Each workflow is a set of steps that are used to process a record. Each step can be represented by a state. States can be used in one or multiple workflows. After adding states to a workflow, create transitions, or paths, to move records from one state to another and state groups to create collections of states to be used in reports and workflow settings.

Topics Covered In This Section

Adding a State - how to add a new state.
Properties of a State - describes general properties of a state.
Editing a State - how to edit an existing state.
Deleting a State - how to delete a state and conditions that must be met.
State Groups - describes what state groups are and how to view them.
Adding a State Group - how to add a state group.
Editing a State Group - how to edit state groups.
Adding or Removing States From a State Group - how to manage state groups.
Deleting a State Group - how to delete a state group.
Managing States in a Workflow - how to add or remove states to/from a workflow.

Adding a State

To add a new state:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Click on the Add State button
6. Make selections in the options presented
7. Click on the OK button to save the new state
8. Click OK to return to the Global States List or click on the Add Another State button to create another state.

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Properties of a State

State Name
Name of the state

Order
The order of the state. This will determine the order in which it appears in the Global States List and a workflow's Available States list. You may wish to order the states according to their place in a workflow process. For example, if Reported is the first state for the default workflow, you may want to specify "0" as the order for this state. States which have the same value specified in the order field will be listed alphabetically.

Transition Label Style
The style of the labels that will be displayed when a transition is displayed in the Task operation. You can choose from three types of label styles:

• Radio
  Transition options will be displayed as a radio button selection (listed vertically).

• Buttons
  Transition options will be displayed as clickable buttons (listed horizontally).

• Pulldown
  Transition options will be listed in a single pulldown menu.

• Vertical Button
  Transition options will be displayed as clickable buttons (listed vertically).

Instruction Message
The instructional message for this state. The message appears whenever a user performs the Task operation on a record that is in this state. This can be used to instruct the user to select a transition for the state or to provide general information about tasking the record. Up to 255 characters can be entered. The transition image in the Marking a Task Complete section of the User Guide shows an example of the Instruction Message above all the listed Transitions.

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Editing a State

To edit a state:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Click on the Edit button listed to the left of the state you wish to modify
6. Make the desired changes to the state's properties
7. Click OK to save the changes

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Deleting a State

Before a state can be deleted, Tracker will check if any of the following conditions exist. If any of the conditions exist, you will be prompted to make changes to select a replacement or change the configuration accordingly:

• Whether the state is selected as the Default Add State for any forms in workflows that contain the state you are deleting
• Whether the state is added to any workflows
• Whether the state is selected in the Status field for any records

• Whether the state is selected for "New State" in any transitions
• Whether the state is selected in any Email Rules
• Whether the state is selected as part of the criteria in any Saved Queries or Metrics
• Whether the state is selected as the Default State for Incoming Mail
• Whether the state is selected for publishing articles to the Knowledge Base

To delete a state:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Check the Used In Workflows column. If there are any workflows listed, click on the OK button to return to the Workflows section.

   Select a workflow that was listed in the Used In Workflows column in the Workflows pulldown at the top. The page will be refreshed to display the properties of the selected workflow.

   Click on the + icon to the left of a form in the Forms section. Check to ensure that the state you wish to delete is not listed as the Default Add State for the form. If the state is selected as the Default Add State for a form, click on the Manage link to the right of Default Add State Settings. Select another state for Default Add State to replace the one you wish to delete. You may have to apply this change to other values in a pulldown if the Default Add State setting is based on a particular pulldown field. Click OK to save the changes and click OK again to return to the Workflows section. Repeat this step for any other forms which have the state selected as the Default Add State.

   Click on the Manage link to the right of States. Click on the state you wish to delete and click on the Remove button. If there are any related items, you will be prompted to delete the items or select a replacement state. Click OK to save the change and click OK to return to the States for a Workflow section. Click OK again to return to the Workflows section. Repeat the above steps for any other workflows that were listed in the Used In Workflows column.

   Click on the Global States button

6. Click on the Delete button listed to the left of the state you wish to remove. Click OK to confirm the operation. Click OK again to confirm and click OK once again after the state has been deleted.

