Hi Michael,

Thanks for your post and explaining your situation.  You're right - the linked "actions to do" can be a little awkward if you double-click on them instead of clicking "Complete".

Actually, this is an area of the product that we've been meaning to streamline a bit for some time.  The ability to create lists of action templates together is quite powerful, however the execution of those templates needs to be improved.  Your idea about another button/pop-up menu on the job toolbar is a good one.  We'll definitely look into this.

Another enhancement would be to have the ability to automatically remove or add templates based on the outcome of a completed action.

For example, here at PRD, we use a list of action templates that have been configured into a set of "Software development" actions for whenever a job is logged for either a bug fix, or a new feature/enhancement.

• Code modification
• Changeset test (Passed)
• Changeset test (Failed)
• Integration test (Passed)
• Integration test (Failed)
• Update version history

etc.

This is the basic order that the workflow occurs, however if one of the software tests should fail, the whole set should be reset and start again.  This doesn't happen under the current system, and we're left with "Actions to do" that will never be done....

We're thinking of creating an "Action flow" system that you program the next logical step into the workflow and HelpMaster will dynamically add or remove the next set of actions.

So thanks for your input.  You've interpreted the "Actions to do" feature correctly and we'll take this as a feature request.

If anyone else has ideas about this, please share.  Tell us a bit about your workflow and how an improved "Actions to do" might be able to help you.

Rod

Hi Rod,
Thanks for the reply, this all sounds very promising, particularly for the way we're beginning to use HelpMaster here.
I'll keep an eye on this thread with interest!

Regards,
Michael

Can anyone tell me if the action flow has been implemented?

I am very interested in using workflows and having certain actions act like decisions and affect what additional actions are added or removed from the list.

Regards Marc

For those interested in workflow on Jobs we have some good news we are currently refining a brand new workflow feature.

Any Job that follows a set list of items to be completed can soon benefit greatly from this new feature.

It works a little like the current "Actions to do" in the links tab of a Job, but has a lot more smarts, making it very easy to use once set up even if the staff user has little or no knowledge of company rules and workflow for that particular type of Job.

It will allow choice Items to be added which change the path the workflow is currently following, and will complete Action templates to do the actual work of the workflow.

 

Below is a sample workflow used for Development work

 

Once this work flow has been created, a user can complete workflow items very simply.

There will be a new workflow toolbar item on the Job that will show the current workflow item to be completed in a rich tooltip and complete that item when it is clicked.

This will automatically advance the workflow to the next linked item so the next user only has to use the workflow toolbar button, without needing to know how the workflow design was created or works.

 

When presented with the new choice item they will be shown a message to choose how to proceed then the workflow will follow that path

 

The workflow is also recorded better than ever before so you can see where you are in the workflow as well as which items have been completed and how many times.

 

The workflow is also recorded in the action log section of the Job so while looking through the action logs it is easy to see which items are workflow items and which are manually added staff or client actions

 

And as always with HelpMaster the workflow is Template driven, meaning you can create workflow for Template Jobs so when a Job is logged selecting a Job Template will automatically set up the workflow for the Job to follow through its life cycle.

 

This new feature is in the process of its last little refinements and testing,
so if anyone has more ideas especially using this type of model, now would be a great time to chime in with ideas to better improve this feature.