All about Collect Feedback workflows

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If all you need to do is complete a Collect Feedback workflow task    Just scroll down to the COMPLETE segment and expand it. You might not need any of the other segments for now.

If you want to add, start, monitor, and maintain workflows    If you aren’t already familiar with these tasks, you might find it useful to work your way through this article, segment by segment, the first time that you design and add a workflow. Once you’re familiar with the information and the article layout, you’ll be able to go straight to the segment you need on any return visits.

A note on the graphics    Screen images and conceptual diagrams in this series of workflow articles are generally based on the Approval workflow type. Wherever necessary for conceptual or instructional clarity, however, images and diagrams in this article have been customized for Collect Feedback workflows.

A word about printing this article    This is a long article. If you want to print only selected segments, make sure that only those segments are expanded when you print. (Also, if you want to include the complete graphics in your printed copy, print in landscape orientation and not portrait orientation.)

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Learn more about Collect Feedback workflows

A Collect Feedback workflow is a SharePoint feature that routes a document or other item stored in a SharePoint list or library to one or more people for their feedback. The workflow automates, streamlines, and standardizes the whole process.

The basic Collect Feedback workflow that’s included with SharePoint products functions as a template. Using this template, you can add multiple Collect Feedback workflows to your sites. Each workflow that you add is a unique version of the basic Collect Feedback workflow, each with its own specialized way of working, based on the settings that you specify when you add it.

Sections in this segment

1. What can a Collect Feedback workflow do for me?

2. What can’t a Collect Feedback workflow do?

3. Who can use this type of workflow?

4. How do you plan, add, run, and maintain this type of workflow?

1. What can a Collect Feedback workflow do for me?

• When you first add a Collect Feedback workflow to your list, library, or site collection, you can specify how many participants to include, and indicate whether their tasks are assigned one after another (in serial) or all at once (in parallel). You can even decide whether to divide the participants’ tasks into two or more separate stages, as well specify a final due date and/or the time allowed for each task to be completed. And each time that you start the workflow manually on an item, you can modify any of these settings.

• The workflow assigns a task to each specified participant. Each participant chooses among several possible responses: to send feedback about the item, to request a change in the item, to reassign the task, or to delete the task.

• While the workflow is running, you can monitor progress and make adjustments (if needed) from a single, central Workflow Status page.

• For 60 days after the workflow is completed, the list of all workflow events that occurred in the course of this run (or instance) of the workflow is still available on the Workflow Status page, for informal reference.

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2. What can’t a Collect Feedback workflow do?

The Collect Feedback workflow isn’t designed to collect approvals and rejections for an item, or to control webpage publishing for a website. If you want to add a workflow in which participants approve or reject the item that they review, see the article, All about Approval workflows, in the See Also section.

Also, Collect Feedback workflows aren’t designed to collect signatures. If you want to use a workflow to collect signatures in a Microsoft Word document, a Microsoft Excel workbook, or a Microsoft InfoPath form, see the article, All about Collect Signatures workflows, in the See Also section.

To learn about how you can use Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2013 to further customize any of the workflows included with SharePoint products, see the Microsoft Software Developer Network (MSDN) Help system.

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3. Who can use this type of workflow?

To add a    workflow By default, you must have the Manage Lists permission to add a workflow. (The Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors group do not.)

To start a    workflow Also by default, you must have the Edit Items permission to start a workflow that’s already been added. (The Members group and the Owners group both have the Edit Items permission by default; the Visitors group does not.)

Alternatively, Owners can choose to configure specific workflows so that they can be started only by members of the Owners group. (To do this, select the Require Manage Lists Permissions to start this workflow check box, on the first page of the association form.)

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4. How do you plan, add, run, and maintain this type of workflow?

These are the basic stages:

• BEFORE the workflow runs (plan, add, start)   
  Before you add a workflow, you plan where you want to add it (for a single list or library, or for the entire site collection) and the details of how it will work. After you’ve added and configured the workflow, anyone with the necessary permissions can start the workflow on a specific item. The workflow can also be set up to run automatically. Automatic runs can be activated based on either or both of two triggering events: when any item is added to or created in a list or library, or when any item in a list or library is changed.

• WHILE the workflow runs (complete, monitor, adjust)   
  While the workflow runs, individual participants complete their assigned tasks. Automatic reminders are sent to participants who fail to meet task deadlines. Meanwhile, the progress of the workflow can be monitored from a central Workflow Status page for that particular instance of the workflow. Adjustments to the workflow while it runs can be made from that same page; and, if necessary, the workflow can be canceled or ended from there.

• AFTER the workflow runs (review, report, change)   
  When the workflow is complete, the whole history of that run (or instance) can be reviewed for up to 60 days on the Workflow Status page. From the same page, statistical reports on the performance of this workflow version can be created. Finally, if there’s ever anything that you want to change about the way the workflow functions, you can open and edit the association form that you completed when you first added the workflow.

The following flow chart illustrates these stages from the perspective of the person who is adding a new workflow.

What’s next?

Before you plan a new Collect Feedback workflow, first review the ALLOW segment of this article, and then move on to the PLAN segment.

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Allow feedback in task form only, or also in item

The following two questions can help you reach one fundamental decision about your workflow:

• Are participants allowed to submit feedback only in the Comments field on the task form, or can they also insert tracked changes and comments in the item itself?

• If participants can insert tracked changes and comments in the item itself, do they do this in a collaborative environment, in which several participants can be editing the document at the same time, or does each participant check out the document and have sole editing rights for the duration of their own review?

Here’s a diagram that might help clarify those alternatives.

As you continue reading, keep these points in mind:

• No workflow can start on an item that is currently checked out.

• The Collect Feedback workflow type includes an option to cancel the workflow immediately if any change is made to the item being reviewed.

• You can only insert tracked changes and comments in an item when it’s open in the installed version of the program that it was created in, and not when it’s open in a web-application version of that program.

Sections in this segment

1. Allow feedback in the task form only

2. Allow feedback in both the task form and the item (collaborative version)

3. Allow feedback in both the task form and the item (sole-access version)

1. Allow feedback in the task form only

This arrangement has the advantage of being the simplest one mechanically. Participants have only two ways of suggesting changes, both of which involve the task form:

• Submit comments.

