the helpdesk integration. |
| Manager | Go to Helpdesk — opens the helpdesk system in a new tab. |
| Authenticated user | View open tickets — see your tickets and add comments. Submit new ticket — open a new ticket in a pop-up form. |
Submitting a ticket¶
When you submit a ticket, please include:
- What you were trying to do in plain language.
- What you expected to see.
- What you actually saw (a screenshot helps a lot).
- The URL of the page where the issue happened.
- The time the issue happened.
- Your browser and OS (e.g. "Chrome 122 on macOS Sonoma").
The pop-up form captures the URL, timestamp, user account, and session ID automatically — you don't need to copy these.
Ticket lifecycle¶
Each ticket goes through these states:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open | We've received your ticket and it's in the queue. |
| Acknowledged | A support engineer has read it. |
| In progress | Someone is working on it. |
| Awaiting your input | We need more information from you. |
| Resolved | We believe it's fixed; please verify. |
| Closed | Resolved and confirmed. |
You can comment on a ticket at any time, including after it is resolved. New comments re-open the ticket if it was closed.
Privacy¶
Tickets are stored on a separate platform from your FedMS instance. The screenshots and information you attach to a ticket are visible to the support team. Don't include credentials or other secrets — if we need them, we'll ask through a more secure channel.
Other channels¶
- Bug reports against the framework itself can be filed at the
appropriate
fedms/components/*project on gitlab.lakedrops.com/fedms. But for end-users, the in-app helpdesk is the right place — your Manager or the support team will escalate to the right project if it's a framework bug. - Documentation issues can be filed at
fedms/documentation. - Commercial questions (pricing, licensing, contracts) go to sales@lakedrops.com.
A quick troubleshooting checklist¶
Before submitting a ticket, try:
- Refresh the page — many transient issues clear themselves.
- Sign out and sign back in — fixes any stale session state.
- Try in a different browser — rules out browser extensions.
- Check the dashboard — many "I can't find X" issues are because X is in your task list rather than the menu you were looking in.
- Check your role in My profile → Memberships — the most common reason something is missing is that you don't have the role that grants access.
If the issue persists, submit a ticket — we'd rather you ask than struggle.