Start a review workflow from an assignment

When you're working on assignments for a project, you can convert that one assignment into a workflow with multiple tasks that are automated by Inspire. After you select the project assignment, you can select an action called Initiate workflow. Inspire marks the assignment as completed and opens the Start a workflow screen.

Tips and tricks

  • The assignment must be in one of the following States to use the Initiate workflow option:
    • To Do
    • In Progress
  • If the Initiate workflow option is not available, the assignment is already being used in another workflow.
  • Inspire checks to see if the component(s) you want to add are in another assignment, project workflow or review workflow. You see warnings if a component is already in use. If you want, you can close the warnings and create the assignment or workflow anyway.
  • You can edit the default topic workflow template or save a copy to update it so that it reflects your unique business workflows.

Required permissions

Project permissions

To work with projects you must have permission to the Projects Module.

  • By default, only users with the following permissions can create project workflows and assignments:
    • Administrator permissions
    • Access to the Project Module with the Create permission
  • Even if you don't have these permissions, you can be granted a special permission to create workflows and project assignments after a project is created.

Workflow permissions

To create, view, update, and delete workflows you must either be an Administrator, the project Owner, or have the following permissions:

Review workflow permissions.

To work with Review workflows, you also need:

  • Create, read, update, and delete permissions to the Reviews module.

To start a review workflow from an assignment:

  1. From the top menu bar, select Projects.
  2. On the Project Management tab, find the project where you want to start a workflow.
  3. To open the project, do one of the following:
    • Double-click in the project's row.
    • Right-click in the project's row and select Open.
    • Go to the end of the project's row, click the Options menu, and select Open.
  4. Go to the Assignments panel.

    If the panel is not open, go to the Assignments title bar and click the down arrow to expand the panel.

  5. Select the assignment you want to convert to a workflow.

    The assignment must be in the following State to use the Initiate workflow option:

    • To Do
    • In Progress
  6. At the end of the assignment's row, select the Options menu, and then select Initiate workflow.

    If the Initiate workflow option is not available, the assignment is already being used in another workflow.

  7. On the Complete Assignment screen, click Yes.

    Results:

    • Inspire marks the assignment as Completed. Even if you cancel out of starting a workflow, the assignment will remain marked as Completed.
    • Inspire notifies the user who was assigned to this work and the project Owner that the assignment was Completed.
    • Inspire opens the Start a workflow screen.
  8. On the Start Workflow screen:
    1. Select Sequential Reviewer Workflow or a review workflow template that you customized.
    2. Click Next.

      Results: The Create Review screen opens.

      Notice in the bottom left corner of the screen that this screen is Step 1 of 2.

  9. On the Create Review screen, in the top section:
    1. In Title, enter a unique name using 50 characters or less.
    2. In Coordinator, by default your user account is listed. Optionally you can select another user who is an Administrator, the project Owner, or has the required permissions.
    3. In Approver, by default your user account is listed as the user who must fill out the information on the Review Approval screen before a review can be completed. You can change the default to assign the approver role to any Inspire user that has permissions to work on reviews.
    4. Optionally, in Start By you can set the date you want work to start on if you don't want the workflow started immediately after you create the workflow.

      Optionally you can also set a time. Select the blue checkbox and then select a time from the dropdown list.

    5. Optionally you can set a deadline in Due By. You can do one of the following:
      • Add more time by extending the due date out
      • Add a new due date if there is no default
      • Leave this value blank
      Optionally you can also set a time. Select the blue checkbox and then select a time from the dropdown list.
    6. Optionally, you can add a Description of 3000 characters or less.
    7. By default, Resolving state restricts discussion is not selected. If you want you can restrict work in the Collaboration panel when a review has a State of Resolving, you can select this option.

      If you don't select this option, all users participating in the review can edit or delete messages in the Component Discussions and Discussions (for the entire review) panes even after all users have completed their reviews.

    8. Optionally you can specify what content should be shown to the reviewer by applying a filter of profiling attributes.
      • To add a filter, click Add Filter. On the Filter profiling attributes screen, select the checkbox for a group of filters or any individual filters and then click Select. The filters are listed after the Clear Filter button.
      • To remove some filters, click Add Filter again and on the Filter profiling attributes screen, clear the filter's checkbox. To save your changes click Select. The updated filters are listed after the Clear Filter button.
      • To remove all filters, click Clear Filter. Instead of filters being listed, you see the text No filters.
    9. Make sure the workflow template you want to use is listed in Template.

      If you need to change the template, you must click Cancel and start over.

  10. On the Create Review screen, in the Components section:

    1. To add a component to the review, click Add Components...
    2. On the Select Project Components screen:

      i. Select the checkbox for the project components you want to include in the review.

      ii. To find components, use the search query.