• Request that a change be made to the item while the workflow is still running.

The main disadvantage, of course, is that participants can’t indicate specific changes directly in the item. The larger the number of suggested changes, the more your participants are likely to want to be able to work directly in the item.

A note on protecting items from changes    The simplest way to make sure that participants don’t make any changes in the item itself is to check the item out for the duration of the run. But as we said just a little way back, workflows can’t start on any item that is currently checked out.

There are two ways to work around this:

• You can wait until the workflow has started, and then check the item out for the duration of the run. (If the workflow starts automatically, make sure that you’re listed in the CC field on the second page of the association form. Then, when you receive notification that the workflow has started on an item, check that item out.) One limitation of this method is that no other workflow will be able to start on the same item while you have it checked out.

• Alternatively, you can leave the item checked in, but make sure that the participants know that it’s important that they neither check out the item nor make any changes in it. It’s a good idea, of course, to include this instruction among the notes that you include in the task notifications. If your participants are new to Collect Feedback workflows, it might be a good idea to make the point even more clearly — by sending a separate email before the workflow starts, perhaps, or by talking to your participants in person.

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2. Allow feedback in both the task form and the item (collaborative version)

This arrangement keeps the item available to all participants at all times. Nobody has to wait for anybody else to finish their review before beginning his or her own. This flexibility is made possible by the collaboration features in SharePoint products.

Just make sure that your participants know that they must do the following:

• Leave the item checked in while they make their changes.

• Open the item in the installed version of the program that it was created in, and not in a web-application version of that program.

• Turn on change tracking before they make any changes or insert any comments.

• Save their changes to the server.

Remember that the Collect Feedback workflow type includes an option to cancel the workflow immediately if any change is made to the item being reviewed. If that option is selected, then the first time that any participant saves changes to the item — even tracked changes and/or comments — the workflow will be canceled immediately.

Also, if you intend to allow changes in the item itself, make sure that in the Versioning settings for the list or library, Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited is set to No.

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3. Allow feedback in both the task form and the item (sole-access version)

In this arrangement, only one participant is allowed to check out the item and make changes in it at any one time:

• If the tasks in the workflow are assigned one at a time (in serial) this probably won’t be a problem.

• If the tasks are assigned all at once (in parallel), participants might sometimes have to wait for access to the item while another participant finishes working on it.

Because the workflow can’t begin on an item when the item is checked out, you must ensure that items are checked in before running this workflow on them.

Let your participants know that they should do the following:

• Check the item out before they open it.

• Open the item in the installed version of the program that it was created in, and not in a web-application version of that program.

• Turn on change tracking before they make any changes or insert any comments.

• Save their changes to the server and check the item back in as soon as they have finished working with it.

Again, remember that the Collect Feedback workflow type includes an option to cancel the workflow immediately if any change is made to the item being reviewed. If that option is selected, then the first time that any participant saves changes to the item — even tracked changes and/or comments — the workflow will be canceled immediately.

What’s next?

If you’re ready to plan a new Collect Feedback workflow, move on to the PLAN segment of this article.

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Plan a new Collect Feedback workflow

In this segment, we identify the decisions you need to make and the information you need to assemble before you add a version of the Collect Feedback workflow.

If you’re already familiar with how to add this type of workflow and only need a reminder about the specific steps, you can go straight to the appropriate ADD segment (List/library or Site collection) of this article.

Sections in this segment

1. Templates and versions

2. Introducing the association form

3. Twelve questions to answer

1. Templates and versions

The workflows included with SharePoint products function as master templates on which the specific, individual workflows that you add to your lists, libraries, and site collection are based.

Each time that you add a Collect Feedback workflow, for example, you’re actually adding a version of the general Collect Feedback workflow template. You give each version its own name and its own settings, which you specify in the association form when you add that particular version. That way, you can add multiple workflows, all versions based on the Collect Feedback workflow master template, but each version named and tailored for the specific way that you will use it.

In this illustration, three workflows based on the Approval workflow template have been added — one for all content types in a single library, one for a single content type in a single library, and one for a single content type in a whole site collection.

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2. Introducing the association form

Whenever you add a new workflow version based on one of the included workflow templates, you fill out an association form to specify the way that you want your new version to work.

In the following section, you’ll find a list of questions that will prepare you to complete the association form. First, though, take a moment or two to look over the form and its fields.

First page of the association form

Second page of the association form

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3. Twelve questions to answer

As soon as you have the answers to all of the questions in this section, you’re ready to add your workflow.

1. Is this the right workflow type?

2. One list or library, or the whole site collection? (and) One content type, or all content types?

3. What’s a good name?

4. Task lists and history lists: Existing or new?

5. How (and by whom) can this workflow be started?

6. Do content types that inherit from this one also get this workflow?

7. Participants: Which people, in which order?

8. What additional information do participants need?

9. Feedback in the task form only, or also in the item?

10. When are tasks due?

11. When does this workflow end?

12. Who needs to be notified?

01. Is this the right workflow type?

This article concerns the workflow template that appears in the menu as Collect Feedback – SharePoint 2010. If you’re not sure that this workflow type is the best choice for you, refer back to the LEARN segment of this article. For further information about the other workflow templates that are available, see the article, About the workflows included with SharePoint, in the See Also section.

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02. One list or library, or the whole site collection? (and) One content type, or all content types?

You can make your new version of the Collect Feedback workflow available in a single list or library only, or you can make it available throughout the entire site collection.

• If you add the workflow for a single list or library, you can set it up to run either on all content types or on a single content type only.

• If you add the workflow for the entire site collection, however, you must set it up to run on a single site content type only.

What’s a content type?

Each document or other item stored in a SharePoint list or library belongs to one or another content type. A content type can be as basic and generic as Document or Excel Spreadsheet, or as highly specialized as Legal Contract or Product Design Specification. Some content types are available in SharePoint products by default, but you can both customize these and add others that you create yourself.

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03. What’s a good name?

