Who is this article for?

Ideagen Quality Management administrators importing workflows.

Workflow Designer access is required.

Much like Microsoft Visio, the Workflow Designer allows you to quickly drag and drop items from a single, simple toolbar-interface. All steps and routes are drawn onto a single page, called the Canvas, where objects can quickly be repositioned or edited.

This article outlines:

1. Features
2. Toolbars
3. Preferences
4. Properties

1. Features

The main features of the user interface include:

• Menu - options for File, Edit, View, and Insert options. Important commands and settings are accessed from here, including Preferences and Properties.
• Toolbars - for File, Object, View, Edit, and Font options, most of which are also accessible from the menu drop-downs.
• Canvas - where you build the graphical flowchart of your workflow.

2. Toolbars

Toolbar options allow you quickly perform various actions.

• File Toolbar - allows you to quickly save, print, and open your workflows, as well as cut, copy and delete their contents.

• View Toolbar - lets you arrange, transform, and align both Route and step objects quickly.
• Use the align WFDesigner_Toolbar6 buttons to shift all selected objects to align with either the first selected item (when selecting several by holding CTRL and clicking), or to align all selected objects against the first step in the workflow order when multiple objects are highlighted by a click and drag of the mouse.
• Edit Toolbar - provides buttons to designate Begin, End, and System Action steps; import your workflow into Ideagen Quality Management; modify properties, and attach a new diagram to the workflow definition.

• Font Toolbar - modifies the object text as well as an object's line and fill colors. Highlight objects and change one of these settings to apply it the selected items only, or change one of these settings to apply to any newly created object. You can also set different default color options for new objects by changing the settings in the Edit > Preferences window.
• Object Toolbar - includes a bank of step objects you can double click or drag and drop to include in your workflow. Objects listed here do not have to be used as their names suggest; description are provided merely as a guide.

3. Preferences

This window allows you to modify basic settings related to the Canvas, as well as how the Workflow Designer interacts with Ideagen Quality Management. Access the Preferences window from Edit > Preferences.

General Tab

• Ideagen Quality Management URL - the link to your Ideagen Quality Management system. The Workflow Designer needs this to upload your workflow.
• Ideagen Quality Management Username - the user account the workflows are created under once added to the Ideagen Quality Management system.
• Show Route names when selected only - only displays a Route name when you click on the Route. Names remain hidden when anything else has focus.
• Warn me about blank Route names - when you select Create workflow to add it to Ideagen Quality Management, this feature presents a warning message reminding you that some Routes do not have a name. Nameless routes are given the title "To {NextstepName}" when imported into Ideagen Quality Management.
• Show Items to Grid Lines - adds grid lines to the Canvas, allowing you to space items more uniformly.
• Snap Items To Grid Lines - positions objects along grid lines automatically.
• Create Default Email Actions for Routes - automatically generate an Email Action for each route when you're ready to finalize and create the workflow. A default email subject and body layout can be set in the system Settings - Workflows tab.

Editing Tab

Fill and Colors - allows you to modify colors for objects and fonts on the Canvas. Click one of the colored boxes to modify it.

Tip! Modifying the designer's color coding is helpful for users with color blindness.

4. Properties

From here you can determine how the workflow is identified once you add it to your Ideagen Quality Management system. Access the properties window from Edit > Properties or by clicking the Icon_WFDesignerProperties icon in the edit toolbar.

• Title - the name of the workflow as it will appear in the workflow definitions page.
• Description - briefly describes what this workflow is used for. This is displayed in the workflow definition in Ideagen Quality Management.