Interactive Task Settings

Interactive tasks present the actor assigned to a task defined in the workflow template with an interface that allows them to "interact" with the workflow and complete the task.  Interactive task types are human-executable tasks, therefore the workflow's progression through a template will be held up by incomplete (not executed) interactive tasks as the workflow is waiting for human intervention to complete it. 

The Interactive (Function*) and the Content Type Task are two of the interactive task types included with Maestro.  The differences between the Interactive (Function*) task type and the Content Type task type are as follows:

• Interactive Function task types allow the workflow administrator to configure the task to show the end user a specific task completion interface when clicked on in the task console. The task completion interface is a function written in a Drupal module using the Drupal Form API. They can be very simple functions or extensive where the task user is prompted with multiple questions and input on a form that is then handled in the form's submit handler to set process variables or update associated workflow content. Custom action buttons can be added to these forms and used to trigger different logic in the workflow - ie: set a process variable that is tested in the workflow to control the path of execution. So this is a very customizable task type. If you have a custom form or custom set of questions and actions you need to implement in your workflow - then this is the task type to use.
• Content Type task types allow the workflow administrator to configure the task to show an existing content type for editing in the task console. This task type is a specialized interactive task that is specific to being able to track a node of content type, You can have multiple content nodes being managed by a workflow instance. When you create a node using the Content Type task, you configure a unique tracking_id so the created node can be referenced later in the workflow using the same tracking_id it will track the node id. So with no custom coding, this task type allows you to create and route to multiple users one or multiple nodes of content.

Assignment Details:

Interactive, or human executable tasks, are assigned one of two ways - via a fixed value or via variable. Tasks need to be assigned to a user and eventually has to be an actual user id. The workflow engine does not need to know the actual user id until it actually comes time in the workflow to execute or orchestrate the interactive task to a user. This means, you can customize or change the assignment any time up to this point and this is why the assignment by variable is so flexible. 

As shown in the image, when assigned by a fixed value, you will have the option of assigning to a user or role out-of-the-box.  The assignments are then shown in the table where the assignment to what, by and who is assigned are shown.  Assignments by fixed value means each time the task is created in the queue for execution, those users or roles will always be assigned.  There can be no deviation from assignment when done by fixed value unless assignments are altered manually or via maestro admin views or maestro APIs.

Assignment by variable allows the administrator to assign a task to a user or role (out of the box) based on the value stored in a template variable.

The assignment by variable produces dynamically assigned workflows where assignments are done based on inputs into the workflow, stored in variables, which can be unique every time the workflow executes.  Assignments to users or roles are supported out-of-the box and any combination of by user or role and number of assignments for a task can be setup.

Assignments to users or roles are done via the user account name or role name. 

Notifications

Users need to be notified when interactive tasks are assigned to them. Additionally, you can have any number of messages defined. Sometimes you may want to notify key stakeholders in a workflow as well as the initiator or you may want to notify the initiator of the workflow after a certain task is completed.

At times, we have potential bottlenecks in a workflow and you will want to send out reminder notifications and then optionally, after xx number of days, send out an escalation email to a supervisor. This helps when a workflow participant is on vacation and potentially holding up a workflow.

Similar to assignments, notifications can be done by fixed value to a role or user, or by variable to roles or users.  

There are three notification types:

1. Assignment
When a task is assigned, a notification email is sent to the assigned actor or role with an assignment message.  You can customize the assignment message.

2. Reminder
Based on the "Reminder After (days)" input field, a reminder notification email will be sent to the assigned actor or role.  The message is customizable as well.

3. Escalation
Based on the "Escalation After (days)" input field, an escalation notification email will be sent to the assigned actor or role.  The message is also customizable.

Notification Message

A default message will be sent if left blank, but you can easily customize the message that is sent for all three notification types.

If you have installed the optional token module, then you will have access to an extensive list of tokens including maestro ones.

Support for a dynamic token has been added to Maestro which is capable of extracting data from nodes or webforms attached to workflows through the Entity Identifiers mechanism (Please refer to the Unique Identifier sections for the Content Type Task and the Webform Task for more information about Unique Identifiers).  Since Maestro can support any number of entities attached to a workflow, the unique identifier allows the workflow administrator to give a unique handle to an entity being routed.  Using the unique identifier given to an entity in a Maestro template along with the machine name for the field you wish to pull data from, the dynamic token is capable of fetching the data from the entity.

The format of the token is as follows:

[maestro:entity-identifier:unique-identifer:field-machine-name]

To use, replace

• unique-identifier with the unique identifier used in your Maestro Template
• field-machine-name with the machine name of the field on your entity

Workflow Stages

Workflow users need a way of quickly seeing where in the workflow is their request / specific workflow instance. Maestro provides extensive tracking of task start, assigned and completed timestamps as well as all the related documents associated with a workflow instance. This is all available in the workflow details but sometimes, a user just needs a quick visual and this is why maestro provides a status bar for each active workflow.

The number of workflow stages and their associated workflow task are all configured in the workflow template builder. The following image shows how to set this for a specific interactive task. You can select which interactive tasks are to be defined as a stage on the workflow timeline graphic, their order and the message. The total number of stages in the template is defined at the template level - part of the template properties.