Give your workflow version a name that:

• Clearly indicates what it’s used for.

• Clearly distinguishes it from other workflows.

An example

Imagine that you’re a member of a group of editors. Your group wants to use two different Collect Feedback workflows:

• You’ll run the first workflow on each document submitted by a member of your own group. This workflow collects feedback only from themanager of your group.

• You’ll run the second workflow on each document submitted by people outside of your own group. This workflow collects feedback fromevery member of your group.

You might name the first workflow Inside Submission Feedback and the second one Outside Submission Feedback.

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04. Task lists and history lists: Existing or new?

You can have your workflow use the site’s default Tasks list and History list, use other existing lists, or request new lists just for this workflow.

• If your site will have numerous workflows, or if some workflows will involve numerous tasks, consider requesting new lists for each workflow. (Managing over-long lists is one of the things that can slow down performance. It’s faster and easier for the system to maintain several shorter lists than one very long one.)

• If the tasks and history for this workflow will contain sensitive or confidential data that you’ll want to keep separated from the general lists, then you should definitely indicate that you want new, separate lists for this workflow. (After you add the workflow, be sure that appropriate permissions are set for the new lists.)

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05. How (and by whom) can this workflow be started?

A workflow can be set up to be started manually only, automatically only, or either way:

• When you manually start a Collect Feedback workflow on a specific document or item, another form, the initiation form, is presented. The initiation form contains most of the settings from the second page of the association form. That way, if the person who starts the workflow wants to change any of those settings (for the current instance only), they can do so before they click Start.

• With an automatic start, of course, there’s no opportunity to present an initiation form, so the default settings specified in the association form are used without any changes.

The following illustration shows the difference between manual starts and automatic starts.

Any changes that you make in the initiation form are applied only during the current instance of the workflow. To change the permanent, default settings of the workflow, you edit the original association form, as explained in the CHANGE segment of this article.

Manual starts

If you allow manual starts, anybody who has the necessary permissions can start the workflow on any eligible item at any time.

The advantages of a manual start are that you and your colleagues can run the workflow only when and if you choose to, and that each time you run it you’ll have the chance to change some settings by using the initiation form.

A quick example    If you want to run your workflow only on items that are authored by a writer from outside your team, then starting it only manually will keep it from running automatically on items authored by you and your teammates. (An alternate solution: Maintain one list or library for items from authors on your team, and a separate list or library for items from all other authors. That way, you can run the workflow automatically, but only on the outside-authors list.)

The primary disadvantage of manual starts is that somebody has to remember to run the workflow whenever it’s appropriate to do so.

Automatic starts

You can set up the workflow to be started automatically by either or each of the following events:

• A new item is created in or uploaded to the list or library.

• An item already stored in the list or library is changed.

The advantage of an automatic start is that no one has to remember to start the workflow. It runs every time a triggering event occurs.

A quick example    Imagine that your organization’s accountant needs to review every budget that is uploaded to or created in your Budgets library. You could add a Collect Feedback workflow to that library, and specify your accountant as the only participant. You could set up the workflow to start automatically every time a new item is added to (“created in”) the list. That way, your accountant will always be kept up to date.

Two disadvantages to automatic starts:

• You can’t stop the workflow from running whenever a triggering event occurs.

• You can’t change any settings at the beginning of an individual instance.

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06. Do content types that inherit from this one also get this workflow?

When you add a workflow to a content type for the entire site collection, you’re given the option of also adding the workflow to all other content types in the site collection that inherit from the content type you’re adding the workflow to. (If you’re adding a workflow for a single list or library, this option won’t appear in the association form.)

Notes

• The operation that accomplishes all of the additional adding can take a long time to complete.

• If inheritance has been broken for any sites or subsites where you want this workflow added to inheriting content types, then make sure that you’re a member of the Owners group in each of those sites or subsites before you run this operation.

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07. Participants: Which people, in which order?

You’ll need to supply the name or email address for each person to whom review tasks will be assigned.

One stage or multiple    stages? You can choose to have only one stage of review tasks, or to have multiple stages. If you have more than one stage, the stages will be performed one after another.

Parallel reviews or serial    reviews? For the participants in any one stage, you can choose either to have their review tasks assigned all at the same time (in parallel) or to have their review tasks assigned one after another (in serial) in the order that you indicate. The serial option can be useful if, for example, you set up the workflow to end after the first rejection — or if you want participants further along to be able to look at comments from earlier participants as part of the context of their reviews.

An example

This simple scenario illustrates a few of the advantages of both multiple stages and serial reviews:

Imagine that Frank is adding a new Collect Feedback workflow. He wants his coworkers Anna and Sean to review each item first, before he himself reviews it. That way, he can see their comments before he begins his own review. Frank can set this up in either of two ways:

• By using a serial    review Frank sets up a single-stage serial review in which Anna and Sean are the first two participants and he is the third.
  In this arrangement, Anna must submit her feedback before Sean’s task is assigned; and then Sean must submit her feedback before Frank’s task is assigned.
  Here’s how Frank sets up his single-stage serial review.
  

• By using two    stages If Frank wants Anna and Sean to be assigned their reviews at the same time, so that Sean doesn’t have to wait for Anna to finish before she can begin, he can set up two stages in the workflow: the first a parallel stage for Anna and Sean’s reviews, and the second a separate stage for his own review only. If the first stage isn’t completed, the second stage never starts.
  Here’s how Frank sets up his two-stage parallel review.
  

Here are diagrams of both solutions.

Outside participants    There’s a special process for including participants who aren’t members of your SharePoint organization. In this process, a site member acts as a proxy for the outside participant.

Here’s a diagram of that process:

Assign one task to each whole group, or one to each group member?    If you include a group address or distribution list among your workflow participants, you can have the workflow assign one task to each member of the group, or assign only one task to the entire group (but still send a notification of that single task to each member). When only one task is assigned to the whole group, then any member of the group can claim and complete that single task. (You’ll find instructions for claiming a group task in the COMPLETE segment of this article.)

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08. What additional information do participants need?

There’s a text field in the association form where you can provide instructions, details about requirements, resources, and so forth.

