Last updated: 2025-12-02
Workflows (Beta)
Workflows (Beta)
)
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- Overview
- Creating a Workflow Template
Overview
Note: This feature is currently in
beta testing. If you have comments or suggestions, or if you
encounter issues, please e-mail the SmartOffice team at SmartOfficeBeta@zinnia.com.
Workflows guide users step by step through the process of completing
important business processes using SmartOffice. Organizations build workflow
"templates" that can be applied to SmartOffice records to ensure
that users are following the proper procedures when working with those
records.
Currently, workflow templates can be applied to opportunity records
(learn how to [create
an opportunity](/help/pro/smartopportunities/-/creating/and/deleting/opportunities) and [advance
an opportunity through its stages](/help/pro/smartopportunities/-/advancing/a/contact/through/the/sales/process)). In this sense, workflow templates
are a more user-friendly alternative to creating processes in [Opportunity
Setup](/help/pro/smartopportunities/-/opportunity/setup).
Requirements
To create workflow templates, you must have the Opportunity Setup Administrator
license (see [User
Accounts - User Rights Content Link](/help/pro/user/accounts/user/rights/content/link)).
In addition, you must enable the Use New Workflow
Setup option in [User
Preferences - Basic Info](/help/pro/user/preferences/-/basic/info).
Workflow Structure
As the following diagram shows, a workflow consists of stages and actions.
-
Stage:
A stage represents a step in the workflow. For example, in a sales
workflow, you might have stages like Initial Introduction and Fact
Finding. Stages are arranged sequentially in a workflow.
-
Action:
Each stage can optionally contain one or more actions for users to
perform. Although not required, actions are useful for specifying
exactly what needs to be done in a stage. For example, you can create
actions for sending a letter, creating a calendar activity, or send
an invitation to an event.
Managing Workflow Templates
Opening the Template List
To display a list of existing workflow templates, in the SmartOffice side menu, select Setup
> Workflow Template Setup to
open the Workflow Template List.
Note: Currently, this list also displays
any opportunity processes created in [Opportunity
Setup](/help/pro/smartopportunities/-/opportunity/setup).
For an explanation of standard features you can access from SmartOffice
lists, see Lists.
The Workflow Template list also supports filtering on [favorite
records](/help/pro/favorite/records) (to learn how to mark a particular template as a favorite,
see [Creating a Workflow
Template](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Create_Template).
Viewing/Editing a Template
-
[Open
the Workflow Template List.](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Open_Template_List)
-
Select the first-column hyperlink for
a template to open it.
-
[Review
the template's details, stages and actions](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Step_4).
-
Make any necessary changes, and then
select Save.
Deleting a Template
-
[Open
the Workflow Template List.](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Open_Template_List)
-
Select one or more templates.
-
Select Menu
> Delete 'Workflow Template Setup' Record.
Creating a Workflow Template
Getting Started
-
[Open
the Workflow Template List.](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Open_Template_List)
-
Select Menu
> New 'Workflow Template Setup' Record.
-
Select one of the following options:
-
Help me
build it step by step: This option walks you through the
[steps of creating a
template](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Step_1) and is ideal for users who are new to workflows.
-
Take me
directly to the last step (advanced): Users who have experience
building workflow templates can select this option to go directly
to the Review step
and build their workflow on a single page.
Step 1: Name Your Template
On this page, you can specify how you want to identify the template
and enter other details if necessary.
-
Enter a name for the template.
-
(Optional) After entering the template
name, click anywhere outside that field. The template name becomes
a hyperlink. Select the template name to display the Workflow Template
Specify any of the options described below, and then select OK:
-
Favorite:
next
to the name field to designate this workflow template as a favorite.
You can then find it more easily on the [Workflow
Template List](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Open_Template_List) by selecting the Show
My Favorites option.
-
Status:
Select Active to make this template
available for others in the office to use immediately after you
finish creating it. If you prefer not to make the template available
to users for now, select Inactive.
-
Owner:
Specify which user in the office will assigned as the owner of
any opportunity that this workflow template is applied to. Only
users with Producer/Manager-type [user
accounts](/help/pro/user/accounts) are available in this drop-down list.
-
When
a stage is completed, display an option to cancel the previous
stage's activities: Selecting this option gives users
the ability to quickly cancel any calendar activities linked to
a stage that they have just completed.
-
Description:
Add any useful details about the workflow template in this field.
This information can help other users in the office determine
the purpose of the workflow if it is not obvious from the template
name.
-
Select Next
to move to the next step.
Step 2: Create Stages
On this page, you will specify the sequential stages of your workflow.
-
On the Create Stages page, type a name
-
Select the Add
Stage as many times as needed to add more stage fields to the
page. and then enter names for those stages.
-
(Optional) After entering a stage name,
click anywhere outside that field. The stage name becomes a hyperlink.
Specify any of the options described below, and then select OK:
-
Status: When an opportunity
enters this stage, the opportunity's status will change to the
status specified here.
-
Automatically
advance stage if actions are completed: When this option
is selected, SmartOffice automatically advances the opportunity
to the next stage or workflow once all actions in this stage are
completed. The opportunity will advance to the stage or workflow
specified in the Move To drop-down list. If this option is cleared,
users will need to advanced to the next stage or workflow manually.
