Create an action in a template

In a workflow, all transitions can include an Action if an additional step needs to be done before the next Activity. For example, you can add an action for a process that is completed outside Inspire, such as Hire a copy editor. You can also use an action to specify something a user should do in Inspire after the activity is completed, such as Take a snapshot. There are a limited number of actions you can create to tell Inspire to perform automated actions. Currently, the automated actions are limited to create a review, create an approval, and approve components in a previous Activity.

Tips and tricks

  • Inspire does not provide any default Actions that are manually completed by a user.
  • 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.

Before you begin

You can use an Action to tell Inspire to perform an automated task.

Automated actions are only available in a topic workflow template (not a sequential reviewer template), or a completely new workflow template component.

  • Approval actions. To automate some or all of the approval process, you can add an Action to have Inspire send notifications to confirm components to be included in the approval screen, or have Inspire approve the associated components automatically without user intervention.

    • Use the approval notification action (InspireCreateApproval). Inspire sends an email notification to each user in the Review workgroup (or the workgroup assigned to the previous user activity). The workgroup users can confirm if they want to include component references in the approval process.
      • If a user in the Review workgroup confirms that they want to include component references in the approval process, then Inspire opens the Review Approval screen for the approver with the appropriate components included.
      • If a user in the Review workgroup confirms that they do NOT want to include component references in the approval process, then Inspire opens the Review Approval screen for the approver with only the source components included.
      • You must configure it exactly as described in: Add a Create Approval Action to a topic workflow template. Otherwise, Inspire won't understand the Action as an automated process.
    • Use the automatic approval action (InspireApprove). When the workflow advances to the Send for Approve Transition, Inspire automatically approves the components in the review.

  • Review actions. The Action is called 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 that the workflow user can quickly create the review and advance the workflow to the next stage (Reviewing).

    • 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.
  • Translation actions. The Action is called InspireCreateTranslation.
    • When a user advances a project workflow Activity and the next Transition has an Action of InspireCreateTranslation, Inspire does the following:
      • If a workflow has more than one component, the user can select what to translate. For example, the workflow might contain maps, topics, images, and PDFs, and the user wants to translate only the map.
      • If a workflow has more than one component, the user can choose if they want to create a single job or multiple jobs.
      • The user is shown the Translate component screen.

      Inspire uses the Activity workflow details to populate the following information: Name (uses the Component name), and Components. To create this action, follow the steps in: Automate translation in a workflow template.

  • Publication actions. The Action is called InspirePublish.
    • In an active workflow, this action tells Inspire to check how many components are included in the previous Activity (such as Approve components) and take one of the following actions:
      • If there is one XML component, Inspire opens the Publish Component screen. The publishing job Name is prepopulated with the name of the component. The user must fill out the required fields and click Publish. You see a notification that the publishing job has been created.
      • If there is more than one XML component, Inspire opens the Select Project Components pane. The user can select the checkbox for each component they want to publish. When they click OK, Inspire opens the Publish Component screen. The user must fill out the required fields and click Publish. You see a notification that the publishing job has been created.
      • If there are no XML components, Inspire gives you an error message. The publishing job is not created, and the workflow does not advance to the next step.
  • Report actions. The Action is called InspireCompletenessReport.
    • In an active workflow, the InspireCompletenessReport action tells Inspire to check how many components are included in the previous Activity (such as Approve components) and take one of the following actions:
      • If there is one XML component, Inspire opens the Check component completeness screen so that you can select the items you want to see in the report.
      • If there is more than one XML component, you can choose which components to run the report on first, and then select the items you want to see in the report.
      • If there are no XML components, Inspire gives you an error message. The report is not created, and the workflow does not advance to the next step.

To create a new action:

  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 toolbar at the top of the editor, click Actions.

    Results: The Action Management screen opens.

  5. On the Action Management screen, click Create.

    Results: The Create Action screen opens.

  6. In Name, enter a unique title that describes a manual step that occurs during a transition.

    To create an automated Action that Inspire recognizes, enter one of the following Action Names exactly:

    • InspireCreateApproval
    • InspireApprove
    • InspireCreateReview
    • InspireCreateTranslation
    • InspirePublish
    • InspireCompletenessReport
  7. Optionally, in Description, you can enter more details about what the user should do to complete this action.
  8. To save your changes to the Action, 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.
  9. 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.
    You can manage actions in the following ways: