Creating Routes Using a Wizard

The Create Route Wizard lets you completely create a route and define all of its components. At the end of the wizard, you can choose to start the route immediately or wait to start the route.

If you choose "Promote Connected Object" for the"Route Completion Action" for an approval route, the connected object is promoted when the approvals are done. Promotion occurs even if the users who approved the tasks in the route do not have promote access. However, the route owner must have promote access for the content.

To quickly add route task and assignees to a route, you can base it on a route template. After creating a route, you cannot change the template it is based on. For more information, see About Routes.

For some non-document items added as content, you can choose a block promotion state. When a block promotion state is chosen for an item, the system will not let the item be promoted from the state until the route is complete.

Required access roles: If you have access to an object, you can create routes for it. For baseline behavior, you must have at least the Contributor access role.

This task shows you how to:

See Also
In Other Guides
Creating Routes with Only Basic Information

Enter Basic Information

  1. Select > Routes > Create Route.

    Or

    Navigate to the Routes Summary page or the Routes page of an object and select Create Route Wizard .

    The first page of the wizard opens, the Specify Details page.

  2. Enter these details:

    Field Name Description
    Name The name you want to use for the new route, or select the AutoName check box to have the system assign a name with a prefix and a sequential number for the name, such as R-000305.
    Visible to Parent Route Owner

    These options are only shown for subroutes.

    For subroutes that you are creating to complete another route's task, use the options to choose whether you want the subroute to be shown to people who can access the parent route. This includes the parent route owner, all members of the parent route, and Bookmark Root owner.
    • No: Others cannot see the subroute.
    • Yes: Others can see the subroute.
    Template If you want to base the route on a template, click the Template to search for and select a template. If a route template has multiple revisions, only the latest active template can be selected.
    Description Indicates the route's purpose.

    If you base the route on an existing template, the description is already entered. You can edit it as if required.

    Route Base Purpose Determines the kind of tasks included in the route.

    Purpose Description
    Standard The route can include tasks that require the assignee's approval or comment or tasks intended only for notification or information.
    Approval The route includes only tasks that require the assignee's approval.
    Review The route includes only tasks that require the assignee's comment.

    Scope All or Organization. You can click to choose a specific Bookmark Root or Bookmark. For details, see Scope of a Route.
    Route Completion Action Determines the events that will occur when the route is complete:

    Action Description
    Notify Route Owner When the route is complete (all tasks are completed), the system sends a notification to the route owner.
    Promote Connected Object Used for routes with content for which the route owner has defined lifecycle block states. The system automatically promotes the object when the route is completed if no other routes or requirements block the promotion and the route owner has promote access to the connected objects. The route owner is also notified of the route completion.

    If you have already added content to the route, you can only select this option if the route owner has promote access to that object.

    Start Route

    When to Start Route Description
    Upon Wizard Completion The route starts automatically when you finish defining it using the route wizard.
    Manually You want to explicitly decide when to start the route.

    Auto Stop on Rejection Define what happens when a task in the route is rejected:

    Action after Rejection Description
    Immediate The route stops immediately.
    Deferred The route stops after other tasks at the current level are completed or rejected.

    Revert User Group(s) Assignment Define what happens when restarting or resuming a route when a person from a user group has accepted a task:

    Option Description
    Retain person assigned when restarting/resuming a Route The same person who accepted the task is assigned the task when the route continues.
    Reset to the original User Group(s) when restarting/resuming a Route The task is reassigned to the user group and can be accepted by any one in that user group.

  3. Add content for the reviewers:

    You must have read access to content to add it to a route.

    • To select an existing item, click Add Content . For more information, see Predefined Queries. If the route's scope is a Bookmark or Sub Bookmark, the content is limited to the content of the Bookmark and its Sub Bookmark.
    • To upload a file from your computer, select Upload . See Creating Documents.
    • To remove any added content, check the item and click Remove .

    If you began the route by selecting items from the Content page of a Bookmark, that content is listed in the Content section of the Specify Details page. If you base the route on a template that includes content, this content is listed. You do not have to add any content or any additional content.

  4. To specify a State Condition to block promotion for non-document items (if the item has more than one state in the lifecycle), choose the state from the list in the State Condition column. If you do not want to specify a state, choose (none).

    If you choose a state, the system prevents the item from being promoted from that state until the route is completed.

