Add an action to a transition

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 tell the user to 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.

Tips and tricks

  • Inspire does not provide any default Actions that are manually completed by a user. If you haven't created any yet, follow the steps in: Create an action in a template.
  • 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.
  • An Action is unique to the template it's included in.
  • If you want to use the new or updated Action in a different template, you have to re-create it in that specific template.
  • You can also use an Action to tell Inspire to perform an automated task.

    Currently there are three option available for an automated Action:

    • InspireCreateReview

      • By default, the Transition from the Developing topics Activity to the Reviewing content Activity is completed manually by the user in the Writer Workgroup.

      • To automate the process, you can add an Action to have Inspire open a new Create Review screen automatically and populate any known details so the workflow user can quickly create the review and advance the workflow to the next stage (Reviewing).

      • This Action is only available in the Topic Workflow template.
      • You must configure it exactly as described in Add a Create Review Action to a topic workflow template. Otherwise, Inspire won't understand the Action as an automated process.

    • InspireCreateApproval

      • This action is meant to be used on an inbound transition (From).

      • When a workflow is advanced to a new task that has this action, the user is prompted to include referenced components.

      • After that prompt, a notification is sent to all users in the workgroup for the task and then the workflow advances to the next task.

    • InspireApprove
      • This action is meant to be used on an outbound transition (To).
      • When a task is completed with this action, the components are approved.
      • If Electronic Signature is turned on, the user is asked to add their signature.
  • If you want to just manage the available Actions, follow the steps in: Manage actions in a template.

Before you begin

  • The changes to a Transition will be applied to all new workflows that are started using this template.
  • For workflows that use this template and are in progress:
    • If the Transition you are updating has not occurred yet, the changes will be applied when the workflows moves to the updated Transition.
    • If the Transition you are updating has already been completed, the changes will not be applied.

To add an action to a transition:

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.

    If you have moved the template to another folder, go that location instead.

  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.

    To open the template, do one of the following:

    • Double-click the file
    • Right-click the file, and then select Edit...
    • Click the Options menu, and then select Edit...
    Results: You see the workflow activities and transitions in the editor.
  4. In the workflow editor, select the Transition you want to update.
    Result: The box you select has an orange highlight around it.

  5. In the Transition's title bar, click Update Transition.

    Result: The Update Transition screen opens.

  6. In Action, do one of the following:
    1. Select the manual action you want completed at the time of this transition.

      If you don't see the option you need, Cancel out of this update and follow the steps in: Create an action in a template.

    2. Enter one of the following text strings that tells Inspire to complete an automatic action:
      • InspireCreateReview (Open a new Create Review screen automatically.)
      • InspireCreateApproval (Used on an inbound transition to open an Approval screen)
      • InspireApprove (Used on an outbound transition to approve components)
  7. To save your changes to the Transition, click Update.
    Results:
    • The transition now includes the Action information.
    • When Inspire sends a notification about the transition, the Action information is included.
  8. To save your changes to the template, do one of the following:
    • 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.
    Results:
    • The changes to a Transition will be applied to all new workflows that are started using this template.
    • For workflows that use this template and are in progress:
      • If the Transition you are updating has not occurred yet, the changes will be applied when the workflows moves to the updated Transition.
      • If the Transition you are updating has already been completed, the changes will not be applied.