Workflows in the Web Portal

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What to Know

• The Workflows feature is only available with the SmartUse Pro-Package. For further information, visit our pricing page.

• Workflows are any process or document type that the field team needs to manage or keep track of. Refer to the Workflow Types section for more information.

• Workflows can be used to initiate, track and resolve standard company items so that:

  • The work is completed

  • You have a detailed project record in one location

  • The information is on file so you can refer to it in the future

See below for instructions to:

Enable Workflows

Workflow Types

• Examples of Uses for Workflows

• Default Workflows

  • Default Workflow Statuses

• Custom Workflows

  • Custom Workflow Statuses

Add a Workflow

• Editing a Workflow

• Deleting a Workflow

Create a Workflow Item

• Workflow Sections

  • General

  • Description

  • Comments

  • Related Items

• Action Buttons

Workflow List Page

• Generate XLS

• + Create

• Filter and Search

• Hiding and Showing Columns

• Workflow List Columns

Workflow Emails

Enable Workflows

Customers who already have the SmartUse Pro-package will automatically get Workflows. If you are not yet a Pro customer, reach out to our Customer Success team to ask to start today.

1. To enable Workflows on a project, in ORGANIZATION INFO > Projects click the three dots next to a project.

   NOTE

   If you have the Pro-package, when creating a new project (+Create New Project), Workflows will automatically be enabled.

2. When clicking the three dots, click Edit project.

3. Go the the FEATURES tab.

4. Toggle the Workflows button.

5. Click SAVE PROJECT.

Workflow Types

Workflows are not restrictions when it comes to moving from status to status. Workflows can occupy any statuses in any order and can revert to a previous statuses if required.

Although, Draft and Open statuses have a more editable appearance as Closed and Void have a more closed appearance while still being fully editable.

Default Workflows

Default Workflows are workflows that are already built-in SmartUse and have a set of special predefined statuses.

The Default workflows are the following:

• Requests for Information (RFIs)

  

• Change Orders (COs)

  

• Potential Change Orders (PCOs)

  

• Shop Drawings

  

• Submittals

  

• Tasks

  

Default Workflow Statuses

Status types are used within Smartuse to categorize statuses so that items act correctly and intuitively in the system.

• Draft: Items that have been started, but need more information to be acted upon.

• Open: Items that are being worked on.

• Closed: Items that are finished.

• Void: Items that are no longer necessary.

*If an item is moved to an open or closed status type more than once, the Opened and closed dates will reflect the last date it entered that status type.

All of these statuses have the same fluidity as the custom workflows as they can all move from any status in any order.

Examples of Uses for Workflows

Custom Workflows

What process or documents does your team need to manage?

In addition to the default SmartUse Workflows, you can add as many Workflow types as your team needs.

Custom Workflow Statuses

Add a Workflow

1. Click the three dots next to the project for which you want to add a Workflow.

2. Click Edit project.

3. Select the WORKFLOW tab.

4. In the New Workflow section, fill in the following:

   • WORKFLOW NAME (SINGULAR): The name of the workflow how it will appear in emails.

   • WORKFLOW NAME (PLURAL): The name of the workflow how it will appear in the SmartUse navigation menu and in emails.

   • WORKFLOW PREFIX: The prefix added to the automatic numbering of the workflow in SmartUse.

5. To add more workflows, click +Add workflow and this will add another workflow section to fill in.

6. Click SAVE PROJECT.

7. The new workflow will appear in the left-side navigation menu.

Editing a Workflow

1. Click the three dots next to the project for which you want to add a Workflow.

2. Click Edit project.

3. Select the WORKFLOW tab.

4. Click the dropdown arrow next to the workflow you want to edit.

5. Apply any required changes.

6. Click SAVE PROJECT.

Deleting a Workflow Type

You can delete a Workflow type that:

• Doesn’t have any items associated with it

• All items in the Workflow are set to a Voided status type.