  5. Click Next.

Add Members and Define Access

  1. Complete the steps above. The Select Route Members page of the wizard opens. See Add Members to a Route Page for details about this page.
  2. Use the commands on the page toolbar to add members to the route.
    1. Click Add People or Add User Group .

      When you add a user group to the route, any person included in the user group can accept and complete the task.

    2. Enter search criteria and click Search.

      All members who meet the criteria you entered are shown. The check box for those already added to the route is dimmed.

    3. Select the members that you want to add.
    4. Click Done.

      The members you chose are added to the Select Route Members page.

  3. Choose the access for each person. See Route Members and Access for more details.
  4. Click Next.

Define Tasks

This page is used when creating a route and when adding a task to an existing route.

  1. Complete the steps above. The Define Route Tasks page of the wizard opens.

    One task is included for each member added in the previous page.

    If you create the route based on a route template, the tasks from the template have a (t) next to the task name. Depending on how the template was defined, you may not be able to make many changes to the task list, or you may have full editing ability.

  2. For each task, specify these details: the Name, Action & Order information:

    Field Name Description
    Title Enter a short name to let the assignee know what the task is about.
    Action Choose the type of tasks you want the task assignee to perform. The action does not affect the person's access to the route's content.

    Route Actions Description
    Approve Task assignee must fill in the Comment box and choose an approval status: Approve, Reject, or Abstain. If the task assignee chooses Approve or Abstain and then completes the task, the route continues as usual. If the task assignee chooses Reject and then completes the task, the route is stopped and the route creator is notified. The system does not create the next task in the route until the route creator resumes the route.

    Your Business Administrator can choose to hide the Comments field when approving routes.

    Comment The recipient must enter a comment before completing the task.
    Notify Only The task is automatically completed without the recipient taking any actions.

    Order The numerical order in which you want the tasks to be performed. For concurrent tasks (do not depend on the completion of other tasks), choose the same order number for each task.

    For example, suppose that you want one person to complete a task and then you want two people to work on a task simultaneously. You choose an order number of 1 for the first task. The other two tasks have order number 2.

    For a route that has already been started, if you add a task at the current order value, the task is started or activated as soon as you complete the wizard.

    Assignee, Recipient, & Instructions Choose the person or user group who should receive the task from the list. You can leave the task unassigned until you are ready to start the route.

    If this route is based on a route template that is defined with Extend Task List or Maintain Exact Task List, you must select an assignee; you cannot select None.

    If you assign a user group to a task, the system notifies all people in the user group when the task is created. The first person to accept the task is then assigned to the task and is the only person who can complete it.

    Instructions: Provide a detailed description of what the person needs to do to complete the task. For example, you may want to indicate which file or section they need to review or comment on.

    Due Date & Time (Time zone) The column heading includes the 3-character time zone, such as EDT for Eastern Daylight Time.

    You can select the same date for different order tasks, but you cannot specify due dates for higher-order tasks earlier than lower-order tasks. There is no restriction or defined time limit between the tasks of different orders.

    Choose one of the following options:

    Option Steps
    Specific date and time

    1. Click the first button under the Due Date & Time column.
    2. Choose the date by clicking the Calendar icon and choose the time from the list.

      The calendar shows the current date as the default. If you open the calendar again within the same session, the default date is the last date you selected. For instructions on using the calendar.

    Number of days
    1. Choose the first button in the Advanced section.
    2. Enter a number of days.
    3. Select Route Start Date or Prior Task or Now if first from the list.

    When calculating the due date, the system includes weekends and holidays so factor that into the number of days you enter. The maximum number of days is 365. For example, if you want to give the task assignee 10 working days to complete the task, enter 14 from the Task Create Date because it's likely there would be 4 weekend days within a 10-day working period. If you want the task to be complete 30 calendar days following the start of the route, enter 30 days from Route Start Date.

    Assignee-Set Due Date Choose the second button in the Advanced section. This option lets the task assignee enter a due date.

    Until the route starts, the due date is blank and no status shows for the task.

    When the route starts, the initial due date is set to the following day and the status is set depending on the route action. The assignee can edit the due date as required.

    If the assignee does not complete the task by the due date/time, the task is marked as late (red) and the route's status is changed from green to yellow.

    If late task notifications have been set up, the system sends out notifications to the appropriate people.

    For subroutes, the system makes sure none of the task due dates are later than the parent task's due date. If they are, you must make the due dates earlier.

