Manage transition actions in a template

You use transitions to tell Inspire what to do when an Activity in a workflow is completed. For example, after the first review, you can create a transition to have Inspire send the files for approval. If there is also an Action that needs to be done, such as Take a snapshot, you can create it and add it to the Transition.

Inspire workflow templates are designed around an Activity.

  • Activities are connected by transitions.
  • A Transition can contain an Action.

    At this time, Inspire does not process an Action.

    You can use Actions to:

    • Note a process that is completed outside of Inspire, such as Hire a copy editor.

    • Specify something a user should do after Inspire completes the transition, such as Take a snapshot.

  • You can create an Action first and then select it when creating a Transition.
  • You can create a Transition without an Action and add it later.
  • A Transition can only include one Action.

What do you want to do?

Create an action

You can create an Action to note an extra process that occurs manually. After you create an Action you can select it when creating or updating a Transition.

At this time, Inspire does not process an Action.

To create an action:

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.
  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.
  4. In the workflow editor, go to the toolbar and select Actions.
  5. On the Action Management screen, click Create.
  6. On the Create Action screen, in Name, enter a unique title that describes a manual step that occurs during a transition.
  7. Optionally, in Description, you can enter more details about what the user should do to complete this action.
  8. To save your changes, click Create.
    Results:
    • You can see your new action listed on the Action Management screen.
    • You can select your new action when creating or updating a Transition.
    You can now:
    • If you are done updating the workflow, to close the workflow editor, click Save and Submit.
    • If you want to keep working but save your changes locally, click Save Progress.
    • If you want to make other changes to a review workflow, continue to Update the review workflow template.
    • If you want to make other changes to a topic workflow, continue to Update the topic workflow template.

Add an action to a transition

After you create an Action you can select it when updating a Transition.

To add an action when creating a transition, follow the steps in Create a transition.

To add an action to a transition:

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.
  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.
  4. In the workflow editor, find the Transition you want to update.
  5. In the transition's title bar, click Update.
  6. On the Update Transition screen, in Action, select the manual action you want completed at the time of this transition.
  7. To save your changes, click Update.
    Results:
    • The transition includes the Action information.
    • When Inspire sends a notification about the transition, the Action information is included.
    • At this time, Inspire does not process the Action but you can complete it manually.
    You can now:
    • If you are done updating the workflow, to close the workflow editor, click Save and Submit.
    • If you want to keep working but save your changes locally, click Save Progress.
    • If you want to make other changes to a review workflow, continue to Update the review workflow template.
    • If you want to make other changes to a topic workflow, continue to Update the topic workflow template.

Remove an action from a transition

If you don't need an action to be completed at the time of a transition, you can remove it from the transition.

If you aren't using an action anymore and don't need to select it when you create or update a transition, you can delete it. However, you must remove the action from any transition where it is being used before you can permanently delete the action.

To remove an action from a transition:

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.
  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.
  4. In the workflow editor, find the Transition you want to update.
  5. In the transition's title bar, click Update.
  6. On the Update Transition screen, in Action, select the text and use the backspace key on your keyboard to remove the text.
  7. To save your changes, click Update.
    Results:
    • The transition no longer includes the Action information.
    • When Inspire sends a notification about the transition, the Action information is no longer included.
    You can now:
    • If you are done updating the workflow, to close the workflow editor, click Save and Submit.
    • If you want to keep working but save your changes locally, click Save Progress.
    • If you want to make other changes to a review workflow, continue to Update the review workflow template.
    • If you want to make other changes to a topic workflow, continue to Update the topic workflow template

Update an action

After you create an Action you can change its Name and Description.

To update an action:

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.
  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.
  4. In the workflow editor, go to the toolbar and select Actions.
  5. On the Action Management screen, find the action you want to change and click Update.
  6. On the Update Action screen, in Name, edit the unique title that describes a manual step that occurs during a transition.
  7. In Description, edit the details about what the user should do to complete this action.
  8. To save your changes, click Update.
    Results:
    • You can see your updated action listed on the Action Management screen.
    • You can select your updated action when creating or updating a Transition.
    You can now:
    • If you are done updating the workflow, to close the workflow editor, click Save and Submit.
    • If you want to keep working but save your changes locally, click Save Progress.
    • If you want to make other changes to a review workflow, continue to Update the review workflow template.
    • If you want to make other changes to a topic workflow, continue to Update the topic workflow template.

Delete an action

If you don't need to select an action when you create or update a transition, you can permanently delete it from the list on the Action Management screen.

You can't delete an Action if it's used in a Transition.

To remove an action from the workflow:

  1. For each transition in your workflow, follow the steps in Remove an action from a transition.
  2. If the action that you want to remove permanently is listed, remove it.

To delete an action from the list:

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.
  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.
  4. In the workflow editor, go to the toolbar and select Actions.
  5. On the Actions Management screen, find the action you want to delete and select Remove.
  6. On the confirmation screen, click Yes.
  7. On the Actions Management screen, click Save.
    Results:
    • The selected action is no longer listed on the Actions Management screen.
    • When you create or update a transition, you can no longer select the action.
    You can now:
    • If you are done updating the workflow, to close the workflow editor, click Save and Submit.
    • If you want to keep working but save your changes locally, click Save Progress.
    • If you want to add a new transition to replace the one you deleted, Create a transition.
    • If you want to make other changes to a review workflow, continue to Update the review workflow template.
    • If you want to make other changes to a topic workflow, continue to Update the topic workflow template.