-
Move
To: This is the stage or workflow that the opportunity
will advance to automatically if the Automatically
advance stage if actions are completed option is selected.
This field is required if the stage is configured to advance automatically.
-
Description:
Add any useful details about the stage in this field. This information
can help other users in the office determine the purpose of the
stage if it is not obvious from the stage name.
-
Review the stages to ensure that they
are in the correct order. If necessary, reorder stages by dragging
them up or down. You can also delete any unnecessary stages by selecting
button.
-
Select Next
to move to the next step.
Step 3: Add Actions
On this page, you will specify actions for users to complete during
each stage of your workflow, such as scheduling calendar activities or
creating correspondence.
Note: Actions are optional. You can
have stages without actions.
-
The Action dialog box opens.
-
Enter a name for the action and complete
the following fields:
-
Action
Type:
Select whether the action will result in the creation of a calendar
activity, letter or event. Note that the Event option is available
only if a SmartEvents license is enabled for your account (for
more information, see [SmartEvents
- Setup](/help/pro/smartevents/-/setup)).
-
Description: Use this field
to provide any additional detail or explanation that will help
users understand and/or complete the action.
-
Assigned
To: This field indicates whether the opportunity owner
or another SmartOffice user or [user
group](/help/pro/user/groups) is responsible for performing the action. If this is
a Calendar-type action, the user or user group specified here
is automatically added as participant to the activity that is
created when the action is performed. For other action types,
this field is informational.
-
Mandatory:
Select this option to let users know that this action must be
completed before the opportunity advances to the next stage. Note
that the Mandatory flag is just for users' information; failure
to perform the action does not actually block users from advancing
an opportunity to the next stage.
-
Complete any additional fields depending
on the action type selected:
| Action Type
| Fields
| Calendar
Automatically
Create Activity: When this option is selected,
SmartOffice performs the Calendar action automatically
when the opportunity moves to a different stage. The system
creates the activity based on the options (e.g., activity
type, subject, description) specified in the action. If
this option is cleared, the user must perform the action
manually to create the activity.
-
Open
Activity dialog box when created: This option is
available only when the Automatically Create Activity
option is selected. When this option is selected, SmartOffice
opens the [Activity
Detail dialog box](/help/pro/smartcalendar/-/activity/dialog/box) when the action is performed, enabling
the user to review and/or change the activity's details
before the activity is created.
If the user clicks the Cancel button on the Activity Detail
dialog box, the activity is created for the current date. If
a stage has two Calendar actions and only one action has
the Automatically Create Activity option selected, the
Activity Detail dialog opens when the stage is changed.
Note that the Activity Detail dialog does not open if the
opportunity is linked to a campaign
that has a calendar handling option (applicable to the
first stage only) or if this option selected for
multiple Calendar actions in the same stage have.
-
Create
activity ____ day(s) after start of stage: This
field is available only when the Automatically Create
Activity option is selected. To schedule the activity
so that it begins one or more days after the stage changes,
enter the number of days in this field.
-
Skip
Saturday and Skip
Sunday: These options are available only when the
Automatically Create Activity option is selected. Select
one or both of these options to prevent calendar activities
from being created on those days. If the day on which
an activity is to be created falls on a Saturday or Sunday,
the system creates the activity on the next available
day.
-
Activity
Details: The system used the data entered in this
section to prefill the fields in the new activity.
For information about the activity fields in this section,
see [Activity
Detail](/help/pro/smartcalendar/-/activity/dialog/box).
| Print Letter
-
Select
Letter: (Required) Select this hyperlink to [search
for a letter template](/help/pro/templates/-/searching/for/templates), or type the name of the template
into the field.
| Event
-
Invite
to Event: (Required) Select this hyperlink to [search for
an event](/help/pro/smartevents/-/searching/for/events) that you want to invite the opportunity contact
to, or type the name of the template into the field.
-
When finished, select OK.
-
Repeat the steps above to add more
actions if necessary.
-
Once all actions have been added to
your stages, select Next to move to
the final step.
Step 4: Review
The Review step allows you to make any changes to your workflow before
you finalize it.
-
On the Review page, look over the stages
and actions you have created and determine whether any changes are
-
Make any necessary changes to
the following:
-
Workflow
Template Details: Select the arrow to expand this section
and make any additions or changes. For more information about
these fields, refer to [Step
1: Name Your Template](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Step_1).
-
Stages:
To add stages from this page, select the Add
Stage button. To reorder stages, drag them up or down in
the list. To edit the details of a stage, select the stage name
to open the Stage dialog box (for information about the fields
and options in this dialog box, see [Step
2: Create Stages](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Step_2)). You can also delete stages from this page
by moving your mouse to the right of the Add Action link and selecting
button that appears.
-
Actions:
To add actions from this page, select Add
Action for the appropriate stage. To edit the details of
an existing action, select the action name to open the Action
dialog box (for information about the fields and options in this
dialog box, see [Step
3: Add Actions](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#Step_3)). You can also delete actions from this page
by moving your mouse over an action and selecting the Delete
button that appears.
-
When the workflow is set, select Finish.
If you set the workflow template's status to Active, the template is
now available for users to apply to opportunities. You can [view
and/or edit the template](/help/pro/smartoffice/workflows#View_Edit_Workflow_Templates) at any time.