Set up task workflows

A workflow template is your company's plan for a process. Each step in it is a task template. Once a workflow template is ready, anyone can start it on a project. See Start a task workflow.

Create a workflow templateCopy Anchor Link

1. Click Settings, then Task workflow templates.
2. Click New workflow.
3. Enter a Name (up to 50 characters) and, if you like, a Description of what the workflow is for.
4. Click Save.

The list shows each workflow's Name, how many Tasks it has, when it was Last updated and who it was Updated by. Use the pencil and bin icons on a row to edit or delete a workflow template.

Add task templatesCopy Anchor Link

1. On Task workflow templates, click the workflow's name.
2. Click New task.
3. Fill in the Create task template window:
   • Autostart task when workflow begins: turn this on for the tasks that start as soon as someone starts the workflow. Every workflow needs at least one.
   • Name: the task name people see (up to 50 characters).
   • Description (optional): a short note about the task, shown in the template list. People working the task don't see it.
   • Days to complete: how many business days the task gets. BidUnity sets the due date from this, skipping weekends and US holidays.
   • Duration (minutes): how long you expect the task to take.
   • Predecessor tasks (optional): the tasks that must be completed before this one starts. Only use this when a task waits on several other tasks (see below).
   • Instructions: what to do. People see these when they open the task.
   • Roles: tick at least one work role. People with these work roles see the task under My tasks.
4. Under Actions, set up the buttons people press to finish the task. Every task needs at least one. Click Add action for each extra button.
   • Button type: Primary (blue, for the main action), Secondary (gray, for other choices) or Danger (red). A task finished with the Primary button shows as Completed. A task finished with any other button shows as Closed.
   • Button label: the text on the button (up to 50 characters).
   • Action description: explains what the button does. People see it in the Complete task window after they click the button.
   • Next tasks: the tasks this button creates. Pick none to end this branch of the workflow there.
5. Click Create task template.

A task must exist before you can pick it as a next task. So after you add the later tasks, edit the earlier ones with their pencil icon to link them up.

The task templates list shows each task's name, its Predecessors, Details, Timing (days to complete and duration), Roles and Task actions. Tasks that start on their own are marked Autostart. If none are, the page warns you, and nobody can start the workflow until you fix it.

Make a task wait for several tasksCopy Anchor Link

Most tasks are created by one earlier task's button. When a task should only start after several earlier tasks are all done:

1. On each earlier task, add the waiting task to the button's Next tasks.
2. On the waiting task, pick those earlier tasks in Predecessor tasks (optional).

BidUnity then creates the waiting task only when the last of those earlier tasks is completed.

Delete a task templateCopy Anchor Link

Click the bin icon on the task's row, then click Delete in the Delete task template window.

You can't delete a task template while another task in the workflow points to it as a next task or a predecessor. Point at the bin icon to see which tasks do, and remove those links first.

What happens nextCopy Anchor Link

• You see "Task template created successfully", "Task template updated successfully" or "Task template deleted successfully".
• The workflow shows in the Start task workflow list on every project.
• Changes to a task template's instructions and buttons also show on open tasks already made from it.