General information
Unlike automations, which is for automating away repetitive work, the purpose of workflows is to support collaboration between users, by standardizing business processes. Therefore, workflows require user interaction in order to advance.
An example of such a standardized business process can be found below - both in a graphic form (flow mode) and a text form (text mode).
This image shows a basic request workflow, in flow mode, where the things being requested could, for example, be the download of an asset, the approval of a newly self-signed up user, or the publishing of an asset.
Flow mode:
Text mode: The image below shows a cut-out of the same workflow as the image above. This, however, shows the code behind.
To access workflows, press the Settings button in the top right corner, and enter Workflows.
From here you’ll get access to edit and delete existing workflows, or creating new ones.
Creating workflows
You have three options when creating workflows:
Create workflow from DSL
Duplicating a workflow (oftentimes referred to as “Create from template“)
Create new workflow
These are to be access via Settings → Workflows.
Creating workflow from DSL code
Our documentation shows off often-used workflows, like the approval workflow shown above. Simply find the code (also known as the DSL or Domain Specific Language) in the documentation, copy it using your computer’s clipboard and access the Settings → Workflows area. Press Create → Create workflow from DSL, paste in the code/DSL and hit the Create button.
Duplicating an existing workflow
To duplicate a workflow, all you have to do, is to press the Create button inside of Settings → Workflows, and selecting the workflow you wish to copy in the Choose a template combobox. Hit OK, and you’re done.
Creating new workflow
Selecting Create new workflow will prompt the modal shown below. In this, enter the workflow name, and hit OK.
Editing workflows
Regardless of the creating method you chose, you can now start editing the workflow’s stages, transitions etc.
In case you’ve created a new workflow, you will need to create a first stage. Clicking Add first stage button. The following stages are added by clicking the dot at the bottom of stage and dragging the line to the next stage, while pressing down with the cursor.
The user is now ready to start editing the transitions and stages.
General workflow settings
In order to access a workflow’s settings, the user needs to click on three dots next to the workflow name and then select Edit.
This will open a panel on the right, where the user can do the following:
Change the workflow name
Select whether the workflow should be limited to one task per item (checking this option will ensure that there is only one active instance of the same workflow for a specific asset).
Editing transitions
In order to edit a transition, the user needs to click on an arrow representing the transition.
This will prompt the appearance of a transition modal, where the user has the ability to edit or delete the transition
The following editing options are available for transitions:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Top area of the modal | This is the name of the transition. |
Transition type | Automatic transition happens when the conditions specified by the constraints are fulfilled. Manual transition is the default option. It means that an assigned user needs to manually transition to the next stage by clicking on the action button in a resulting task and selecting one of the available options. Timed transition happens after a specific period of time. |
Unique ID | Any value consisting of letter and numbers. It needs to be unique only within the same workflow. It is used to identify a correct transition when setting up automations dependent on existing workflows. |
Priority | This is available for automatic transitions only. If there are are multiple transitions triggered automatically with the possibility of happening at the same time, the user can decide their order to ease the strain on the system. |
Postpone until | This is available for timed transitions only. If selected, the automatic execution of the transition is postponed by a set period of time (Set duration) or until the day specified in a Date Input Constraint within the same workflow (Pick key). |
Description | This is an optional field meant to provide the explanation of what is supposed to happen in a particular transition. It is especially useful, if there are multiple users working with the same workflow. |
Constraints | The user can set up conditions that need to be met for the transition to occur. |
If the user is in doubt about what kind of information should be filled out in specific fields, hovering over a question mark next to it will prompt an explanation.
Constraints are the required conditions that need to be met in order to transition to a stage. There are four types of constraints available in the system:
Input constraints
Metadata constraints
Upload constraints
Execution conditions
In order to add a new constraint, the user needs to navigate to the tab Constraints and then click on the button Add new constraint.
The next step is to select the correct option from the list of available constraint types.
Constraint type | Description |
|---|---|
Input constraints | This type of constraint can usually be found in download requests. Here, the user is asked for different types of input. The following constraints are available:
This is an example of this type of constraint:  |
Metadata constraints | This type of constraint gives the workflows administrator a great flexibility in terms of constraints as it allows to point to and interact with the metadata fields available in the customer’s Media Manager. In this type of constraint the metadata field’s content must match the condition. This is an example of a metadata constraint:  |
Upload constraints | The user who makes a download request will have to attach a file in the from specified by workflows administrator. This could be e.g. a consent form. This is an example of an upload constraint:  |
Execution condition | This type of constraints is related to who can execute the transition. The following constraints are possible:
This is an example of an execution condition constraint:  |
Each constraint item has two icons in the upper right corner: one for the available actions regarding the constraint, and the other for re-ordering the constraints.
