Manage workflows/instances
Check out how to run an instance, stop, update or delete it, and how to edit or delete a workflow.
Run a workflow instance
Run a workflow instance
When you have created a workflow (your process template), it’s time to use it in real life. Each “real-life” application of a workflow is called an instance.You can run an instance by clicking the play button in the workflow.
If you run an instance and it gets stuck on a step, refresh your screen.
Edit a workflow
Edit a workflow
- Click … next to the workflow.
- Click Edit workflow. You can edit the workflow lead, process visibility, status, and the go-live date for the workflow as well as add building notes and resources to the workflow. You can also add or remove a step from the workflow.
Notes:
- When you change something in the workflow, the changes will not affect the already running instances.
- Only one person can edit a workflow at a time.
Edit an instance
Edit an instance
- In the workflow overview, click the active or completed instance you want to edit.
- Click Edit instance. You can edit the instance’s priority, name, or deadline.
The instance editing option isn’t available if the workflow has the default settings of auto-naming, disabled deadlines, and disabled priority.
Duplicate a workflow
Duplicate a workflow
- Click … next to the workflow.
- Click Duplicate workflow.
- To copy the workflow over to another than the current workspace, select it from the dropdown. You can select one workspace at a time.
Note that you need to be an admin to duplicate workflows across workspaces. - To copy the workflow to a specific folder, select it from the dropdown.
- Decide if you want to keep or clear the current step assignees. To keep the assignees, clear the Clear current step assignees checkbox.
When you copy the workflow to another workspace, the assignees are always cleared.
- Admins can duplicate all workflows across all workspaces they are admins for.
- Tech leads, editors, and workflow leads can duplicate the workflows they are leads or editors for. They can copy workflows within the same workspace.
Move a workflow
Move a workflow
You can move a workflow to another folder. Do the following:
- Click … next to the workflow.
- Click Move workflow.
- Select the new destination of your workflow.
- Click Move.
Delete a workflow and instance
Delete a workflow and instance
Contact us if you want to switch off the deletion option altogether, for example, for security reasons. In such cases, nobody (not even admins) will be able to delete instances.
- Click … next to the workflow.
-
Click Delete workflow.
If there are instances linked to the workflow, they’ll be listed in the pop-up for you to review.
- Click Delete workflow and all instances.
- In the main navigation, click Workflows.
- In the Overview, filter for the instance to delete.
- Click the delete icon for the instance you want to delete.
If you don’t want to delete the instance and lose all its data, you can also stop an instance.Note that once you stop, the instance can’t be re-started. You can find your stopped instance in the Completed Instances tab in the Workflow Overview.
Work with workflow versions
Work with workflow versions
If you save your edits, any changes you apply to workflows or steps are in effect immediately. They are listed in the Changelog.That means it is not possible - as of today - to revert to a previous version of your workflow or to undo any accidental changes in steps and form fields.
Set deadline on a step
Set deadline on a step
Create and auto-name instances via API
Create and auto-name instances via API
When you create instances using Next Matter API, and use auto-naming, make sure to send all the parameters included in the naming template (such as ISO date, customer name, etc.). You can omit the name parameter, but all the remaining parameters must be valid and correctly filled in.If any of the parameters are missing, in the wrong format, or invalid, the auto-naming will fail with You can view and configure the auto-naming template in Workflow start options.
Instance [ID] - Name update failed.Make sure to provide all the parameters, for example:When you start instances with an email trigger, disable auto-naming as the email connector already provides meaningful names (the email subject).