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Getting Started with Workflow Administration
Who is this article for?Ideagen Quality Management administrators configuring workflows.
Workflow Definition Administration access is required.
Workflows are electronic versions of any paper-based or manual process you may have around your office. They allow your organization to reduce the time and labor associated with completing an action, enact tighter control, allow for greater transparency, and maintain auditability.
All features of a workflow, from the fields available and the users required for processing them, to the routing options from stage to stage, are specified in the workflow definition. Workflow definitions can otherwise be thought of as master templates from which a blank copy is made whenever a user initiates a new instance, or single example of that process. Workflows are either online or offline. Online workflows are available for processing by end users, but their definition can't be altered without going Offline. Any changes you need to make to how a workflow looks and operates must be made while it's offline and not available for processing.
1. Managing Workflows
All workflow definitions are accessed from Administration > Workflows. From here you can:
- Create a New Workflow - to add a new workflow definition from an existing one in your system, an imported workflow definition file, or from scratch.
- Edit - to modify an existing workflow definition by clicking on its Title.
- Import - to add a new workflow definition to the system, using a .qtwf file.
- Remove - to delete a workflow definition.
- Clone - to create a new workflow definition based on an identical copy of another.
- Export - to create a .qtwf workflow definition file to share with other sites or email to Ideagen Quality Management Support.
- Import Data - to mass import records, typically from legacy systems when initially setting up Ideagen Quality Management. Use the template provided with this option to create a new workflow instance per row in the template, and have those records automatically moved to a given step in the process like Complete.
2. Workflow Elements
Key workflow definition elements include:
- Step - a single step in the workflows processing life cycle. All steps must have a Route either leading into or out of it into other steps. A begin and end step must be designated for each workflow.
- Field - text box, drop-down menu, personnel tree, or any other custom field where users input data. Fields may be either optional or required to move the workflow from one step to another. View and edit permissions to individual fields may also be limited.
- Route - the action that moves the workflow to the next step. These appear at the bottom of each step as buttons. Some workflows have only one possible route from each step, while more complex workflows may have several, each of which takes you to a different step.
- Responsible Parties - the users responsible for entering fields and moving the workflow to subsequent steps. Responsible parties may be individual users or groups of users, and routes may require processing by all of the responsible parties or by only one.
- Collaborators - optional users who may also fill out fields at a given step, but can't move the workflow to the next step.
- Initiator - the user who starts a new instance of the workflow. This user must be a responsible party for the first step. Workflow instance initiators can view any instance of a workflow they Initiate as well as any instances that are also linked through an Automation step (e.g. a Launched workflow instance), regardless of instance access (security on the definition) or permissions. While the instance is active, it will appear in the Inbox. When closed, initiators can still retrieve those instances in reports and Search. For all other users, when the workflow instance is in the closed state, then instance access (view security) or Alter Workflow Instances (Permission) is required in order to see the closed step (fields will also need to be viewable at the closed step or the step will just look blank).