⚡️ Gatekeeper Expert: Give Teams Visibility of Records in Workflows⚡️

 Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes

Sections in this Article:

• Introduction
• Add the Custom Field
  • Add the Status Field to the Workflow
• Update the Field with AutoActions
  • Add AutoAction Phases
  • Redirect Transitions to the New AutoAction Phases

• • Configure the AutoAction Phases

• Create the Saved View
• What Users Will See

Introduction

Access to workflows is intentionally limited to users who:

• Submitted the request (as well as their manager and team when enabled)
• Is responsible for a phase in the workflow e.g. an approval phase
• Has Workflow Administrator or Cards Manager permissions, so can see all workflow cards

For further information on granting a user access to a workflow, see Workflow Authorisation Overview.

If users don't meet these criteria, but still need visibility of contract or vendors progressing through workflows, you can provide this using custom data. This allows users with restricted access to set up a Saved View that shows which records are currently linked to a workflow process.

This article walks through how to:

• Add a dropdown custom data field to act as a Workflow Status indicator, with options that mirror your workflow phases.
• Configure AutoActions to update the status as cards move across the kanban board.
• Configure a Saved View in the Vault that filters by this status.

Add the Custom Field

1. From the navigation menu, expand the Settings option, then click Configuration.
2. Click Custom Data.
3. Click Add, then select Custom Group.
   
4. Enter a title, e.g. Workflow Statuses and select Contract or Vendor from the Allocated to dropdown list as required.
5. Select the Collapsed by default checkbox, then deselect the Editable in Repository checkbox and click Save.
6. Within the custom group, click
   Add New Custom Field.
7. Enter a label for the field to match the workflow, e.g. if the workflow name is Contract Approval Workflow, set the Field Label to Contract Approval Workflow Status.
8. Select Dropdown List as the Type, then add the relevant workflow phases as dropdown options and click Save.

The example below demonstrates how the dropdown options can be named to correspond to workflow phases:

Add the Status Field to the Workflow

You'll need to add the new status field to the workflow form, so that records can be updated automatically as cards move through the kanban board.

1. Click the start phase of the workflow to edit it.
2. Navigate to Form, then click Add Section and enter a section name.
3. Select the following from the dropdown lists:
   1. Predefined: Contract
   2. Custom Data Group: The custom group that contains the status field
4. Click Save.

You should then hide this field on the workflow form, so that users cannot update it manually. To do this:

1. Click the cog icon to access the workflow configuration.
   
2. Locate the form section that contains the custom status field.
3. Select Hidden from the dropdown list on the start phase, then click the copy icon.
   
4. Select the checkboxes for all other phases in the workflow. This will apply the settings for this section from the start phase to all other phases.
   
5. Click Copy to save the changes.

Update the Field with AutoActions

Once you have created the custom status field and added it to the workflow form, you can leverage AutoActions to update this field when a card transitions through the kanban board. To do this, add an AutoAction phase in front of each existing phase in your workflow. Each AutoAction phase updates the field on the contract or vendor record to match the phase that follows it, then moves the card on automatically.

Add AutoAction Phases

1. Navigate to the right hand side of the workflow board, then next to New Phase, click ADD.
   
2. Enter a phase title e.g. 🛠 AutoUpdate [x]  🛠, then click Save & Next.
3. Click Back to Workflow, then repeat the process to add a new phase for each existing phase.
4. Once all phases are added, click  Reorder to move the new phases to the appropriate point in the workflow, and select the Minimise checkboxes. 

Redirect Transitions to the New AutoAction Phases

Next, update any transitions that point to an existing phase so they point to its AutoAction phase instead. That way the status is updated before the card reaches the phase.

1. Click on a phase to edit it, then click Delete.
2. Click the name of a transition to edit it.
   
3. Click the pencil icon to edit the Transition to Phase, and change it to the AutoAction phase that comes before the phase you attempted to delete.
4. Click Update to save your changes.

Repeat these steps until no transitions point to the original phases, all transitions should now point to the AutoAction phases that precede them.

Configure the AutoAction Phases

Next, you'll need to configure the AutoAction phases so that records are updated and cards transition automatically. 

1. Click an AutoAction phase to edit it.
2. From Actions, select the AutoAction | Update Contract or AutoAction | Update Vendor checkbox as required.
3. Select the Submit Card On Action and Update Form on Action checkboxes.
4. Click Edit AutoAction Values.
5. Ensure the Take value from form checkbox is selected for all fields, except the new custom field. Set this field to indicate the card’s status at the current workflow phase.
6. Click Save.
7. From Transitions, select the phase immediately afterwards in the workflow.

Repeat these steps for all AutoAction phases.

Create the Saved View

Once the custom field is created and the workflow has been configured to automatically update the value, users can create a Saved View by selecting the fields and the workflow statuses relevant to them:

1. From the navigation menu, expand the Vault then click Contracts or Vendors as required.
2. Click Configure Columns and select the Workflow Status field, as well as any other relevant fields for this view, then click Save.
3. Click Filter and select all the options from the Workflow Status field, then click Save.
4. Click Save This View, then enter a Title and click Submit.

What Users Will See

Users can now view all new and in-progress vendors/contracts directly from the Vault and monitor their status in the pipeline, regardless of workflow access. This approach avoids exposing confidential information or irrelevant records from other departments. 

Additional Reading 📚

• Saved Views: Learn about configuring and using Saved Views in your Vault list views.
• Configure Workflow Actions: See a list of all the available AutoActions in Gatekeeper workflows.