Workflows

Manage the flow of Workflows and Stages.

The Workflows Dashboard is a graph-based view of the stages and workflows in the Community. Admins can use the Workflows Dashboard to 

  • configure and manage Workflows
  • configure and manage Stages
  • configure and manage Actions at the Stage level
  • configure and manage Pubs at the Stage level
A sample Workflows Dashboard

 

Create a New Stage

To create a new stage, select via File > New Stage, or right-clicking anywhere blank on the screen and selecting New Stage, or via the keyboard (Control+N).

Stages can be manipulated by selecting and dragging across the screen. Stages can be connected by selecting the black dots on either end of the stage. When selected, a plus sign should appear, and can be dragged to a black dot on another stage. Once connected, a line will form between the two Stages. To delete a connection, select the line and either right-click and select Delete, or Delete via keyboard. 

Stages on the Workflows Dashboard will display the Stage Name, followed by the number of pubs, number of actions, and number of members, in that stage. Stages can be configured by selecting the gear icon at the far right of the Stage. When selected, a right panel will appear with additional information about this Stage.


Managing Stages

When the gear icon on a Stage is selected, the right panel appears with four tabs: Overview, Pubs, Actions, and Members. Users can use the tabs in the panel to configure aspects of the Stage within the publishing workflow.

Overview

The Overview tab allows users to edit Stage configurations. 

  • Stage Name: This name will appear on the Workflows, Manage Workflows, and as the stage for any associated pubs. 
  • Stage Management: Users can select the Delete this Stage button to remove the Stage from the Community. 
The Overview tab on the Workflows sidebar

 


Pubs

Pubs in this panel tab are listed in order of creation, oldest to newest. 

The Pubs tab of the Workflows sidebar

If any actions are available for this stage, the Run action button will appear to the right of the Pub Name. Selecting the Run action will open a dropdown menu with all available actions to select. Once an action is selected, a popup appears to allow users manually run the action. Once the action runs, an alert will appear in the lower right corner to let users know whether the action was successful. 

Running an Action on a Pub via the Workflows sidebar

 

Selecting the vertical three-dots menu to the right of the Pub Name allows users to edit or remove a pub directly from this Stage. 

Pubs can also be created directly in this Stage via the Create button in the upper right corner. 


Actions

Actions are activities that can be taken on a Pub. Actions are configured on specific Stages via the Actions tab of the Workflows sidebar. Actions can be triggered manually (by an authorized user on a specific Pub) or automatically (by a Rule on any Pub in that Stage). 

A sample Actions tab for a Stage

Users can add an Action to a stage by selecting Add an action in the Actions tab of the Workflows sidebar. A pop appears with available actions from which to pick. Some Actions are marked with an alpha symbol (α), noting these actions are experimental and may change at any time.

 

Available Actions to add and configure

 

Once an action has been added, it will appear in the Actions tab for configuration.


Configuring Actions via the Actions Tab

All Actions available in a given Stage appear in the Actions tab for configuration. Each Action has unique configuration requirements to run successfully. Actions can be configured by selecting the pencil icon from the Action card.  

Configuring the move Action

 

Once all configurations are updated, select Update config

A pop-up appears at the bottom of the screen saying “Action updated successfully!”. 

All Actions can also be renamed for specificity in the top text box. To delete an Action, select Remove


Configuring Rules

Rules allow for further configuration of an Action, letting users trigger an Action on specific Events automatically. Add a new Rule by selecting Add a rule from the tab in the sidebar.

Rules require two components for configuring - actions and events. Select an action and an event to trigger it from the list below.

The Add a rule pop-up

 

  • Action: This drop down menu will contain any of the actions available for the stage.
  • Event: This drop down menu determines when the action will be triggered. Currently, events can be triggered when 
    • “a pub enters this stage”
    • “a pub leaves this stage”
    • “a pub stays in this stage for…": When this option is selected,  additional configuration is required for Duration (can type directly in the box or use the up-down arrows to the right) and Interval (minute, hour, day, week, month, year)
    • “a specific action succeeds”: When this option is selected, additional configuration is required for Action (selected from a dropdown of all options in the stage)
    • “a specific action fails”: When this option is selected, additional configuration is required for Action (selected from a dropdown of all options in the stage)

 

A Rule can be run when a specific Event takes place

 

Chaining Actions 

If either “a specific action succeeds” or “a specific action fails” is configured as an Event for a Rule, those actions are chained. When the specific action for the Event occurs is run manually, the subsequent alert will only note the success or failure of the specific action. Any chained actions will run and report in the Action Log as initiated by that Rule, but will not be mentioned in the alert.  

Users are prevented from creating cycles or infinite loops (chaining actions based on chained actions.) For example, if there is a rule that Email 2 is sent after Email 1 succeeds, a second rule cannot be created to send Email 1 after Email 2 succeeds. An alert will appear warning users of any attempted cycles. 

An alert noting that creating a rule would create a cycle

 


Members

The Members tab displays a list of Members of the community who have access to that Stage. At the Stage level, the responsibilities of a given role only apply to that Stage. For example, a Member with a contributor role will only be able to view Pubs in this stage, and will only see Fields added to the Default Pub Form for Pub Types.

Add Member

To add a member, select Add Member. A pop-up will appear, where users can enter the email address of the new Member to invite to the community.

Enter the email address of the person you'd like to invite to the Community

 

If the email is associated with a Platform account, their full name and email will appear at the bottom of the pop-up screen. Users can select a Role from the dropdown menu (admin, editor, or contributor). Select Add Member to add member to the Community.

Add a member pop-up if the email address is associated with an existing PubPub Platform user

 

If the email is not yet associated with a Platform account, additional information is required to invite the new Member:

  • First Name: the first name of the Member
  • Last Name: the last name of the Member
  • Role: the access and permissions of the Member within the Community. Select Admin, Editor, or Contributor from the dropdown menu. By default, new members are assigned Editor. Admin can do anything within the Community; Editor can edit most things; Contributor are only able to see the forms and other public-facing content that are linked to them.
  • Edit/View Access: If the Contributor role is selected, this field will appear. Selecting Forms will give the Member the ability to create Pubs in the community using the selected forms. If no Forms are added, the Member will not be able to create any Pubs, and will only be able to see Pubs they have access to either directly or at the stage level.

Select Invite to send an email invitation to the Member.

Add a member pop-up if the email address is not associated with an existing Platform account