Manual triggers

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A manual trigger is the simplest kind. The workflow template never fires on its own. Staff start a workflow run themselves from the mobile app whenever it is needed.

When to use a manual trigger

Manual triggers are for anything that does not fit a fixed schedule. The decision to run sits with the person on the floor, not the calendar.

Good fits include:

  • One-off tasks like deep cleans or stocktakes that happen when needed
  • Ad-hoc audits a manager runs when they spot a problem
  • Incident-led workflows like "spill clean-up" or "complaint received"
  • Onboarding checklists started the day a new starter arrives
  • Anything seasonal or occasional that you do not want clogging the date scroller

If the answer to "when should this run?" is "whenever someone decides", you want a manual trigger.

Set up a manual trigger on the canvas

You configure the trigger from the trigger node at the top of every workflow template.

  1. Open the workflow template on the canvas
  2. Click the trigger node to focus it
  3. Click the kind picker, which is the first dropdown on the trigger node
  4. Pick Trigger manually from the list

That is the whole setup. No date, no time, no recurrence rule. The trigger node collapses to just the kind picker because there is nothing else to configure.

Save the template by clicking Publish in the top bar. The template is now available for staff to fire from the mobile app.

How staff fire a manual trigger from mobile

Staff run a manual template from the mobile menu. They do not need to know the template was set up as manual, they just see it in the list of templates they can start.

The steps are:

  1. Tap the menu icon (the hamburger) in the top bar
  2. Tap Run a workflow template
  3. Pick the template from the list
  4. Pick which team or teams should run it
  5. Tap Run for N teams

A new workflow run is created for each team picked. Staff see the new run in their Work Items tab right away and can start working through it.

If a member of staff has no templates available, they see a message saying "No workflow templates available to run. Templates with a manual or external trigger will appear here." That means no template in your account has been published with a manual trigger yet.

What manual triggers do not do

Manual triggers never appear on the date scroller because there is no schedule to plot. The workflow only exists once a member of staff fires it.

A few other things to keep in mind:

  • A manual template only shows up on mobile for staff in a team that has been assigned to the template
  • Anyone in an assigned team can fire the template, not just managers
  • Each fire creates one workflow run per team picked, so running for three teams creates three runs

Tips

  • Manual is the safest trigger to start with while you are testing a new template, because nothing fires without someone choosing to fire it
  • If you find staff forgetting to run a manual template, switch the trigger to a schedule so it appears on the date scroller automatically
  • Manual templates are great for "as needed" responses, but if you find yourself running the same one every Monday morning, that is a sign it should be a scheduled trigger instead
  • The mobile menu only lists templates a member of staff is allowed to run, so an empty list usually means the template's team assignment needs updating
NextScheduled triggers