Email the Form Initiator

P
Badge +6

Morning All

I have a form that requests the person name who is starting the form - IE the "Initiator Name":

The actual name of this column in the list is "Initiator Name" & its set up like this:

200491_pastedImage_2.png200490_pastedImage_1.png

I want to send the Initiator an email notification back when this person chooses between three options:

200492_pastedImage_3.png

So, when The initiator chooses OTHER i want them to get an email back telling them they chose other & that once they know what the decision is (IE Scrap or Heel) they should update the form to reflect this.

I thought the best way to do this would be a flexitask so that i can do a Nintex approval form that links them back to the form with the option to change the status from other to either Heel or to Scrap ( i have this style working well in other areas)

However, i cant figure out how to get the initiator name into the "assignee's" box in the configure actions box in the Flextask.

200493_pastedImage_4.png

When i click on the book i get this page which will allow me to lookup "Initiator Name":

200494_pastedImage_5.png

But when i add it i get an error:

200495_pastedImage_6.png

Am i being a bit dense or am i missing something?

Is this the best way to go about it?

The reason for going down this route is that i want the initiator to be able to easily get back into the form & update it. As mentioned i have been able to configure a Nintex approval form update to work really well in other areas (so much so i even impressed my local techie/guru type!!) so it seems a good idea to enable the initiator to get back where he started via clicking on the link on the approval email.

Unless there is a better way of enabling the initiator to get back into the form without having EDIT facilities in the list/form entry page - which i don't want to do.

Any ideas?

Pete

22 replies

C
Badge +16

Hi

i think this may be overkill. 

This workflow starts on item creation right? Can you not just use the sharepoint column "created by" or the workflow constant "initiator" to send an email and inside the email body insert a link to the item (using item URL)?

C
Badge +16

Was on mobile earlier and unable to add these:

P
Badge +6

Trouble is that non of the items in the lookup list seem to work. I get an error against all of them

It is important that the initiator gets back into the form & is able to save the changes.

Your cool trick with the Form will work fine - i just need to be able to send that form to the document initiator.

Is there any other way of getting back to the initiator - maybe with a separate "task" in the workflow?

Is a flexitask the only way of going about this?

Pete

C
Badge +16

have you tried a send notification as follows:

to:  Initiator

Subject:  Test

Message body:  item URL

What error do you get when you do that?  we can easily make the item url into an edit item url if needs be.

C
Badge +16

also no - have a look at the user interaction section - assign to-do task, etc etc are listed there.

P
Badge +6

There is something else. 

The reason that i have had to include an initiator name is that the form before this change could be started by anyone. We have generic "universal" network logins here so that the large number of people without email can log onto the network & thus can therefore create a form anonymously 

I want to stop this as it means that the default "created by" column is populated by the network log in credentials rather than the individual. The only way to resolve is to have an "initiator" column that must be filled in on the form.

Its another one of those weird things that i have to take into account when building these types of forms & workflows.

In answer to your last question - i tried this:

200502_pastedImage_1.png

But it wont let me publish - i presume because initiator name isnt being recognised as a person on the groups email list.

That in essence is what the problem is isn't it? I want it to look at a list column & not a group email list...

I guess it needs to work in the same way the the "insert Reference" feature works?

P
Badge +6

I like the idea of a URL that lets them in to edit 

How do i do that?

C
Badge +16

OK I got you so you need to have the initiator as a person field in your list - do you have that?  note you cannot "type" in that assignees field when you want to look up to an item reference or common property > you have to use the address book and select it (it will then appear underlined and resolved).

I did blog about the edit item actually - see the comments below it in case there is an easier approach:

‌

C
Badge +8

If you are getting the same error for all items in the Lookup, can you try with new Flexi task freshly added to the workflow?

Sometimes if the task is copy past from an existing Flexi task in the workflow, it tends to act wired. 

C
Badge +8

Can you try with a different Column Name instead of "Initiator Name" ?

P
Badge +6

This looks like a great idea - however - how on earth do i do that!!!

P
Badge +6

tried em all - non of them work

also tried a new flexitask - that didnt work either!

C
Badge +8

Wait a minute, when you submit the form with the drop down value to Other do you save any value to Initiator Name column?

P
Badge +6

Yes

The initiators name -  Or more precisely the initiators email "name" as seen on our group email list

This is the identifier for the individual that has created the form.

P
Badge +6

This is as far as i can get with this variable idea:

200503_pastedImage_1.png

I have no clue what to do next!!!