Additionally, the user can click on the top area of a constraint box in order to collapse or expand it. This is how collapsed constraints look:
Editing stages
The user can edit a stage by simply clicking on it. The editing area will open on the right side of the screen. This is how the stage editor looks:
The following editing options are available for stages:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Top area of the modal | This is the name of the transition. |
Unique ID | Any value consisting of letter and numbers. It needs to be unique only within the same workflow. It is used to identify a correct stage when setting up automations dependent on existing workflows. |
Description | This is an optional field meant to provide the explanation of a particular stage. It will be shown in the task list and can indicate what an assigned user is supposed to do in this specific stage. |
Mark as completed | This should be marked, if the stage changes the status of the workflow from “active” to “completed”. |
Relevant Meta Fields | Here it is possible to select which metadata fields should be shown in the detailed view of the resulting task. |
Stage Owner | This indicates user(s) assigned to the task. Automatic or dynamic assignment of a stage owner is explained in more detail in the next paragraph. |
Labels | It is possible to select a label which will visually represent the stage. It is possible to choose one of the predefined labels or create a custom label. |
Assigning a stage owner
The stage owner is a user or user group who gets a particular stage in the workflow assigned. As a consequence they receive a task related to that stage and will need to take an action, for example approving or denying a download request.
There are 5 different scenarios that can be configured in the process of editing a stage:
Scenario | Configuration | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
There is no stage owner. | Set Stage Assignment Behavior to “Unassigned”.  | This option should be used for the stages where owner assignment is not required. An example of a use case for this scenario is an approved stage, where no further action is needed after a request download was granted. |
The stage owner is a user. | Set Stage Assignment Behavior to “Assign to a user”. In the new field below select the stage owner from the provided list.  | This option should be used for stages that should be assigned to a specific user. All the available users are presented in the drop-down list. |
The stage owner is a user group. | Set Stage Assignment Behavior to “Assign to a user group”. In the new field below select the stage owner from the provided list.  | This option should be used for stages that should be assigned to a specific user group. All the available user groups are presented in the drop-down list. |
The stage owner is the instance owner. | Set Stage Assignment Behavior to “Assign to the instance owner”.  | This option should be selected, if the stage needs to be assigned back to the initial reporter. An example of a use case:
|
Current user or group remains as the stage owner. | Set Stage Assignment Behavior to “Keep current user or group”.  | This option should be used for the stages which should not lead to a change of the task’s assignment after the previously executed transition. Select this if you want to assign it back to the initial reporter |
The stage owner is assigned dynamically. | Set Assign from Metafield to the correct MasterItemReference type metadata field from the list.  | This option allows for more flexibility when assigning, as this gives the ability to assign users and groups based on a selected value in a metafield. An example of a use case is the situation in which each asset has an owner who is responsible for what happens with this particular asset. The asset owner is determined by a metafield. Note that dynamic assignment works only, if there is one asset in the task. If the dynamic assignment fails because of multiple assets in the task or because the indicated metadata field is empty, the automatic stage assignment is the fallback. This is why the user needs to configure both options. |
Saving a workflow
Once the workflow is fully defined, the user should click Save button in the upper right corner of the workflow editing area.
Tasks
Tasks can be accessed by clicking the Tasks icon on the right side of the top bar.
The tasks are available to two categories of users:
Workflow administrators can access the tasks assigned to them in order to see all active and completed tasks as well as take actions.
End users can interact with the system in a different way. As an example, they can make requests (such as an ability to download or upload an asset) and then access the status of those requests.
Each task is defined by the workflow name, status and the created time and and date. The tasks can be sorted by type and creation date. It’s not necessary to reload the page to see the most current task list. The user can simply hit the refresh button in the upper right corner.
Tasks can be shown in a list form or card form:
In order to simplify the process of working with tasks, the list is paginated and the user can select how many tasks should be visible on one page (between 12 and 200). If the infinite scroll is enabled for the system, the tasks will also load in infinite scroll.
The users have the following filters at their disposal, when working with tasks:
Task name (freetext search)
Quick filters
Status
Workflows
Assets
Created by
Created by group
Assignee
Assigned group
The details of the task are opened in the right-side panel after clicking on it once.
At the top of the newly-opened panel there are basic information concerning the task (the name of the workflow and its current status), the option to delete the task as well as a button that opens a drop down with available actions. In the lower part of the panel there are several tabs with additional content that the user can switch between:
Summary (who created the task, the date of creation, promoted input constraints as well as a short summary of assets, attachments and comments)
Details (information concerning all input constraints apart from attachments)
Assets (all assets the task concerns in either box view or list view)
Comments (used for the direct communication between users involved in the same workflow and between users with access to other users' tasks)
Attachments (attached files related to upload constraints)
Metadata (metadata fields relevant to the task are displayed).
The tabs that do not contain any information are greyed out and cannot be accessed.
Multi-transition of tasks
It is possible to perform the transition of multiple tasks at the same time. The following conditions must be met:
The tasks must be in the same state
The tasks must concern the same workflow
The same user must have the ability to transition the tasks.
In order to multi-transition the tasks, the user must first select all the relevant tasks by clicking the empty checkmark on the left side of the task. If the tasks fail to meet all the conditions, the multi-action button at the top of the task list will remain inactive. If all the conditions are met, clicking the newly activated multi-action button will result in the appearance of a new dialog, where the user will be guided through the transition process.