      Search tips:

      • In Search, enter text that is used in the name of the component.
      • By default, the search is limited to the current folder. To expand the search, in Within, select Current and Subfolders, or All folders
      • To see search results, click the magnifying glass search_button.

        You see component results. If there are more than 25 records, scroll to additional pages to see more results.

      iii. Click Select.

      Result: The Select Project Components screen closes and you are returned to the Create Review screen.

    3. Optionally, to re-order the topics, select one, drag it to a new place in the list, and then drop it. You can also re-order the list by selecting a component and using the Up and Down arrows to move it.
    4. Optionally, you can clear the Review checkbox to specify that a topic is Context Only (for reference, maps, images, and locked components).
    5. Optionally, to remove a component, select the Options menu and then select Remove.
    6. Optionally, you can open the component to make sure it's the one you want. Select the Options menu and then Go To. This option opens the Components browser (if not already opened) and selects the component.
      If you add unlocked components to a review, and the components have one or more attachments:

      • If the attachment is a binary component, it is added as one of the following:

        • If the binary is unlocked, it is added as In Review

        • If the binary is locked, it is added as Context Only

      • If the attachment is not a binary and it is unlocked, it is added as In Review

  11. On the Create Review screen, in the Reviewers section:

    1. Click Add Reviewer.

      Result: You see the Select Users/Roles screen.

    2. To add an individual User, in the Available Users/Roles list, select the checkbox next to their name.

      Tips and tricks: If the list is large or you only want to see a certain type of role or user, you can narrow the list in the following ways:

      • To see only names that contain a word or specific letters, in Filter, enter text. For example you can find names that contain "admin", or "review". You can't search for text in any other column except Name.
      • To see all users and roles but sorted by Name, Security Type, or User Type, click the column heading and then click the grey arrow.
      • To see all roles listed first, sort the list by Security Type in ascending order. Click the Security Type column heading, click the grey arrow, and then select Sort Ascending.
      • To see all users listed first, sort the list by Security Type in descending order. Click the Security Type column heading, click the grey arrow, and then select Sort Descending.
      • To sort by Name or User Type you can also use the Sort By dropdown box.
      • By default, names with a User Type of Support are not included in the list. To see these users, select the Include support users option
    3. To add all members of a Role at once without having to select all the individual user checkboxes, select a Role.

      Tips:

      • To see the list of users you will be adding, go to the Details pane and look in Memberships.
      • If necessary, you can remove individual users after you click Select.
    4. When you are done choosing users and roles, click Select.

      Results:

      • You are returned to the Create Review screen.
      • The selected users appear in the Reviewers list.
      • If you selected a Role, the members are listed individually in the Reviewers list.
      • To remove a user, in the user's row, select the Options menu, and then select Remove
    5. By default, all reviewers have Comment Only permission. To change reviewer permissions to Comment and Track Changes, do one of the following:

      An administrator can remove the ability for all reviewers to edit content and track changes.

      • If an administrator sets the ReviewCommentOnly feature to false, you can select or clear the Track Changes option.
      • If an administrator sets the ReviewCommentOnly feature to true, you can only create a review with comments in the Create Review and Update Review screens. The Track Changes option does not display.

      By default, this feature is set to false. Coordinators can select or clear the Track Changes option. Administrators can read about how to manage this feature in Limit reviews to comments only.

      • To grant editing permissions to a user, in the Reviewers list, go to user's the row and select Track Changes.

      • To grant editing permissions to all users in the Reviewers list, go to the row that shows the list's heading. Select Track Changes.

    6. By default, the Notifications checkbox is not selected for all users. Reviewers won't automatically receive email notifications once their review is ready unless you select their Notifications checkbox.
  12. On the Create Review screen, at the bottom, click Next.
  13. On the second Create Review screen:

    Notice in the bottom left corner of the screen that this screen is Step 2 of 2

    1. In First Reviewers, go to the Participants list and select the user who you want to complete a review to before any other user sees it.
    2. In Second Reviewers, go to the Participants list and select the user who you want to be the last to complete a review. This user can see the comments of the first reviewer.
  14. On the second Create Review screen, click Create.
    Results:
    • Your workflow is created.
    • The Review is created in Reviews module.

    If you try to assign work to a participant who doesn't have access to the component, you will see the following error.

    This workflow has one or more permission problems. It is recommended to cancel the workflow, correct the permissions, and then restart it. The assigned user "Jane.Doe@MyCompany.com" does not have permission to access the following components: PrivateConcept.

    • The error tells you the name of a user included in the workflow. It may not be user who needs the permissions, so you have to check each participant's permissions to the restricted component.
    • The warning tells you the name of the restricted component.
    • The Workflow is still started. You can change the permission, participant, or the component to resolve the conflict.
    • For details on how to set permissions, refer to: Set permissions.