Task inbox
When a workflow session is run and it reaches an Assign Task component, a task will be created. This task and the corresponding link to the task page will be emailed to any users and emails specified in the component. It will also show up in the My Tasks page
What tasks appear in your inbox
Any task which has been assigned to your username or email will appear in your inbox. In addition to this, Editors and Admin users will see additional tasks as well.
Admins
Admins can see the following tasks in their inbox:
- All tasks assigned to their username or email
- All tasks assigned to external users originating from a workflow in the organization.
Admin view
Admin view is a toggle that appears in the task inbox for Admin users only. When switched on, the task inbox will display all tasks across all users. This allows admins to view and access any task within their organization.
Editors
Editors can see the following tasks in their inbox:
- All tasks assigned to their username or email
- All tasks assigned to external users originating from a workflow in the organization.
End User
End users can only see tasks assigned to their username or email.
Opening a task
Click on a task in your inbox to view it in a reading pane on the right:
Searching the task inbox
You can perform a search of your task inbox by typing in a query into the search field at the top of the inbox:
The search will apply across all task fields, including the workflow name, assigned users, task status and task details. The search will return the results with the search term highlighted:
Completing or submitting a task
A task operates the same way as you would a form using the Form Builder. When a workflow reaches an Assign Task step, it will create a task with its own URL. When the user navigates to that URL, it will open up the task for them to complete.
To complete or submit a task, click submit like as you would in a normal form. Once you click submit, the task is marked as complete and the workflow proceeds onto any subsequent actions.
Terminate a task
You can cancel or terminate a task by clicking the "Terminate" button and then "Confirm terminate task" to confirm this action:
This will only terminate the specific task selected. If there are other tasks in the same session run including tasks in other threads then these will also need to be terminated individually as well.
When a task is terminated, the link to that task is deactivated and can no longer be viewed or submitted.
Re-submitting a task
By default, tasks can be resubmitted as required by reloading the task link/URL.
Resubmitting a task works exactly the same way as submitting a task - once submitted/re-submitted, the workflow will run all steps after the task.
For example, re-submitting the Assign Task in the workflow below will re-run the email component after it.
The ability to resubmit tasks effectively allows you to re-run parts of a workflow. This can be useful when you need to correct mistakes, update certain inputs or information, or simply to allow parts of a workflow session to be re-run as required.
What happens when I resubmit a task?
Resubmitting a task has the following impacts on the session and data associated with it. The following workflow has been run and completed, but we will re-submit the assign task:
Session data before the task was re-submitted is archived
When you resubmit a task, a "snapshot" of the session data before the resubmission is taken and then saved as a previous run of the workflow.
You can view previous runs of a session via the dropdown on the progress view:
A new session run is created
As the task is re-submitted and all components following the task are re-run, this is saved as the latest run of the session.
Any downstream tasks are terminated
If you have a workflow where there are components that are currently in a waiting state (for example, further tasks or time delays), these components will be terminated to prevent them from being doubled up due to the resubmission and re-run.
How to enable tasks to be resubmitted
The ability to re-submit a task is controlled by this switch in the form settings:
You can disable the ability to resubmit tasks by tuning this setting from ON to READ ONLY or OFF. This is useful when you want task to be single use only i.e. it can only be submitted once.
Turning this setting OFF will mean once the task has been submitted, it cannot be viewed again or re-submitted. Turning this setting to READ ONLY will mean navigating to the task URL will open a read-only version of the submitted task. This cannot be edited or re-submitted.
Tracking who has opened and viewed a task
The task inbox tracks the number of times a task is opened, and the username if available of who has opened that task. You can find this tracking in the expanded task details:
Viewing and editing task details
The task details contains information such as who is assigned the task, its subject title, description, due date and so on. To view the task details, open a task in the My Tasks inbox and then click "expand details"
Editing the details of a task
You can also edit the details of a task at any time, including changing who it is assigned to, the due date, the title and description. To edit a task, open a task in your My Task inbox and then click "Edit Task"
You can edit the fields and properties of the task:
Once you have finished editing the task, click "Save Edits" to complete:
External tasks
Tasks can be assigned to you from another inside of your organization, or outside of your organization. When a task is assigned from a user outside of your organization, it is known as an external task. External tasks function the same as internal tasks (tasks assigned to you from workflows inside of your organization). You will find them in your task inbox, marked with a "[External]" in from of the subject line to let you know it is from a user outside of your organization.
When you submit an external task, it triggers the next step in an external workflow. You cannot terminate, view the progress or navigate to the workflow canvas from an external task - this is because this task was created and sent from a workflow inside another organization.