Use this link to share with your colleagues:
Understanding Workflow Part 4: Actions: https://help.pm.leapevent.tech/a/829739
Workflow is an older version of automation that Salesforce is phasing out. These instructions are still available to you for updating existing Workflows, but new automation should be built with Process Builder or Flow.
Workflow rules are used in PatronManager to automate updates or notifications and optimize efficiency! There are four main parts of a workflow rule:
- Object ("what")
- Evaluation Criteria ("when")
- Rule Criteria ("why")
- Actions ("what now?")
This article will look at the fourth and final part of a workflow rule: actions. This is the "what now?" of the workflow.
Workflow falls under Salesforce Administration and is therefore outside the scope of PatronManager support services.
Let's revisit our workflow rule core questions from Part 1:
- What action am I trying to trigger?
- What record does the qualifying criteria for this action live on?
When establishing workflow actions, we're interested in the answer to question #1
You'll mostly work with these 3 action types:
Click below for details on how to use each of these commonly-used workflow actions:
- Assigned To: Assign the task to a single user (make another task action if it needs to be assigned to more than one user in your organization)
- Subject: Give the task a subject line
- Unique Name: this will auto-fill based on subject
- Due Date: Add a due date for the task based on date fields on the primary object, or on the date the rule was triggered (most common)
- Status: Set the initial status for the task
- Priority: Establish the initial priority for the task
- Comments: Add any description or comments you find necessary - the task will be generated on the record to which it pertains
This will make it easy for your colleagues (both present and future) to change the recipient of this task if it's going to the wrong person.
1. Create and save your "New Task" workflow action, as described above
2. On the next screen, right click the name of the New Task workflow action, and click "Open in new tab"
3. On that new tab, copy the URL from the address bar, then click Edit
4. Open yet another new tab to bitly.com, paste your task's URL in the bar, and copy the resulting, shortened link
Here's a direct link that will open in a new tab: https://bitly.com
5. Add the shortened URL to the task's "Comments" field, along with a description of the link, and click Save
Here's some text you can copy and paste:
- The recipient of this notification can be edited here:
As you can see above, task comments have a limited number of characters - the reason for shortening the link via bitly.
6. Now you're free to finish saving and activating your workflow!
- Description: Describe the email alert
- Unique Name: This auto-fills from the description
- Object: This was selected in Part 1 of the workflow rule
- Email Template: this must be written before the Email Alert is created. See following step!
- Recipient Type: You can send the email alert to users in your database, or to any email field on the record from which the workflow is triggered. You can also enter up to 5 additional email addresses to be notified below
- From Email Address: Send the email alert from your email address or from alternate email addresses that you have configured in My Settings or in Organization-Wide Email Addresses
Email Template used for an Email Alert
Go to Setup> Administer> Communication Templates> Email Templates to make a new email template.
- Folder: Choose the folder your template is filed under
- Email Template Name: Name the template
- Available for Use: Mark it as Available for Use (not checked by default)
- Plain Text Preview: Preview types (Plain text, HTML) depend on the template type selected during template creation process
- Body of email: This can include merge fields from the record the workflow is triggered from. If you include the Detail Link field on the object selected on Part 1 of the workflow, the email template will include a link to the record in question (recommended)
This will make it easy for your colleagues (both present and future) to change the recipient of this email alert if it's going to the wrong person.
1. Create the New Email Alert and Email Template, as shown above
2. After you click "Save" on the New Email Alert, you'll see this screen; right-click on the name of the Email Alert and click "Open link in new tab"
3. In that new tab, copy the URL from the address bar
4. Now, search "email" in setup and click on Classic Email Templates
5. Find the Email Template attached to the Email Alert and click "Edit"
6. Add the URL to the Email Template body, along with some explanatory text, and click "Save"
Here's some text you can copy and paste:
- The recipient of this notification can be updated here:
7. You're now free to finish saving and activating your workflow!
Example 1: Update a text field with a formula value
- Name: Name the field update
- Unique Name: This auto fills based on Name
- Description: Add an optional description of the field update
- Object: this was selected in Part 1 of the workflow rule setup
- Field to Update: Choose which field is updating on the record that has triggered the workflow rule
- Text Options: Specify the value with a formula using the Formula Editor
In this example, we'll update the Donation Name field based on the record type of the donation (this criteria would have been defined in Part 3).
Example 2: Update a picklist field
- Field to Update: Choose the field you want to update
- Picklist Options: Specify which picklist value should result from the field update
In this example, we'll build a workflow rule that looks at donations from a current Board member and update the Type field on the Donation to "Board".
Time-Dependent Workflow Actions
Time-dependent actions are executed at a specific time (units in days and/or hours), such as ten days before a donation record’s close date. When that specific time passes, the workflow rule re-evaluates the record to make sure that it still meets the rule criteria. If the record does, the workflow rule executes those actions.
Click Add Time Trigger to define when the action should be executed.
In this example, the Development Director wants a task 7 days before a Board Member's pledge is due.
Define the action
Configure your task, then save.
