Edit Step Page

The Edit Step dialog box displays when you drag a Data Entry shape to the designer grid. This dialog box is able for you to customize the workflow step. In order for a step to run properly, there must be at least one action, and at least one role assigned.

See Workflow Designer Icons Overview for more information about Data Entry and other workflow shapes. A detailed description of each field is listed below to guide you through the process of customizing each workflow step.

Fields and Buttons

The fields and buttons located on this page are:

• Name: This is a required field. Enter the name of the step in this field.
• Description: Enter a description of the process step in this field. This description displays along with the name of the step when you hover over the step in the workflow designer.
• Enable Flexible Routing: Click this check box to allow the actors in this step to forward the step to another project participant, whom in return can forward to another participant or reply back to the actor. The actor is the only one that can take action to move it to the next step, and the actor can decide to take the action at anytime, whether it has been forwarded or not. If this check box is not selected, the Forward and Reply buttons will not display on the process step.
• Send Comment Notifications To Actors: Select this check box to have an email notification sent to the actors in this step every time a comment is made or an action is taken on this step.

  Process notification settings take precedence over the settings configured here. Project notification settings are located via Projects – Project Administration section on the left side of the page Process Notification Settings

• Send Comment Notifications To Past Actors: This check box is clear by default. Select if you wish to send an email notification to all of the past actors on the process, whenever this step is completed.

  These notifications can also be added to a daily summary notification in order to reduce the number of notification someone receives throughout the day. See About Summary Notifications for more information.

• Disable mail merge for this step: Select this check box to disable printing in this particular step of the process. You might choose to use this setting to avoid the printing of unapproved or incomplete data, which might be prematurely routed for approval. Disabling printing at certain process steps will also evade the distribution of multiple versions of information.
• External Participation: This field may or may not be visible to you. The external participation feature is typically turned on during implementation if it is determined that there is a need for this capability. Enabling external participation allows an external participant to initiate a process via email. Determine whether the external process initiator will be an actor or non-actor, and then select the appropriate check box. You are prompted to select a destination folder where attached files will be placed. For more information on external workflow participants, see About External Workflow Processes.
• Actors
  • Process Initiator - Select this check box to add the process initiator, or the user who filled out the start step, as an actor. Typically used in scenarios where you need to route back to the initiator of the process because of a rejection from an approver.
    In the Available Role box, select the actors on this step and then click Add. Selected actors display in the adjacent Selected Roles box. The process step will display in these actor's courts for further action to move the process along. Actors are the only users that can take the action to move the process to the next logical step in the workflow.
• Notify
  • Process Initiator - Select this check box to send notifications to the process initiator when the process enters this step.
    In the Available Role box, select users on the project to receive notification when the process enters this step. Click Add. Selected users display in the adjacent Selected Roles box.
• Actor Layout: Click the drop-down arrow to select from a list of layouts defined on the Layout Properties pagefor the process. The selected layout is what is shown for the actors when the workflow enters this step. Click the Preview button to see what the layout will look like for the end user. See Add Page Layouts for more information.
• Non Actor Layout: Click the drop-down arrow to select a non actor layout defined on the Page Layout Properties page for the process. The selected layout is what is shown for the non-actors when the workflow enters this step. Click the Preview button to see what the layout will look like for the end user. Defining a non actor layout here may not be necessary if you've already defined a default non actor layout in the layout properties. See Add Page Layouts for more information.
• Custom View Link Name: If you are using a custom link, enter the title of the link in this field. Custom views may be available per request.
• Custom View Link: If available on the account, enter the URL of the custom view in this field.
• Due Date: Click the Step specific due date check box to specify the amount of days required to complete the step. Once this check box is selected, the following fields display:
  • Allowed days for completion: Enter the number of days required to complete this step. The counter begins from the day the step enters the actor's court.
  • Keep original due date when revisiting step: Select this check box to standardize this completion date for all iterations of the process.
  • Allow actor to update the step due date: Select this check box to grant the actor permission to determine due date. Actor is prompted to set due date when step is first opened.
• Background Color: Click this button to change the background color of the step. Having different colors for specific steps or roles can help you identify the rate of involvement for different roles or people. This can also help you quickly identify how often certain process instances occur.
• Text Color: Click this button to change the text color of the step's title. For increased readability, certain text colors may standout against different background colors more than others.
• Add Action: The action is what's required to get you out of a step. For example, Approve, Deny, Completed, Reject etc. Every step requires an action. You are prompted to specify the action when adding a connector between steps. Click Add Action to enter the details of the action. A step cannot be saved without an action. The maximum number of actions that can be configured per step is six. For a description of the fields located on the Add Action dialog box, see Add Action Page Overview.
• Instructions Tab: Click this tab to add step-specific instructions. These instructions display as a Help link in the step view for actors and non-actors.
• Escalation Rules Tab: Click this tab to define escalation rules for this data entry step. Escalation rules are automated reminders for users to complete a past due task. When defined at the step level the rule only applies to this step. Escalation rules created at the workflow level are listed here and automatically inherited. You can decide whether to enforce those rules or disable them all by selecting the Disable for this step check box. See Add Escalation Rules for more information.