Originally, I wrote this step-by-step manual for one of our partners from the Netherlands, iWebware, who wanted to try out this feature and implement it for their particular needs. The goal was to start a Business Process each time a new project is assigned to a workgroup member. The Business Process will allow then to notify the workgroup member about the new project details, and he/she will be able to accept it or decline it.
In the beginning I should mention, that most commonly used business processes (document approval, annual leave request, ect.) are already included in junior editions of Bitrix Intranet Portal - and ), but they are read-only. You can configure the pre-set Business Processes, but cannot change the logic.
The Bitrix Intranet Portal: includes the Visual Editor in which you can edit standard and create new Business Processes (BPs). You can try creating your very own BPs in , a 3hrs online demo, or download and install locally a fully functional of Bitrix Intranet Portal: Enterprise Edition. All right, let's get down to creating a new Business Process in a workgruop...
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Creating a New Sequential Business Process in the Document Library
(1) Create a new Workgroup, open the Files tab, open the Document Library settings to activate the Business Processes in the Document Library.
Click Save. Dump cache using the Control Panel button "Refresh Page Cache" (if not enough, - logout and then login).
(2) The "Business Process" button will appear near the "Settings" button on the Document Library control panel. Click the "Business Process" button to open the page which contains Business Process templates. None are available by default. Click "Sequential Business Process" button to create a new Business Process template.
(3) If you use Bitrix Intranet Portal: Enterprise Edition, the new template structure for a Sequential Business Process will be opened in the Business Process Visual Editor (otherwise the Business Process Visual Editor will not be available, i.e. it is not included in the Extranet and Office editions of Bitrix Intranet Portal).
(4) The "Templates Parameters" window will open automatically. It can be ignore (click "Cancel") if you want to import an existing Business Process template. When creating a new Business Process template, please add the Title, Description and other information about the template in the General tab.
(5) Open the "Parameters" tab of the "Templates Parameters" window. Add parameters you need to be displayed or used at the beginning of your business process. The following sample parameters have been used:
(6) Open the "Access" tab of the "Templates Parameters" window to add users or user groups (for the workgroup they can be "Members", "Owners" or "Moderators") who are allowed to create, view or manage the Business Process (read / write). After you finished with the template parameters, click the "Save" button. You will see the initial structure of your Business Process shown in the Business Process Visual Editor.
(7) Add a new element form the right-side panels: "Document Processing", "Constructions", "Interactive Settings", "Other" tabs to change the structure and flow of the Business Process. The right-side panels include different elements that can be dragged-and-dropped into the Business Process template structure. If you wish to modify the initial step of Business Process template, click the "Template Parameters" button on the upper control panel (See steps 4, 5, and 6).
(8 ) Use "Set State Name" element to define the status of the Business Process which will be displayed in the public part of the portal (listed in the table that contains all the results of the current Business Process). In the element settings (click the gear icon on the element) change the status name. This is an optional element, it can be added into the structure after each Business Process modification, or can be omitted.
(9) Drag-and-drop "Additional Information" element. Open the element settings dialog window (called "Action Parameters"). Add the required information and add "Fields" in the same way the initial parameters were created above.
(10) The "To be provided by employees" should include the user(s) who will be responsible for providing additional information.
NOTE: "Fields" are variables, they will appear in the "Template parameters" window (this window can be opened using the "Template parameters" button which is on the upper control panel, right above the Business Process template visual structure). Each time a new "Field" (= variable) is created, it will be listed in the "Template parameters" window > "Variables" tab.
(11) In this sample the "Task Name" string include the pre-set template parameter with the ID "project_title". The "Task Description" contains both custom text and a pre-set template parameter (with the ID "project_description"). See the picture below:
(12) Add a "Field", so that the responsible user will have to accept or decline the project. Click the "Add Field…" link and enter the Filed (=variable) properties as shown on the picture below:
Click "Save". The Action Parameters of the "Additional Information" element will then look the following way:
(13) Add the "Set State Name" element into the structure, if needed. See the picture below:
(14) Drag-and-drop another "Additional Information" element. Open the element settings dialog window and set the "Author" (or the workgroup "Moderator") as the employee who is supposed to provide additional information ("To be provided by employees" string). Add other information. See the example, as shown below:
(15) Add another "Set State Name" element into the structure, if needed.
(16) The Business Process template structure will then appear as below:
Click the "Save" button to save the Business Process template. Now you can start a Business Process within your workgroup each time you upload a new document, modify a document, or on a case-by-case basis:
(17) You can also initiate a Business Process without the need to link it to a document. This can be done if a Business Process is not used in the Document Library (e.g. create a new page and in the Visual Editor add a new component: Components 2.0 > Communication > Business Process > Business Process (bitrix:bizproc.wizards) ). In that case the Business Process can be initiated directly on the page without the need to upload a document. See the picture below:
You can use the I've just described. Just download, unzip and import this BP into the BP Visual Editor when creating a new sequential BP template. You can change it the way you like.
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If any additional questions, please write your comments below and I will try to answer them ASAP.
Cheers!
Photo:
Hi, as above, how do i hide all those information
I downloaded the BP you linked here and as well as i tried to make as per your guidance.
I wanted to have this BP without any document so i added this on the page which already have two other default BPs one is leave request and another is business trip.
The loop is working fine like,
One User initiate the process and give basic info (like in the fr om project title, password etc) and the other gets the intimation as "todo" and he accept and project and send the acceptance notification as well. BUT,
the responsible user did not receive any project information like name title, ftp link etc etc. wh ere to find this, i believe the responsible person should get the info which assignee fill for him to accept.
Please can you clarify.
thanks
I've prepared a series of sreenshots for you. Please download them here:
Downloading and let you know if i found any difficulties.
Thanks for your effort and capturing the screen shots
I successfully mange to run the BP with my required fields, need to know few things.
1) i changed the entry "FTP Address" to "Folder Link" i can change the variable name but unable to change the variable ID.
2) The thing is, When responsible user get the task and he respond that he accepted the project and able to see the project details/information (which you guided in step 2 and 3 to add in under task description) but when user want to see this info later, where to find it?
it seems like he must note the detail/info somewhere before accepting the project and sending the confirmation "Y"
3) The 3rd thing is i changed the one of the entry by "Client" and in parameters i changed it to "Link to elements (Drop-down-list) and chose "Lists" in which we have our client's list which i am getting successfully when i am filling the form/entries but user getting the "number" (most probably ID) rather then the "client name"
Please Guide.
(1) Once created, variable cannot change the assigned IDs.
(2) You might want to right this information as an element into an infoblock. You'll need to consult our HelpDesk on how to do that. After that, this information can be retrieved somewhere on your site. You can also use another Action Block that will list the same {Template: XXX} parameters previously stored in your business process.
(3) Do you want to create a drop-down list that has a number of users (with user names. rather than IDs), correct?
4) In "responsible workgroup member" entry i am selecting more then one user but the project notification going to only one member. (btw i would like to send this to selected members rather then the group, In case i dont have a choice then might i will create a special group then)
Please Guide.
I may suggest that you can solve the user ID issue by extending the code of the business process variables with "_printable", e.g.:
{=Template: responisble_person}
change to
{=Template: responisble_person_printable}
However, it needs to be tested. You may need to request a more thorough investigation on the user ID issue and the responsible workgroup member issue with our HelpDesk: