How to create a workflow
To create a workflow, open Menu > Admin > Workflows and click New. Give it a name, choose what you are collecting and click Save. You then add steps and questions in the workflow editor.
Who can do this: Admins.
New to workflows? Start with What is a workflow?
Create the workflow
- Open Menu > Admin.
- Click the Workflows card.
- Click New.
- Enter a Name. Use up to 30 characters. Pick something other Admins and collection managers will recognise, such as “Site improvement ideas”.
- Optionally, choose What are you collecting?: Ideas, Feedback, Posts, Insights, Solutions or Suggestions. If you leave it empty, Hives uses Ideas.
- Click Save.
The dialog closes and you stay on the Workflows page. Click the new workflow’s card to open the editor and set it up.
What a new workflow starts with
A new workflow is not empty. It starts with:
- A submission form with three questions: Title (required), Description (required) and Attachment (a file upload, optional).
- An Inbox with no extra questions.
- No steps.
- Reactions on, set to Like.
- Hidden contributions off.
You can change or remove any of this. See The submission form and the Inbox and Adding and setting up steps.
The workflow editor
The editor has a sidebar on the left:
- Workflow: the workflow’s own settings. This is selected when you open the editor.
- Inbox: the submission form, the Inbox questions and the Inbox settings.
- One card per step, showing how many questions it has.
- Add step: adds a new step.
Workflow settings
Click Workflow in the sidebar to change these settings.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | The workflow’s name, up to 30 characters. Shown on the workflow card and when people pick a workflow for a collection. |
| What are you collecting? | Idea, Feedback, Post, Insight, Solution or Suggestion. Sets the word used in counts and emails (for example “3 ideas” or “1 feedback”) and the icon and colour on cards. Some labels in Hives say “ideas” whatever you choose. |
| Reaction type | Like or Vote. Decides which button people see on ideas. |
| Enable hidden contributions | Lets submitters hide their idea from other members. See Hidden ideas, hidden names and anonymous collections. |
| Enable reactions on contributions | Turns likes or votes on or off for the whole collection. |
| Contribution button label | The label on the button people click to submit an idea. The default is Contribute. Collections created from the workflow afterwards use this label. |
When you change something, a bar appears at the bottom saying Unsaved changes. Click Save to keep your changes or Cancel to undo them.
These settings are copied into each collection created from the workflow. After that, each collection’s managers can change them in the collection. Changing them here does not affect existing collections.
Delete a workflow
- Open the workflow and click Workflow in the sidebar.
- Under Danger zone, click Delete.
- Confirm with Delete.
Deleting a workflow permanently removes the workflow, its steps and all its questions. It cannot be undone.
Collections that were created from the workflow are not affected. They keep their own copy of the steps, questions and ideas.
Common questions
Can Managers create workflows? No. Managers can open the workflow list, but only Admins can create, change or delete workflows.
Can I change what a collection is collecting later? A collection takes its “What are you collecting?” setting from the workflow. To change it for an existing collection, you apply a different workflow. Read Changing the steps of one collection before you do, because it can delete answers.