Workflow Templates Overview

Users can create repetitive review and approval workflows efficiently and consistently using reusable Workflow Templates. This feature allows streamlining review and approval processes for the entire organization.

Depending on the Egnyte plan, access to these features may be limited. Workflow templates are available to Egnyte plans with multi-step workflow enabled.

Workflow Templates have the following configuration options:

1. Settings to control template access by folder location(s), user group(s), and file extension(s).
2. Settings for Workflow Creation Conditions
3. Customize workflow notifications 
4. Configuring the step(s) by selecting the preferred action (such as User Tasks, AI Actions, Automated Actions, or Logic and Branching)

Accessing Workflow Templates

Workflow Templates are available in the Workflows section in the Configuration settings. The Templates page allows users to create new templates and view and edit existing templates.

The Templates section is available to:

• Administrators 
• Users with a role that grants the can manage Workflow Templates capability

Templates can have Active or Inactive status. By default, the page shows templates with both Active and Inactive status, but the user can filter only Active or Inactive status templates by using the Status filter. Active templates are available to end users to create workflows. Inactive templates are not available to users to create workflows.

Users can click on the Template name to access and view the template details.

They can use the available filters to refine the templates list. Users can click on Reset filters to reset the templates list to the default view. They can also click on Hide filters to hide the filters from the view.

Creating a Template

Follow these steps to create a template:

• Navigate to the Configuration | Workflows | Templates page.
• Click the Add Template button
• Click Create template. 
• A New Workflow Template page will appear to configure the template using the Graphic Builder. The editor will automatically display the canvas with the Start block selected and following sections on the panel on the right. 
  • Template General Setup
  • Workflow Creation Conditions
  • Workflow Notifications

Template General Setup

This section allows defining information about a template such as template name and description. The user can limit the accessibility of the template by using a combination following three parameters: 

1. User group(s) - Determine who can initiate the workflows from the template.
2. File extension(s) - Specify which file extensions can be utilized to create workflows from the template.
3. Folder location(s) - Specify folder locations from where the workflows from the template can be initiated. Follow the steps to complete the General Setup section of the template.
   

• Enter a unique Template name with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 50 characters.
• Enter Template description with up to 128 characters.
• Choose one of the following two options from Who can use this template dropdown list:
  • Anyone - The template will be available to any user
  • Specific Group - The template will be available to specific groups. User  can add up to 10 groups.
• Choose one of the following two options from Types of files that the template can be applied to:
  • Any file type - The template will be available for all the files 
  • Specific file type - The template will be available to specified file extensions. User can enter up to 10 file extensions
• Choose one of the following two options from the Location where the template can be applied to:
  • Any folder-The template will be available to use within all the folders.
  • Specific folder - The template will be available only with the selected folder(s).User  can select up to 10 folders. All nested folders contained within the chosen folder are automatically selected.

Workflow Creation Conditions

This section of the Workflow Template allows users to define conditions for the Workflow creation. 

Choose one of the following options from the dropdown list for Select the allowed option for the workflow creation

• Manually -  Users can manually create workflows using this template
• Automatically - Workflows are created automatically when predefined conditions are met
• Both manually and automatically -  Workflows are created automatically when predefined conditions are met and users can also manually create workflows using this template

When the Manually option is selected, proceed to the Template Steps Setup section to configure the remaining steps of the workflow template. 

However, when the Automatically or Both manually and automatically option is selected, refer to Workflow Triggers to set up a condition for creating automatic workflows.

Workflow Notifications

This section allows for customizing the notifications sent to workflow creators and assignees for a template.

The Notify workflow creator about the workflow status changes option controls whether email notifications will be sent to the workflow creator when steps are completed or the workflow is completed.

The Custom reminders for assignees option allows workflow template authors to override the default task reminder options set for the domain in Workflows General Settings. Task reminders are email notifications sent to assignees to remind them of pending or overdue tasks. 

• Users can customize the reminders for a template by enabling the Set custom reminders value for this template. 
• Users can update the number of days for the reminders sent to assignees before the due date or opt out of the reminders sent to assignees before the due date.
• Users can update the number of days for the reminders sent to assignees after the due date or opt out of the reminders sent to assignees after the due date.

Adding Steps to Template

• Click on the (+) button below the Start block in the Graphic Builder to add a new step to the workflow.
  
• This opens the Add Step dialog modal, where users can select from the following step types:
  

User Tasks

Use these steps when human action is required to advance the workflow.

• To Do: Assigns a manual task to a user. 

• Review: Requests a team member to review content. 

• Approval: Requires an explicit approve or reject action. 

AI Actions

Use AI Prompt or AI Agent step to leverage artificial intelligence for automated content generation or intelligent handling. AI Agent allows users to select specific source files for context and choose the optimal AI model for performing the complex task. 

Automated Actions

Use the following automated system operation steps to streamline file management:

• Add metadata to file : Updates file attributes automatically. 

• Move file to a folder : Relocates files to designated directories.