1. Click the three dots next to the project for which you want to add a Workflow.

2. Click Edit project.

3. Select the WORKFLOW tab.

4. Click the dropdown arrow next to the workflow you want to delete.

5. Click Delete Workflow.

6. Click YES, to confirm that you want to delete the workflow permanently.

7. Click SAVE PROJECT.

8. The deleted workflow will no longer appear in the left-side navigation menu.

Determine which Workflows Appear in Left-side Navigation

Workflows can be toggled off so they don’t appear in the left-side navigation menu. They can be toggled back on again at any time.

Create a Workflow Item

After adding a workflow type to the project, the new workflow type will appear in the left-side navigation menu. From there, a workflow item can be created in that category.

1. Click the workflow type in the left side navigation menu for which you want to create a workflow.

2. Click +Create.

3. This will bring you to the Workflow Item View window.

4. The workflow will have a Draft status when first created and will be given an automatic number with the prefix and four zeros.

5. Fill in the sections described bellow.

Workflow Sections

General

• TITLE: Give a descriptive title to the workflow item.

• NUMBER: The workflow number is given automatically and cannot be changed. It will change automatically when passing to an Opened or Closed status type.

• RAISED BY: Name of the user who raised the process or issue as a workflow. This defaults to the user entering the item, however it can be changed to none or to any user on the project. Note that the Viewer and Reviewer can be set as the Raised By person, although they may not be able to see the item.

• DUE DATE: Click the calendar and select the date at which the process or issue must be resolved.

• REFERENCE NUMBER: Add any numbering system that may be required by your organization.

• ASSIGNEE(S): Select which user(s) to assign the workflow item to.

• STATUS: The current status of the workflow item. Note that, in order to change the item to an Opened or Closed status type, the item must have a Title.

Description

• Description: Enter a complete description for the workflow item.

• More Information: Add any relevant information relating to the process or issue raised in the workflow.

• Resolution: Enter details about how the process or issue has been resolved and any other details relating to the resolution. These fields are flexible and can be used for different content, based on the different Workflow types. For example, for an RFI, Description should include the question and Resolution should include the answer. In a CO example, Description can be used for the scope, More Information can be used for the pricing and Resolution can be used for approval purposes.

Comments

• Comments: Comment about the Workflow. This is where a back and forth discussion about the item can happen.

1. To add a new comment about the Workflow itself, enter your information in the Add a comment field. You can enter multiple lines of comments.

2. Click the arrow to send.

3. The new comment will be added into the Comments section including the following information:

   • Initials of the user who made the comment

   • The comment itself

   • Date and time the comment was made

Related Items

• Upload photos: Photos that may be relevant to the Workflow.

• Link Project Documents: Any documents that you have uploaded in the project that may be relevant to the Workflow.

Photos

1. Click Upload photos.

2. Select how you want to upload the photo(s):

   • Drop photo(s) here: Drag and drop your photo file into the box and click Upload. To add multiple photos, click +Add more.

   • Local photos: Navigate to find the photo that you want and click Upload.

   • Local Camera: Take a photo with your computer's camera and click Upload. To add multiple photos, click +Add more.

   • Direct link: Paste the URL of where the photo is located, click Import and then Upload. To add multiple photos, click +Add more.

3. Click Done.

4. A thumbnail of the photo(s) will appear in the Related Items section.

5. Click the three dot menu to:

   • Edit: Add Notes.

   • Remove

Documents

1. Click Link Project Documents.

2. Navigate to the folder where the document(s) is located. Check the folder or document(s).

3. Remove any unwanted document(s) by clicking the X next to the document in the file selected section.

4. Click LINK.

5. A thumbnail of the document will appear in the Related Items section.

6. Click the three dot menu to:

   • Edit: Make edits to the Document details. Only NOTES can be edited.

   • Download: Download the Document to you internet downloads.

   • Open Linked Document: Brings you to the current version of the document in the Documents tab, in the document viewer.

   • Remove: Allows removing the document from the Workflow.

Action Buttons

• Jump to: Jump to a specific section of the Workflow. Click to drop down to access the Workflow sections.

• Generate PDF Report: Allows generating a PDF report of the Workflow item which can be download by clicking the download arrow.
  

• Three Dot Menu:
  

  • Copy Submittal Link: Allows copying the Workflow link to be pasted into another browser tab or window.