Questions that you might address in this text field:

• If participants have difficulties or questions, whom should they contact?

• Can reviewers submit feedback only in the task form, or can they also insert tracked changes and comments in the item itself?

• If reviewers can insert tracked changes and comments in the item itself, should they check out the item before making changes in it, or should they leave it checked in so that multiple reviewers can work in it simultaneously?

• If your workflow will assign only a single task to each group or distribution list, mention here that a single member of each such group should claim the task before completing it. That way, other members of the group don’t waste time by beginning the same task. (You’ll find instructions for claiming a group task in the COMPLETE segment of this article.)

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09. Feedback in the task form only, or also in the item?

There are several considerations related to this important question. If you haven’t already done so already, open and read the ALLOW segment of this article for more information.

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10. When are tasks due?

You can indicate when workflow tasks are due in either or both of two ways:

By calendar date    You can specify a single calendar date by which all tasks are due.

• If you set up your workflow to start automatically, you usually shouldn’t use this option. This is because the date value that you specify won’t automatically adjust itself in relation to the current date each time the workflow starts automatically.

By task duration    You can specify a number of days, weeks, or months that are allowed for the completion of each task, beginning when that task is assigned.

• A calendar due date overrides a specified task duration. That is: If today is June 10, and today I’m assigned a task that has a three-day duration, but which also has a calendar due date of June 11, then the task will be due on June 11 (the calendar due date) and not on June 13 (the last day of the three-day duration).

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11. When does this workflow end?

To avoid wasted time spent on unnecessary reviews, you can choose to have the workflow canceled immediately if any change is made to the item.

If you select this option, then participants can give feedback only in their task forms. That is, they can’t insert tracked changes and comments in the item itself, because that would change the item, which would in turn cancel the workflow. If you select this option, be sure to include a note in the Request field, instructing participants not to make any changes directly in the item for review.

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12. Who needs to be notified?

In the CC field, on the second page of the association form, you can enter names or addresses for anyone who should be notified each time that this workflow starts or ends.

• Entering a name here doesn’t result in the assignment of a workflow task to that person.

• When the workflow is started manually, the person who starts it receives the start and stop notifications without needing to be specified in this field.

• When the workflow is started automatically, the person who originally added it receives the start and stop notifications without needing to be specified in this field.

What’s next?

If you’re ready to add your new Collect Feedback workflow to your list, library, or site collection, go to the appropriate ADD segment (List/library or Site collection) of this article.

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Add a Collect Feedback workflow
(for only one list or library)

If you’re not yet familiar with adding workflows, you might find it useful to review the preceding LEARN, ALLOW, and PLAN segments in this article before you proceed with the steps in this segment.

Sections in this segment

1. Before you begin

2. Add the workflow

1. Before you begin

Two matters need to be in order before you can add a workflow:

Email    In order for the workflow to send email notifications and reminders, email must be enabled for your SharePoint site. If you’re not sure that this has already been done, check with your SharePoint administrator.

Permissions    The default settings require that you have the Manage Lists permission to add workflows for lists, libraries, or site collections. (The Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors groups do not. For more information about permissions, see the LEARN segment of this article.)

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2. Add the workflow

Follow these steps:

1. Open the list or library for which you want to add the workflow.

2. On the ribbon, click the List or Library tab.

   Note: The name of the tab can vary with the type of list or library. For example, in a calendar list this tab is named Calendar.

3. In the Settings group, click Workflow Settings.

4. On the Workflow Settings page, specify either a single content type for the workflow to run on or All (for all content types), and then click Add a workflow.
   

5. Complete the first page of the association form.
   (Instructions follow the illustration.)

1. When all of the settings in this form are the way you want them, click Next.

2. Complete the second page of the association form.
   (Instructions follow the illustration.)

   Note: SharePoint products presents you with the first several options in this second page of the association form — numbers one through seven in the following illustration, from Assign to through CC — each time that you start the workflow manually, so that you can make changes to those options for just that one instance.

1. When you have all of the settings in this page the way you want them, click Save to create the workflow.

SharePoint products creates your new workflow version.

What’s next?

If you’re ready, go to the START segment of this article and start the first instance to test your new workflow.

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Add a Collect Feedback workflow
(for a whole site collection)

If you’re not yet familiar with adding workflows, you might find it useful to review the preceding LEARN, ALLOW, and PLAN segments in this article before you proceed with the steps in this segment.

Sections in this segment

1. Before you begin

2. Add the workflow

1. Before you begin

Two matters need to be in order before you can add a workflow:

Email In order for the workflow to send email notifications and reminders, email must be enabled for your site. If you’re not sure that this has already been done, check with your SharePoint administrator.

Permissions    The SharePoint default settings require that you have the Manage Lists permission to add workflows for lists, libraries, or site collections. (The Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors groups do not. For more information about permissions, see the LEARN segment of this article.)

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2. Add the workflow

Follow these steps:

1. Go to the home page for the site collection (not the home page for a site or subsite within the collection).

2. Click the Settings icon and then click Site Settings.

3. On the Site Settings page, under Web Designer Galleries, click Site content types.

4. On the Site Content Types page, click the name of the site content type for which you want to add a workflow.

   Note: A workflow added to the whole site collection must be added for items of a single content type only.

   

   1. On the page for the selected content type, under Settings, click Workflow Settings.
      

   2. On the Workflow Settings page, click the Add a workflow link.
      

   3. Complete the first page of the association form.
      (Instructions follow the illustration.)

1. When all of the settings in this page are the way you want them, click Next.

2. Complete the second page of the association form.
   (Instructions follow the illustration.)

   Note: SharePoint products presents you with the first several options in this second page of the association form — numbers one through seven in the following illustration, from Reviewers through CC — each time that you start the workflow manually, so that you can make changes to those options for just that one instance.

1. When you have all of the settings in this page the way you want them, click Save to create the workflow.

SharePoint products creates your new workflow version.

What’s next?

If you’re ready, go to the START segment of this article and start the first instance to test your new workflow.

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Start a Collect Feedback workflow

A workflow can be set up to be started manually only, automatically only, or either way:

• Manually at any time, by anyone who has the necessary permissions.

