Choosing Paths based on Toggle, Dropdown, or Segment Fields
Workflows are most useful when you can use the information entered by your field workers to drive the decision process. This is done using a combination of a Read Asset/Job/Request connector and Exclusive Branching conditions.
On each branch apart (apart from the default) you define a condition that must be met for that branch to run. With Exclusive Branching only one branch must match, so each condition must be exclusive (ie not overlap). The safest way to do this is to use Toggle, Dropdown, or Segment Fields. For simple yes/no or on/off, use a toggle and then have two branches - set one to yes/on and leave the default as no/off. For Dropdowns or Segmented fields, you should set up one branch for each individual case that needs special handling and then let the default branch handle all other cases. Using these three fields types ensures that the conditions will be exclusive.
The branching conditions also support things like equal or not equal to an arbitrary text string. This will work but requires more care. If you have many branches you will need to make sure the conditions can’t accidentally overlap.
Consider the Exit Inspection workflow shown above (click on the diagram to zoom it up). This is a simple version of the process that a property management company may follow at the end of a residential tenancy.
It starts with an Exit Inspection trigger (1). When an Exit Inspection request is Accepted, this workflow is run. The next step is to read the data in the Inspection form (2).
The third box is an Exclusive Branch. It checks a field “Did the property pass inspection?”, which is a toggle field in the Exit Inspection form. If it passed inspection then it takes the path shown at (4). This goes straight to creating the email to the letting manager that the inspection process is complete.
If it failed the inspection then it goes to the maintenance section, shown in the blue dotted outline.
Node (6) is a parallel branching. Each branch is done at the same time. This way the cleaning and the garden maintenance can all be done by different people but they don’t need to wait for each other. Each branch continues at its own pace and at (10) Gruntify will wait till all three branches are completed before proceeding.
Nodes (7), (8), and (9) are all Exclusive Branches, following the same pattern. The fields “Needs Internal Clean”, “Needs External Clean”, and “Needs Garden Maintenance” are segmented fields, with the values “No”, “Tenant to Organize” and “Agent to Organize”.
The branch tests are set up so that if the value = “Agent to Organize” then the “AGENT TO…” branches are taken and a job created to get the work done. If either “No” or “Tenant to Organize” are selected then the default branch is used and no action is taken by the agent. All the work should be completed before the Reinspection (10) is done. When the Reinspection is complete (11) then the workflow can go on with triggering the email.
The movie below is from the Example Workflow Building page and covers how to set up the branches using the form data in detail.
Parameter Selection Box Problems
My Parameter Selection box in an Email Connector is empty. What do I do?
You are missing a “Generate Link” connector. There must be one further up the workflow. If you have one in the workflow, make sure it proceeds the email connector, and it isn’t on a separate branch.
Have this?
You need this!
My Parameter Selection box does not show the fields in the Asset/Job/Request form. What do I do?
In the Read Asset/Job/Request connector, go to the Output tab and select the form type. Gruntify does not automatically select the matching form so you need to select the form that is used to create the Asset/Job/Request.
Have this?
Want This?
You need this!
Saving and Older Versions
I made a change and then changed my mind. How can I get my old version back?
Go to the View History option in the top left-hand corner of the Builder view. This will display a list of older versions of your Workflow. You can look at a thumbnail of each version and when you find the one you want, restore this older version as the current version.
Emails
How can I get information from an Asset/Job/Request and include it in my Email?
The text in the email sent by the Email connector cannot be modified, but you can include a link to an Asset, Job, or Request in the email. The recipient can then look at the details directly in Gruntify.
This ensures that the person looking at the email will not be looking at an out-of-date version of the details.
If the Asset, Job, or Request is already in the Workflow, all you need to do is add a Link connector, then reference the Link Connector.
Click on the screenshot on the right to zoom the image, and watch the video below to see how to set up the Email connectors.
Do I need to link my Email to an Asset/Job/Request?
No, you don’t. The fields where you create the link are optional so you can just send a fixed text email.
Can I include a non-Gruntify link in an Email?
If you want to include a URL in your emails, such as a web page on your company website or training page, then you can include it using the Action Button fields. This will give you a single button at the bottom of the email for the user to click.
You cannot use HTML to embed multiple links in your email - the HTML will appear as regular text in the email.
How can I send an email to someone who is not a user in my workspace?
You cannot do this. You can only send to users in your workspace.
This is to reduce the chance that Gruntify sent emails will be seen as SPAM emails, protecting your organization and Gruntify from a SPAM email complaint.