The workflow engine is a rules-based system that automatically sends email notifications, creates tasks, or performs an action when specific, user-defined events occur. Workflow features are available for both the Files & Discussions and Database tabs of workspaces. Workflows will trigger in the order of the displayed priority on your workflow list.

Note: Unlimited workflow is only available with Enterprise and Agency plans. Only Workspace Administrators can access the workflow rules in a workspace.

Learn about:

Creating a Workflow Rule
"Action" Type Workflow
Run Rule Now with Checked Nightly Workflow Rules
Deactivate Workflow Rules
Type Description
Delete Workflow Rules

Examples
Add Any "Email Address" Field to a Record's "CC List"
Create a task based on users listed in a database record

Creating a workflow rule

Begin using workflow by creating a new rule. To create a new rule, go to a database and click Options > Workflow > New Workflow Rule, then:

1. Name: Enter a name for the rule.

2. Type: Choose the type of rule: Email Notification, Task Creation, or Action.

3. Criteria: Select when the rule should be triggered and add criteria. Available options are when a record is:

Added: Triggers when a record is created.
Modified: Triggers when a record is changed.
Deleted: Triggers when a record is deleted from the database.
Checked Nightly: Records are monitored nightly to see if the rule's conditions are met. Checked nightly workflow rules also have a Run Rule Now option.
Additional Criteria: Triggers the rule based on the content of specific fields in the database. All of the "Additional Criteria" must be met in order for the workflow rule to be triggered. For each Additional Criteria, there are two options:

"and is changed": This means that the field must have been changed to the inputted criteria when the record was edited.
"and matches": This means that the field can simply "match" and is not required to have been changed in order to trigger the workflow rule.

Note: The next steps apply to Email Notification and Task Creation workflow rules

4. Select the members to notify or assign the task to (depending on the type of rule being created). You can optionally use the following variables:

Created By (System Field): This is the member that originally created the record.
Modified By (System Field): This is the member that last modified the record.
Any field of type "Workspace Member" or "email": If your database has a "Workspace Member" field or an "Email Address" field, that field can be set as a variable in the notification/assignment area.

5. (For Task rules only) Add workspace members to the Task CC list (optional).

6. The subject and body of email notifications can be customized (see video below). To insert a variable, select it from the "Insert Variable" drop-down menu. Set the cursor in the subject or message body where you want to put the variable, then click the Insert button.

7. The due date of the task created by the workflow rule (applies to rules that create tasks, only) can also be customized. To set the task due date to a date field in the database, select the due date field from the Insert Variable drop-down menu, and click Set Date to Variable.

Checked nightly workflow rules

Any workflow rule that has the Checked Nightly criteria will have an additional option to be triggered immediately. When viewing a "Checked Nightly" rule from the workflow list, a Run Rule Now icon will appear. Clicking on this button will fire the rule on-demand and trigger any e-mails, tasks, or actions designated by the rule.

Type Description

The type column lists the type of rule Email, Task, Action. It also lists if this is a database or files workflow rule.

Deactivating workflow rules

Workflow rules can be made inactive by simply editing the rule and selecting the Inactive radio button.

Deleting Workflow Rules

Database Workflow rules can be completely deleted by clicking the 'trash can' icon when in the Workflow Rules page.

Note: Certain actions will result in database workflow rules being deactivated automatically to protect against unwanted workflow actions/notifications. For example, when a user deletes a database field which is a condition of a workflow rule, this could cause the workflow rule to run for all records in that database. The user will be warned before taking any action that will result in a deactivation of a workflow rule.

Example workflow rules

Adding any email address to a record's CC list

If you have a public web form where people outside of iMeet Central submit database records, you may want to subscribe these people to the record to receive updates. Within the database create a field for their email address, in this instance, I named the field "Non-Member Email". The CC List in the workflow rule can be set to any "email address" field in the record. Create an Action type workflow rule to subscribe the email address to the record. This will allow the anonymous user to receive email notifications pertaining this database record.

Create a task based on users listed in a database record

If you use your database to manage projects it may be helpful to use Task Workflow rules. In this example, I have an internal member field in my database named "Graphic Designer". The Task Workflow rule below is set to create a task and assign it to the member listed in the graphic designer field. This task will only create when the Graphic Design field changes from empty. The rule is checked everytime the record is created or modified.