• Automatically whenever a specified triggering event occurs — that is, whenever an item is added to the list or library and/or whenever an item already in the list is changed in any way.
  (The triggering event or events are specified in the first page of the association form, during the original adding and configuring of the workflow. For more information, see the PLAN segment of this article.)

Sections in this segment

1. Start the workflow automatically

2. Start the workflow manually

3. Start manually from the list or library

4. Start manually from within a Microsoft Office program

1. Start the workflow automatically

If the workflow is configured to start automatically, then each time a triggering event occurs, the workflow runs on the item that triggered it.

When it starts, the workflow assigns the first task or tasks and sends a task notification to each assignee. Meanwhile, it also sends start notifications (distinct from task notifications) to the person who originally added the workflow and to anyone listed in the CC field of the second page of the association form.

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2. Start the workflow manually

A note on permissions    Ordinarily, you must have the Edit Items permission to start a workflow. (By default, the Members group and the Owners group both have this permission, but the Visitors group does not. However, an Owner can also choose, on a workflow-by-workflow basis, to require the Manage Lists permission for people who start the workflow. By choosing this option, Owners can essentially specify that only they and other Owners can start a particular workflow. For more details, see the Learn segment of this article.)

Two places to start from

You can start a workflow manually from either of two places:

• From the list or library where the item is stored

• From inside the item itself, opened in the Microsoft Office program in which it was created. (Note that this must be the full, installed program, and not a web-application version.)

The remaining two sections in this segment provide instructions for both methods.

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3. Start manually from the list or library

1. Go to the list or library where the item that you want to run the workflow on is stored.

2. Click the icon in front of the item name to select the item and then, on the Files tab of the ribbon, in the Workflows group, click Workflows.

3. On the Workflows: Item Name page, under Start a New Workflow, click the workflow that you want to run.
   

4. In the initiation form, make any changes that you want to apply to this specific instance of the workflow.

   Note: Changes made here, in the initiation form, are used only during the current instance of the workflow. If you want to make any changes that will apply each time the workflow runs, or if you want to change workflow settings that don’t appear in this form, see the CHANGE segment of this article.

1. When you have all of the settings in the initiation form the way you want them, click Start to start the workflow.

The workflow assigns the first task or tasks, and meanwhile sends start notifications to you and to anyone listed in the CC field of the initiation form.

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4. Start manually from within a Microsoft Office program

1. Open the item in the installed Office program on your computer.

2. In the open item, click the File tab, click Save & Send, and then click the workflow that you want to run on the item.

3. If you see the following message, telling you that the workflow needs the file to be checked in, click the Check In button.

4. Click the big Start Workflow button.

5. On the Change a Workflow page, in the initiation form, make any changes that you want to apply to this specific instance of the workflow.

   Note: Changes made here, in the initiation form, are used only during the current instance of the workflow. If you want to make any changes that will apply each time the workflow runs, or if you want to change workflow settings that don’t appear in this form, see the CHANGE segment of this article.

   

1. When you have the settings in the initiation form the way you want them, click Start to start the workflow.

The workflow assigns the first task or tasks, and meanwhile sends start notifications to you and to anyone listed in the CC field of the initiation form.

What’s next?

• If this is the first time this workflow has been run, will the other participants need information and assistance in order to complete their assigned tasks? (They might find the COMPLETE segment of this article useful.)

• Also, it’s a good idea to check whether participants are receiving their email notifications, and particularly that the notifications aren’t being mishandled by their junk email filters.

• And of course, you might have one or more workflow tasks to complete yourself. Go to the COMPLETE segment of this article for the details.

• Meanwhile, to find out how you can keep track of the progress of the current instance of the workflow, go to the MONITOR segment of this article.

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Complete a Collect Feedback workflow task

If this is the first time that you’ve been assigned a task in a Collect Feedback workflow, you might find it useful to review this segment of the article in full before you complete your task. That way, you’ll be aware of all of the options that may be open to you.

First, make sure you’ve got the right article

Different types of workflows require different task actions.

So before you begin, make sure that the task you’ve been assigned is indeed a Collect Feedback workflow task, and not a task for some other type of workflow.

Look for the text Please review in any of the following locations:

• In the Subject line of the task notification
  

• On the message bar in the item to be reviewed
  

• In the task title on the Workflow Status page
  

If you don’t see the Please review text in these locations, check with the person who started or originally added the workflow to find out which workflow template it’s based on — or whether it’s a custom workflow. You’ll find links to articles about how to use the other types of workflows included with SharePoint products in the See Also section of this article.

If your task is a Collect Feedback task, however, keep right on reading!

Sections in this segment

1. An overview of the process

2. Get to the item and the task form from the task notification message

3. Get to the item and the task form from the list or library

4. Review the item

5. Complete and submit the task form

6. Overdue notifications

7. Claim a group task before you complete it (optional)

8. Request a change to the item (optional)

9. Reassign your task to someone else (optional)

10. Complete a task on behalf of an outside participant (optional)

1. An overview of the process

When you’re assigned a task in a workflow, you usually find out about the task in one of three ways:

• You receive an email task notification.

• You open a Microsoft Office document and see a message bar that informs you that you’ve been assigned a related task.

• You check the SharePoint site and discover that one or more tasks are currently assigned to you.

When you find out that you’ve been assigned a Collect Feedback workflow task, you usually do two things:

• Review the item    You open and review the item.

• Complete the task    You use the task form to submit the results of your review.

Often, therefore, the following three items are involved in your completion of the task:

• The notification message (which you receive as email)

• The item submitted for your review (which you open and review)

• The task form (which you open, complete, and submit)

Here’s what those three items look like.

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2. Get to the item and the task form from the task notification message

Follow these steps:

1. In the task notification message, in the To complete this task instructions, click the link to the item.

2. In the opened item, click the Open this task button on the message bar.

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3. Get to the item and the task form from the list or library

Follow these steps:

1. In the list or library where the item to be reviewed is stored, click the In Progress link associated with the item and workflow.