P
Badge +6

Got it!

I am a dummy!!

The Web URL link works & includes an edit item button on the ribbon!

That said when i edit & submit again with, for example Scrap chosen, my workflow seems to have stopped.

IE when i change the form to Scrap the next part of the work flow is not triggered - any idea how i can rectify this?

Pete

C
Badge +16

what do you want to happen when they edit?

what does your current workflow look like?

sounds like you need your conditional workflows to start on creation and modification?

P
Badge +6

Right!

So, the opening of the form demands the initiator name

It also asks them to make a choice between Other/Scrap/Heel

I have separate workflows for each. & actually had some internal support on this & rather than workflow settings as previously designed "we" changed all of the workflows to open with a "Condition" box that if Other is picked Condition1 workflow runs, if HEEL is picked, Condition2 workflow runs, if SCRAP is picked then Condition3 workflow runs.

Also i notice this update to my list columns:

200507_pastedImage_1.png

So i presume what is happening is that if the OTHER workflow is started (even if it is changed later) it marks the other workflows as completed?

It doesn't matter if scrap or heel is picked (unless that is a wrong entry by the initiator - in which case they will possibly re-enter it) as the workflow being marked as completed after the workflow is done is what i want.

So i guess i need to have all of this set so that condition2 & Condition3 run if picked BUT ALSO if the condition of the job is updated from OTHER (Condition1 workflow) 

I have an idea of how to do this but want to get an idea of best practices before i try it.

P
Badge +6

This is my initial idea:

200508_pastedImage_1.png

Ony one got any comments before i try to configure it!!?

Pete

P
Badge +6

Nope!

This idea doesn't work at all.

It also occurs to me that i still am not able to notify the initiator via email.

so i have't "got it" at all!

It might seem strange that the initiator will receive an email telling them that they have just raised a form - however the email contains the link for them to get back into the form & update it at a later point - as long as they retain the email with the link in it.

It is sending the email to the initiator in the first place that is bothering me.

I also need to find a way (OR LOOP??) so that when the form is updated by the initiator & the status is changed to either SCRAP or HEEL that their respective workflows (Condition 2 or Condition 3) start.

I was going to try the "start workflows" as shown above but it wont work. It will start both the condition 2 & Condition 3 workflows after the email notification is sent regardless of the state of Condition 1 (Other) workflow (unless someone can tell me different?)

I apologise if this is going round in circles a bit. I am afraid this really has exposed my inexperience with workflows!

C
Badge +16

OK I am going to try to understand what you are doing (as I currently don't).  I have created a custom list as follows:

  • Title (standard title column)
  • Scope:  Choice:  Scrap/Heel/Other
  • Initiator Name:  Person or Group
  • Date Starting Form:  Date and Time (Date Only)

Now to emulate your scenario I have created three workflows called:

  1. Scrap Workflow
  2. Heel Workflow
  3. Other Workflow

I understand you do not have conditional start and have chosen all of them to start on item creation like this:

Please correct me if I am wrong??!

So that means for every item added to the list, all three workflows will run.

Inside my workflows the first action is a Set a condition in your scenario?  I am going to change that to be a Run if.  The Run is going to the following

  1. For Scrap Workflow it is going to be configured if "Scope = Scrap"
  2. For Heel Workflow it is going to be configured if "Scope = Heel"
  3. For Other Workflow it is going to be configured if "Scope = Other"

Here is an example of the Run if configuration:

(not for 2 the value is "Heel" and for 3 the value is "Other").

Then inside my run if, I am going to have a send notification action to send confirmation of item added to the person selected in the item field "Initiator Name".  Note for all underlined values in the screenshot below, I have used the "Address book" or "Insert Reference" buttons to choose item and common properties:

So all my workflows (x 3) look like this - but replace scrap for heel or other:

Now when I add an item, all three workflows will run, but only one of them will send an email (dependent on the value of scope).

Does that make sense?

I think you are making it too complicated by adding a task to this user when all you want to do is give them a link to the item they just created.

P
Badge +6

This is brilliant Cassy - just what i needed!

So - i can now get the initiator name to work - wohoo!

I also tried something else - i changed to YES - start when modified:

200573_pastedImage_1.png

This works a treat - so when i have a form started with OTHER, revisit the form & change it to SCRAP or HEEL, it saves the changes & then launches the workflow relevant to Scrap or Heel.

Phew!

This was awfully longwinded from me so apologies to everyone who has helped me with this. I REALLY appreciate your patience

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