Overview
This is a manual action that signals there is a task that needs to be done so this file can continue its processing.
The examples are:
- A person's onboarding process that requires the task of creating a payment account, getting the necessary office setup, opening company email etc
- A task of storing the Petty Cash Expenses, which requires updating the excel document with all the payments in the last month, calculating the total balance, stapling receipts, putting it in the envelope for that month and sending it to the HR department for further processing.
So, the custom task process goes like this:
- User puts a file into the workflow
- Custom task performer(s) get a notification saying there are tasks to perform
- When they open the file, there is a Custom Task action (with the specified task name) in the action bar and a task description on the right, File History side. Task description should usually include the list of tasks that need to be performed so the Custom Task may be considered completed
- After the Custom Task is completed, the file continues its processing
Rules
- The Custom Task action is different from other actions because its name is dynamic (the workflow creator picks it). That custom name is then used wherever the custom task is displayed - on all schemas, as the action name in the Action Bar of the File View, as a status in file lists, in the notification text.
- Its configuration includes specifying:
- Custom Task Name (that should be short so it can be displayed everywhere)
- Description that the task performers will see once they start performing the task
- The description can be left empty. In that case, it will not be displayed on the File View.
- Users who can perform the task
- Performers may be specific users of the organisation or be decided dynamically from the form data (user type)
- The "x files require you to perform the custom task" notification is sent to ALL the designated performers
- It's one notification for one Custom Task action. So, if there are two jobs with 5 files in the Custom Task action, it will say: "10 files require you to perform the custom task"
- It leads to the workflow's To-do List with Custom Task action filter selected
- When someone marks the task as completed first, the notification disappears for others
- When a file is in Custom Task status, it will have:
- An additional action, named by the specified Custom Task Name. That action will mark the custom task as completed.
- Just the basic set of actions for the person who added them (Comment, Download, Delete)
- The notification and permission rules for the Custom Task action are very similar to the other manual actions we have, such as Approve, Simple Sign, Willow Sign and Personal Digital Certificate
- When there are multiple task performers specified, anyone can complete the task.
- As soon as a task is marked as completed, the file continues with the workflow (even if there are other files in the job still waiting for the task completion)
- If a person is set to be a custom task perfomer of some action in a workflow, they will be able to access all the files in the workflow. This even overrides rules made in Who can use the workflow section of workflow configuration.
- If a user is a task performer and restricted to use the workflow (all deselected in Who can use the workflow), they will be able to see the notification even if they don't see the workflow tile. The notification will lead them to the Workflow Detailed View > To-do List and they will still be allowed to go through screens there, even if they are set not to be able to use the workflow.
- If a person who is the last task performer in some Custom Task action gets deleted, the workflow becomes invalid because no one can unblock files stuck in the Custom Task action. Therefore, we send a "There is no one to perform a task" notification to:
- All the people who can edit the workflow, if any
- If there are no users with Can Edit rights, the notification is sent to all administrators, as a fallback
- The notification leads to the Edit Workflow Screen. Problematic action is marked with an exclamation mark icon.
- Dates, numbers, and yes/no fields (included in this action as metadata options) are shown in user language (from Personal Settings) both during Custom task execution and in file history when the action is finished.