2. On the Workflow Status page, click the title of your task.

3. In the task form, in the This workflow task applies to message bar, click the link to the item.

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4. Review the item

In this example, the item is a Microsoft Word document.

Notice the two yellow message bars at the top of the document:

Server Read-   Only This document is open in read-only mode — that is, you can read the document, but you cannot make any changes in it.

The person running the workflow has the choice of allowing feedback only in the task form, or also allowing tracked changes and comments in the item itself. If you’re not sure whether you’re supposed to work in the item itself, check with the person who started the workflow, or the person who originally added it. If you are supposed to insert tracked changes and comments, click the Edit Document button.

A few things to make sure of:

• Make sure that you know whether you’re supposed to check the document out before you insert tracked changes and comments, or whether you’re supposed to leave it checked in so that multiple reviewers can work on it simultaneously.

• Make sure that you turn on change tracking before you insert any changes or comments. For more information, see the ALLOW segment in this article.

• Make sure to save your changes to the server when you finish working in the item. If you checked the item out, check it back in again.

Workflow    Task When you’re ready to complete and submit the task form, click the Open this task button.

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5. Complete and submit the task form

The task form for a Collect Feedback workflow task looks something like this.

Note that the first two controls (Delete Item and This workflow task applies to Item Title) don’t appear in the task form when it’s opened from inside the item for review.

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6. Overdue notifications

If either a task or an entire workflow instance is overdue for completion, notifications are automatically sent to:

• The person to whom the task is assigned.

• The person who started the workflow (or, if the start was automatic, to the person who originally added the workflow).

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7. Claim a group task before you complete it (optional)

If only a single task is assigned to an entire group that you belong to, then any member of the group can claim and complete that single task on behalf of the whole group.

Claim the task before you review the item. As soon as you claim the task, it’s assigned to you, and no other member of the group can complete it. (This way, only one person does the necessary work.)

1. On the Workflow Status page, point to the name of the task assigned to your group until an arrow appears.

2. Click the arrow, click Edit Item and then, in the task form, click the Claim Task button.
   

When the Workflow Status page is refreshed, you can see that the task is no longer assigned to the group, but now specifically to you.

Later, if you want to release the task to the group again without completing it, use the same steps to return to the task form, but now click the Release Task button.

Back to Review the item

8. Request a change to the item (optional)

Before you begin this process, note that the workflow may be set up to end immediately if any change is made to the item. It might be a good idea to check with the person who started or originally added the workflow to make sure that it’s all right for a change to be made and for the workflow to end at that point.

We’ll demonstrate the change-request option by putting it into a scenario:

First, imagine that your name is Frank.

Then, imagine that a coworker named Anna has started a Collect Feedback workflow on a document that she has created.

When you review Anna’s new document, you feel that the Introduction is too long.

You click the Request Change button at the bottom of the workflow task form, and then complete this form.

When you have all of the form entries the way that you want them, you click Send, and your current task is markedComplete. (But you’re not done yet. You’ll be assigned a review task again after Anna completes the change task.)

Meanwhile, Anna receives the following email notification:

Anna can tell after just a glance at the Subject line (number 1 in the illustration) that this isn’t an ordinary Collect Feedback notification, but instead a request to change something about the item. She finds the information about the specific change that has been requested in the Change Requested of text (number 2).

Anna checks out the item, makes the requested changes (or not), then saves her changes (if any) and checks the item back in. (Remember that if the workflow is set up to end as soon as any change is made to the item, this action will cause the workflow to end.)

Then Anna goes to the Workflow Status page and opens her change-request task from the Tasks area there.

Anna adds any information she wants to in the Comments field, then clicks Send Response. The workflow performs two actions:

• It marks Anna’s change request task as Completed.

• It assigns a new review task to you (with Anna’s comments added in the Consolidated Comments area) and sends you a notification about that task.

Now you can go ahead and complete your review of the changed item.

Meanwhile, all of these actions are tracked and visible in the Workflow History section of the Workflow Status page, as shown in the following illustration.

Here’s a diagram of the whole process.

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9. Reassign your task to someone else (optional)

If you want someone else to complete a workflow task that has been assigned to you, click the Reassign Task button in the workflow task form.

This form is displayed.

When the form is complete, click Send. Your task is marked Completed, a new task is assigned to the person now responsible for the task, and a task notification is sent.

Any new information that you supplied is included in the Delegated by text in the new task notification (number 1 in the following illustration).

Meanwhile, all of these changes are tracked and visible in the Tasks and History sections of the Workflow Status page, as shown here.

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10. Complete a task on behalf of an outside participant (optional)

There’s a special process for including participants who aren’t members of your SharePoint organization. In this process, a site member acts as a proxy for the outside participant:

1. Include the email address of the outside participant in the appropriate Assign To stage on the second page of the association form.

2. The workflow actually assigns the outside participant’s task to the site member who starts the workflow — or, if the workflow starts automatically, to the member who originally added the workflow. This person to whom the task is actually assigned acts as the proxy for the outside participant.

3. This site member receives a task notification, with instructions to send a copy of the item for review to the outside participant. (Meanwhile, the outside participant receives a copy of the task notification, which can function as a useful alert or heads-up.)

4. The site member to whom the task is actually assigned sends a copy of the item to the outside participant.

5. The outside participant reviews the item and sends back their response to the site member.

6. When the outside participant’s response arrives, the site member completes the task in SharePoint products on behalf of the outside participant.

Here’s a diagram of the process.

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Monitor, adjust, or stop a running Collect Feedback workflow

The central location from which you can monitor, adjust, or stop a running workflow is the Workflow Status page for that instance of the workflow.

First we’ll show you how to get to that page, then we’ll show you how to use the options and information that you find there. Finally, we’ll show you two other pages where you can get additional monitoring information.

Sections in this segment

1. Get to the Workflow Status page

2. Use the Workflow Status page to monitor workflow progress

3. Change active tasks (tasks already assigned)

4. Change future tasks (tasks not yet assigned)

5. Cancel or end this workflow run

6. Find out which workflows are running on an item

7. Monitor workflows for the whole site collection

1. Get to the Workflow Status page

In the list or library where the item is located, click the In Progress link for the item and workflow that you want.