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Often when formulating criteria for queries and charts or setting up a workflow, you may wish to limit the criteria or the workflow options to a particular group of states. Tracker allows you to do this by defining State Groups. A State Group is a collection of workflow states that appears as a choice on the Query, Metrics, and Workflow sections. One example of using state groups is to create a state group which contains only those states in which records are considered active (e.g. all records which are not closed, on hold or in any other state where they are not being actively processed). This "Active" state group could be used when running reports to limit the data returned by the report to only "active" records.

By default, a state group called "All", which contains all states, is available. To view the state groups currently available in the workgroup:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin.
2. Click on the Admin icon.
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Click on the State Groups button
6. The state groups will be listed in alphabetical order. The States In This State Group column shows the states which are included in the state group.

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Adding a State Group

To add a State Group:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin.
2. Click on the Admin icon.
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Click on the State Groups button
6. Click on the Add State Group button
7. Enter a name in the State Group Name, then click on the OK button
8. Click on the Add States to this State Group button to add states to the new state group or click OK to return to the State Groups section
9. To add states to the state group, click on a state in the Available Global States column, then click on the Add button to move it to the States In This State Group column. Repeat this until all states you wish to add are in the States In This State Group column.
10. Click OK to return to the State Groups page

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Editing a State Group

To edit a state group:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin.
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Click on the State Groups button
6. Click on the Edit button to the right of the state group you wish to modify
7. Edit the name of the state group by changing the State Group Name field
8. Click OK to save the change
9. Click OK when the confirmation page is displayed to return to the State Groups section

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Adding or Removing States From a State Group

To add or remove states from a state group:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Click on the State Groups button
6. Click on the States button to the left of the state group you wish to modify
7. To remove a state from the state group, click on the state in the States In This State Group column, then click on the Remove. To add a state to the state group, click on the state in the Available Global States column, then click on the Add button.
8. Click on the OK button to return to the State Groups section

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Deleting a State Group

When removing a state group, Tracker will check the following items and ask you to either select a replacement for the state group you are removing or choose to delete the related item:

• Whether the state group is selected for the Allowed Add States option in a Workflow Form
• Whether the state group is selected for the "Articles in these State(s) are visible" option in the Knowledge Base Preferences
• Whether the state is selected in any Email Rules
• Whether the state group is selected for "New State" in the Prompt with <State Group> in any transitions
• Whether the state is selected as part of the criteria in any Saved Queries or Metrics

To delete a state group:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Click on the Global States button
5. Click on the State Groups button
6. Click on the Delete button to the left of the state group you wish to modify, then click OK to confirm the action

   If the state group is selected for the Allowed Add States option in a Workflow Form or is selected for the "Articles in these State(s) are visible" option in the Knowledge Base Preferences, you will be prompted to select a different state group for these options before you can delete the state group. Change the options mentioned and then repeat the above steps to delete the state group

   If the state group is selected in any Email Rules, is selected for "New State" in the Prompt with <State Group> in any transitions, or is selected as part of the criteria in any Saved Queries or Metrics, you will be prompted to either select a replacement or delete the items. Click OK after selecting replacements / deleting related items.

7. Click OK after the state group has been deleted

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States can be added or removed from a workflow on the Workflows page. Expanding a state listed in the States section for a workflow will display the state's Next States, Transitions, Transition properties, Task Fields and Alerts. Next States are states selected as the "New State" for a transition configured in the selected state. For example, if you have expanded the "Reported" state and it has a transition that will move records to the "Scheduled" state, The Scheduled state will be listed in "Next States" for the Reported state.

To add or remove states from a workflow:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the Workflows link
4. Select the workflow in the Workflows pulldown at the top of the page. The page will be refreshed to display the properties of the selected workflow.
5. Click on the Manage link to the right of States for the workflow you wish to modify
6. The states in the States In Use column are states currently used by the selected workflow. The states in the States Not In Use column are states that are not currently used by the selected workflow. The states available for selection in the States Not In Use column are the states created in the Global States List.

   To add a state to the workflow, click on a state in the States Not In Use column, then click on the Add button. To remove a state from the workflow, click on the state in the States In Use column, then click on the Remove button.

7. Click OK to return to the Workflows section or click on a state and click on the Transitions button to manage the transitions for a state. Details about managing transitions can be found in the Workflow Transitions Help section.

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