    Allow Delegation Allows the assignee to delegate the task to another person.

    If a task allows delegation, the assignee can delegate the task to another member to complete. See Reassigning (Delegating) a Task to Someone Else. The delegate will temporarily inherit all accesses that the assignee has for the route and its content. The system may also delegate the task automatically if the recipient receives the task during a defined absence period and the person has designated an Absence Delegate on the person profile. When the system automatically delegates a task, it also notifies the route owner.

    The Tasks page will show a Delegate icon for the tasks.

    When a task is automatically delegated by the system, it will not be automatically delegated back to the initial recipient if the defined absence period changes. In this case, the delegated assignee can manually reassign the task to the original assignee if appropriate.

    Requires Owner Review Check this box if you want to review a task after the assignee completes it.

    If the task action is Notify Only, this check box is ignored and the task is automatically promoted to Completed without owner review.

    After the assignee completes the task, the system notifies you. After reviewing the task, you must enter a review comment and then either promote the task to indicate approval or demote it to indicate rejection. The system does not create the next task in the route until you promote the task. Demoting the task changes its state back to Assigned and the assignee must redo the task based on your comments. When demoting the task, you can reassign it to someone else to work on.

    The Tasks page shows a Requires Owner Review icon for the task.

  3. To define additional tasks, click > Add Task . A new task row is added. Repeat step 2 to define the task.
  4. To assign one member to several tasks, select those tasks and click > Assign Selected. Then choose the member from the Assign Tasks page and click Done.
  5. To assign multiple tasks to a single individual (or user group):

    1. Check the needed tasks.
    2. Click Assign Selected from the Actions menu or toolbar. The same page as Step 4 opens.
    3. Select the person or user group.
    4. Click Done.
  6. Work with the tasks as required:

    • To remove a task, check it and click Remove Selected from the Actions menu or toolbar.
    • To sort the list of tasks based on ascending order number and then by task name, click Refresh Sort Order from the Actions menu or toolbar.

  7. Click Next.

Set Action Required

  1. Complete the steps above. The Action Required page of the wizard opens .

    If there are no concurrent tasks in the route, the Action Required column is empty.

  2. For each set of concurrent tasks, choose whether any or all must be completed before the next task becomes pending.

    • Any. When one person completes a task in the set of concurrent tasks, the tasks in the next order level become pending and the remaining incomplete tasks in the current order level are deleted. For example, if you assign three concurrent tasks to three people to approve a document, but you only need approval from one of them, as soon as one of them completes the task, the other tasks can be deleted and the next task in the route can proceed.

      If a person completes a task specified as Any, the other tasks at that level are deleted. If the route is later stopped or a task is rejected, those other tasks no longer exist. When the route is restarted, only the task for the person who completed it is recreated.

    • All. All tasks in the set of concurrent tasks must be complete before the next order level tasks become pending.

  3. If this is a subroute used to complete a task in another route, use Visible to Parent Route Owner to choose whether you want the subroute to be shown to people who can access the parent route. This includes the parent route owner, all members of the parent route, and Bookmark Root owner.

    • If you do not want others to see the subroute, choose No.
    • If you want others to see the subroute, choose Yes.

    If this is not a subroute, these options are not shown.

  4. Click Done.

    If you chose the Start Route on Wizard Completion option on the first page of the wizard, the route starts immediately. Otherwise, the route's status is Not Started. You can edit it as required and then start it when ready. See Starting or Resuming a Route.

    If you started the route, the system changes the route to the Started status and creates each task that has an order number of 1. The task recipients will see the task listed in their tasks list and they will receive notification that the task is pending. If the task is assigned to a user group, all people assigned to the user group receive the notification. If you receive a message that says no persons were notified, there were no people assigned to the user group who have Read access to the route content. Assign the task to someone else. See Defining the Tasks in a Route.

    Members in the route who were not assigned a task are removed from the route when you start it.

    When you start a subroute, the system makes sure none of the task due dates are later than the parent task's due date. If they are, you must make the due dates earlier.

    When all tasks are completed, the system changes the route status to Finished and notifies you that the route is complete. Remove the files from the route so other Bookmark Root members can edit and route them. See Processing Completed Routes.

    If a person chooses Reject for the approval status (only available if the task action is Approve), the route is stopped and the system notifies you by email. The system does not route the files to anyone else until you resume the route. See Processing Rejected or Stopped Routes.