In this example, the item is the document named Keynote Draft and the workflow is Approval 3.

The Workflow Status page opens.

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2. Use the Workflow Status page to monitor workflow progress

Here, under the illustration of each section of the Workflow Status page, you’ll find the monitoring questions that the section answers.

Workflow Information section

Questions answered:

• Who started this instance of the workflow?

• When was this instance started?

• When did the last action in this instance occur?

• Which item is this instance running on?

• What is the current status of this instance?

Tasks section

Questions answered:

• Which tasks have already been created and assigned, and what is their current status?

• Which tasks have already been completed, and what was the outcome for each of those tasks?

• What is the due date for each task that has already been created and assigned?

Tasks that have been deleted and tasks that haven’t yet been assigned don’t appear in this section.

Workflow History section

Questions answered:

• What events have already occurred in this instance of the workflow?

• Note that overdue tasks and overdue-task notifications don’t appear in this area.

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3. Change active tasks (tasks already assigned)

There are two ways to change tasks that are already assigned but not yet completed:

• Change a single active task

• Change all active tasks

Change a single active task

Permissions To make any change to a single task that is assigned to someone other than yourself, you must have the Manage Lists permission. (The Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors groups do not. So it’s possible, for example, to have permissions that allow you to start a workflow but not to make changes to another participant’s task.)

If you have the necessary permissions:

1. On the Workflow Status page, click the title of the task in the Tasks list.
   

2. Use the task form to complete, delete, or reassign the task, or to request a change to the item.

For more detailed instructions about how to use the task form, see the COMPLETE segment of this article.

Change all active tasks

Permissions All four of the command links in the following illustration appear on the Workflow Status page of anyone who has the Manage Lists permission. The first three links appear on the page of the person who started the workflow instance, but theEnd this workflow link doesn’t appear unless that person also has the Manage Lists permission. (Again, the Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors groups do not.)

1. On the Workflow Status page, in the area just below the Workflow Visualization, click the Update active tasks of Collect Feedback link.

2. Make your changes in the form that opens, and then click OK.

   • Messages reflecting your changes are sent to the people who are currently assigned tasks in this run.

   • Tasks already completed or deleted, and tasks not yet assigned, aren’t affected by the changes you make in this form.

   • If you want to make changes to tasks not yet assigned, see the following section in this segment, Change future tasks.

     

1. When you have all of the fields in the form the way you want them, click OK.

All active tasks in the current instance are updated.

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4. Change future tasks (tasks not yet assigned)

Permissions All four of the command links in the following illustration appear on the Workflow Status page of anyone who has the Manage Lists permission. The first three links appear on the page of the person who started the workflow instance, but theEnd this workflow link doesn’t appear unless that person also has the Manage Lists permission. (Again, the Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors groups do not.)

1. On the Workflow Status page, in the area just below the Workflow Visualization, click the Add or update reviewers of Collect Feedback link.

2. Make your changes in the form that opens, and then click UPDATE.

   Note: Tasks already created and assigned aren’t affected by the changes you make in this form.

1. When you have all of the fields in the form the way you want them, click OK.

All future tasks in the current instance will reflect your changes.

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5. Cancel or end this workflow run

There are two ways that you can stop a running workflow instance before its normal completion:

• Cancel the workflow    All tasks are canceled, but are retained in the Tasks area of the Workflow Status page.

• End this workflow    All tasks are canceled and are deleted from the Tasks area of the Workflow Status page. (They are, however, still reflected in the Workflow History area.)

Instructions for both methods follow.

Cancel (all tasks canceled but retained in both Tasks list and History)

Permissions All four of the command links in the following illustration appear on the Workflow Status page of anyone who has the Manage Lists permission. The first three links appear on the page of the person who started the workflow instance, but theEnd this workflow link doesn’t appear unless that person also has the Manage Lists permission. (Again, the Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors groups do not.)

If the current instance of a workflow is no longer needed or wanted, it can be stopped.

• On the Workflow Status page, in the area just below the Workflow Visualization, click the Cancel all Collect Feedback tasks link.

All current tasks are canceled, and the workflow ends with a status of Canceled. The canceled tasks are still listed both in the Tasks area and in the Workflow History area.

Terminate (all tasks deleted from Tasks list but retained in History)

Permissions All four of the command links in the following illustration appear on the Workflow Status page of anyone who has the Manage Lists permission. The first three links appear on the page of the person who started the workflow instance, but theEnd this workflow link doesn’t appear unless that person also has the Manage Lists permission. (Again, the Owners group has the Manage Lists permission by default; the Members group and the Visitors groups do not.)

If an error occurs, or if the workflow stops and fails to respond, it can be ended.

• On the Workflow Status page, in the area just below the Workflow Visualization, click the End this workflow link.

All tasks created by the workflow are canceled and are deleted from the Tasks area on the Workflow Status page, though they’re still reflected in the Workflow History area. The workflow ends with a status of Canceled.

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6. Find out which workflows are running on an item

On the Workflows page for any item, you’ll find a list of the workflows currently running on that item.

1. Go to the list or library where the item is stored.

2. Click the icon in front of the item name to select the item and then, on the Files tab of the ribbon, in the Workflows group, click Workflows.

3. On the Workflows: Item Name page, under Running Workflows, you’ll find a list of workflow instances currently running on the item.

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7. Monitor workflows for the whole site collection

Site collection administrators can view at a glance:

• How many workflows based on each workflow template currently exist in the site collection.

• Whether each workflow template itself is currently active or inactive in the site collection.

• How many instances of workflow versions based on each workflow template are currently running in the site collection.

Here’s how:

1. Open the home page for the site collection (not the home page for a site or subsite within the collection).

2. Click the Settings icon and then click Site Settings.

3. On the Site Settings page, under Site Administration, click Workflows.

The Workflows page opens, displaying the information.

What’s next?

If this is the first time that this workflow version has run, you might want to use the instructions in the REVIEW segment of this article to view the events in the instance and discover whether the workflow functions as you want it to.

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Review Collect Feedback workflow results and create reports

After your workflow instance has completed, you can review the events recorded in its history. (You can access the record for any instance for up to 60 days after the instance completes.)