  • Collapse All: Allows collapsing all Workflow sections which can then be individually expanded by clicking the dropdown arrow.

  • Expand All: Allows expanding all workflow sections after they have been collapsed.

Workflow List Page

Once a Workflow Item is added to the Workflow category, it's added to the Workflow List.

When you select a Workflow Category from the left navigation menu, you land on the Workflow List page, which gives you a quick preview of how many Workflow items have been created.

Double clicking on an item will open it.

Clicking the three dots or right clicking on one of the Workflow Items allows:

• Opening the Workflow Item

• Copying the Submittal Link

• Generating a PDF Report

Clicking on a Workflow item allows opening it.

Generate XLS

Allows generating a XLS Report of the Workflow Item and downloading by clicking on the download arrow.

+ Create

Allows creating a new Workflow Item. See the Create a Workflow Item section for details.

Filters and Search

1. You can use quick filters to display only what you select:

   • My items: The Workflow items that have been assigned to you.

   • Overdue: The Workflow items that are already overdue.

   • All Item:

     • Save View As: Save the current view including:

       NOTE

       The saved view will only apply to the current user on the specific current Workflow item, and in the Web Portal.

       • Grouping

       • Filter and search

       • Shown/hidden columns

       • Column ordering

       • Sort order

       • Column widths

       • Pinned columns

     • All Items: All the Workflow Items

     • Overdue: Only the Workflow Items that are overdue.

     • Drafts + Open: The Workflow Items that have been created and are either in Draft or Open statuses.

     • Assigned to me: Workflows Items that are assigned to you.

2. The List view will update automatically to display only what you have selected.

Use the Search bar to search Workflow items by key words. As you type, the most relevant search results will be displayed.

Hiding and Showing Columns

1. Click the column icon in the upper right corner.

2. Select or deselect the column that you want to display.
   NOTE: Using the doted icon on the left of the column name, you can drag and drop to cha ge the order of the columns.

3. The Workflow Item list will update automatically.

Workflow List Columns

• STATUS: The current status of the Workflow Item.

• NUMBER: The automatic number that was given to the Workflow Item.

• REF #: If any was entered, the reference number that was given during creation for the Workflow Item.

• TITLE / DESCRIPTION: The Title and the description that was entered during the creation of the Workflow Item.

• ASSIGNEE(S): The name of the user to whom the Workflow Item is assigned to.

• OPENED DATE: The date that the Workflow Item was most recently moved to a Closed status type.

• DUE DATE: The date that the Workflow Item is due to be closed.

• CLOSED DATE: If applies, date on which the Workflow Items was closed.

• RAISED BY: The name of the user who raised the Workflow Item.

• TITLE: The title that was given to the Workflow Item during creation.

• DESCRIPTION: The description that was given to the Workflow Item during creation.

• MORE INFORMATION: What was entered in the More Information field.

• RESOLUTION: Information about how the issue was resolved and that was entered in the Resolution field.

• CREATED ON: The date that the Workflow type was created.

• CREATED BY: The name of the user who created the Workflow type.

The order of the columns can be changed by dragging and dropping them into the new location. Also, if a column title is dragged outside the list, it will remove it from the view.

Filtering the Columns

When hovering over a column heading, a three dot vertical menu will appear. This allows resizing and pinning columns. The STATUS column also allows Grouping by statuses.

Also, when hovering over a column heading, the following column allows applying filters:

• ASSIGNEE(S)

• OPENED DATE

• STATUS

• CLOSED DATE

• RAISED BY

• CREATED ON

• CREATED BY

Check the box for the filter you want applied.

Workflow Emails

NOTE

Workflow emails are not sent to the the user who has triggered the email. Only report emails are sent to the user who triggered it.

Notification emails are always only send once. For example, if both the creator and the “raised by” are the same user, they will only receive one email.

The following table illustrates when and why workflow emails are sent:

Next Steps

Now that you have gotten familiar with Workflows in the Web Portal, you are ready to explore the:

Workflows in the SmartUse

Related Articles

Workflows in the SmartUse App

Workflows Permission by Role