• Execute a webhook : Connects to external systems or services.

• Convert file to PDF : Automatically converts documents to PDF format.

Logic and Branching steps

Dynamically route documents based on specific conditions and rules. 

• Decision: Evaluates specified conditions to route a document down the correct path automatically. For example, users can route a file based on its size: if it's under 500MB, it goes to Route 1; if it's between 500MB and 1000MB, it goes to Route 2; and if it's over 1000MB, it goes to Route 3. If a file doesn't fit any of these criteria, it will default to a mandatory "Else" branch.

To set up To Do, Review and Approval steps, proceed to the next section of this article. For all other step types, please refer to the corresponding external articles linked above.

• Enter the Step name with up to 128 characters. 
• Users can keep the Step name editable or non-editable when a workflow is created from a template. Select Allow edits option to make it editable at the workflow instance. 
• Enter a Description with up to 512 characters. 
• Users can keep the Template description editable or non-editable when a workflow is created from a template. Select Allow edits option to make it editable at the workflow instance. 
• Choose one of the following three options for Assignees:
  • Anyone - Any user(s) can be added as task assignees while creating a workflow from the template. 
  • Anyone from a specific group(s) - Only the user(s) from the specified group(s) can be added as task assignees while creating a workflow from a template.  Users can add up to 10 groups.
  • Specific user(s) and group(s) - Specified user(s) and group(s) cannot be modified while creating a workflow from a template. When a specific group is added to the template, all the users from that group are added as individual assignees at the workflow instance.  It is possible to enter up to 20 users in total.
• When the Anyone or Anyone from specific group(s) option is selected, the user will get an option to define the Minimum number of assignees required. When a workflow is created from a template, the same number of assignees must be added. 
• After selecting any one of the three options for the Assignees field, the user will see an extra option to define the Number of assignees required to complete the step. When a workflow is created from a template, the defined number of assignees will be required to complete the step.
• Users can define the Step due date using the Step should be completed within _ days field. When a workflow is created, the step due date is calculated automatically based on the step start date and number of days entered in this field for a step. 
•  When an Approval step type is selected, the user will get an additional option to Request the digital signature when the assignee approves. By choosing this option, the digital signature option is selected by default when a workflow is created from a template.

Once all the parameters are filled out, select the checkbox to Activate and click the Create template button in the top right corner to make it available to domain users. 

Known Limitations

• A single branch path supports up to 25 steps.
• A single workflow template supports up to 50 total steps.
• Workflows are limited to 1,000 executions per template per day and 10,000 executions across the entire domain per day. 

Creating Workflows from a Template

Once the template is defined, the domain users based on the access defined in the template can create workflows from the template. To create a workflow from a template, open a file preview and follow the steps listed below. 

• On the file preview, select the Workflows icon in the sidebar.
• Click the New Workflow button and select the template to use for creating a workflow. 
• A new workflow dialog modal with the name of the template and pre-populated workflow parameters based on the template.
• Enter or Modify the parameters, if needed. Please note that the parameters may be non-editable based on the template configuration.
• Click the Create button.

Editing a Template

The user can edit any of the existing templates. They can hover over a template to edit and then the Edit option will show up. Click on Edit to update the template configuration. After successfully saving the edited template, it is saved with an incremented version. The system automatically keeps templates in version control.

Deactivating a Template

Users can deactivate a template by hovering over a template and clicking on the Deactivate icon.

Click on Deactivate to confirm and the template will be deactivated and marked as inactive.

Reactivating a Template

If a template is marked as Inactive, users can reactivate the template by clicking on the Activate icon.

Click on Activate to confirm.

The template will be marked as Active.

Duplicating a Template

Users can easily create a new template by using the existing templates. On duplicating an existing template, all the parameters except the template name are copied to create a new template. Users can modify any of the template parameters and provide a new unique Template name in order to create a new template.

Audit Trail

For plans supporting Audit Reporting, a new Workflow Templates audit report is available, capturing all the actions related to workflow templates such as template creation, template edition, and template status change. The existing Workflow audit report is updated to track the workflows created from a template.

Automated Email Notifications for Workflow Templates and Conditions

There may be scenarios where errors occur while executing the workflow trigger or automated conditions. In such cases, Egnyte sends automated email notifications to the workflow creators. These notifications include direct links to the workflow, enabling creators to quickly identify and resolve the associated errors.

• Email alerts for workflow limits: Template creators will be notified when a template reaches its daily automation limit which is default to 1000, and domain administrators will receive alerts for domain-wide limits which is 10000 by default.
  

  To request an increase in automation notification limits, contact our Products team.

• Immediate trigger failure notifications: Template creators will get instant emails if a workflow trigger fails to create workflows automatically due to issues like access permissions, deleted folders, or user/group changes but not limited to those.
  
• Automated step failure alerts: Workflow creators will receive immediate notifications for automated step failures that require user intervention (e.g., permission fixes) and after 24 hours if a step completely fails or times out.