You can also run reports about the overall performance of the workflow across instances.

Sections in this segment

1. Review events in the most recent instance

2. Access instance history for up to 60 days

3. Create workflow performance reports

1. Review events in the most recent instance

As long as an item remains in the same list or library, and until the same workflow is run again on that same item, the history of the most recent instance can be accessed from the list or library.

To view the Workflow Status page for the most recent instance of a workflow run on any item:

• In the list or library where the item is located, click the status link for the item and workflow that you want.

In this example, the item is the document titled Keynote draft and the workflow is New Doc Approval.

On the Workflow Status page, the Workflow History section is located near the bottom.

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2. Access instance history for up to 60 days

What if you want to review the history of an instance after you’ve run the same workflow again on the same item?

In fact, you can do so for up to 60 days, from either of two entry points: the list or library, or the workflow completion notification. (Sixty days is how long SharePoint products retains task history for workflows.)

From the list or library

1. Go to the list or library where the item is stored.

2. Click the icon in front of the item name to select the item and then, on the Files tab of the ribbon, in the Workflows group, click Workflows.

3. On the Workflows: Item Name page, under Completed Workflows, click the name or status of the workflow instance that you want to review.
   
   The Workflow Status page for that instance opens.

From the workflow completion notification

• Open the workflow completion notification for the instance that you want to review, and then click the View the workflow history link.

The Workflow Status page for that instance opens.

In order to retain all of your completion notifications, you might want to create an Outlook rule. Set up the rule to copy all incoming messages that have the text has completed on in the Subject line into their own, separate folder. (Make sure that your Outlook rule copies the incoming messages and doesn’t simply move them, or they won’t also appear in your Inbox.) To learn more about how to create Outlook rules, see the article Manage e-mail messages with rules.

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3. Create workflow performance reports

To learn how one of your workflow versions is performing generally — over time and over multiple instances — you can create either or both of two predefined reports:

• Activity Duration Report    Use this report to see averages of how long it’s taking for each activity within a workflow to complete, as well as how long it takes each complete run or instance of that workflow to complete.

• Cancellation and Error Report    Use this report to see whether a workflow is frequently being canceled or encountering errors before completion.

Create the available reports for a workflow

1. In the list or library, in the Status column for that workflow, click any status information link.
   

2. On the Workflow Status page, under Workflow History, click View workflow reports.
   

3. Locate the workflow for which you want to view a report, and then click the name of the report that you want to view.
   

4. On the Customize page, either keep or change the location where the report file will be created, and then click OK.
   
   The report is created and saved to the specified location.

5. When the report is complete, you can click the link shown in the following illustration to view it. Otherwise, click OK to finish and close the dialog box. (Later, when you’re ready to view the report, you’ll find it at the location you specified in the preceding step.)
   

What’s next?

If your workflow functions just the way you want it to, you’re all set to start using it.

If there’s anything you want to change about how it works, see the CHANGE segment of this article.

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Change, disable, or remove a Collect Feedback workflow

After you run the first instance of your new Collect Feedback workflow and review the results, you might want to make one or more changes to the way the workflow is configured.

Also, you might want at various times in the future to make further changes to the configuration.

Finally, you might at some point wish to disable the workflow for a shorter or longer period, but not remove it — or you might, indeed, choose to remove it entirely.

Sections in this segment

1. Change permanent settings for a workflow

2. Disable or remove a workflow

1. Change permanent settings for a workflow

To make permanent changes to the settings for an existing workflow, you open and edit the association form that was originally used to add it.

If the workflow runs in only one list or library

1. Open the list or library in which the workflow runs.

2. On the Ribbon, click the List or Library tab.

   Note: The name of the tab can vary with the type of list or library. For example, in a calendar list this tab is named Calendar.

3. In the Settings group, click Workflow Settings.

4. On the Workflow Settings page, under Workflow Name (click to change settings), click the name of the workflow that you want to change settings for.

   Note: If the Collect Feedback workflow that you want doesn’t appear in the list, it might be associated with only one content type. Which workflows appear in this list is controlled by the Show workflow associations of this type control, located just above the list. (See the illustration.) Click through the content-type options in the drop-down menu to discover which one displays the workflow that you want. When the workflow you want appears in the list, click the workflow’s name.

5. In the same two-page association form that was originally used to add the workflow, make and save the changes that you want.

   For more information about the fields and controls in the association form, see the PLAN segment and the appropriate ADD segment (List/library or Site collection) of this article.

If the workflow runs in all lists and libraries in the site collection

1. Open the home page for the site collection (not the home page for a site or subsite within the collection).

2. Click the Settings icon and then click Site Settings.

3. On the Site Settings page, under Galleries, click Site Content Types.

4. On the Site Content Types page, click the name of the site content type on which the workflow runs.

5. On the page for the selected content type, underSettings, clickWorkflow Settings.

6. On the Workflow Settings page, under Workflow Name (click to change settings), click the name of the workflow that you want to change settings for.

7. In the same two-page association form that was originally used to add the workflow, make and save the changes that you want.

   For more information about the fields and controls in the association form, see the PLAN segment and the appropriate ADD segment (List/library or Site collection) of this article.

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2. Disable or remove a workflow

If the workflow runs in only one list or library

1. Open the list or library in which the workflow runs.

2. On the Ribbon, click the List or Library tab.

   Note: The name of the tab can vary with the type of list or library. For example, in a calendar list this tab is named Calendar.

3. In the Settings group, click Workflow Settings.

4. On the Workflow Settings page, click the Remove a workflow link.
   

5. Use the form on the Remove Workflows page to disable, re-enable, or remove workflows.
   

There are five columns in the form:

• Workflow    Name of the workflow.

• Instances    Number of instances of the workflow currently running on items.

• Allow    Option that enables the workflow to continue to operate normally.

• No New Instances    Option that allows any currently-running instances of the workflow to complete, but disables the workflow by making it unavailable to run any new instances. (This action is reversible. To re-enable the workflow later, return to this page and select Allow.)

• Remove    Option that removes the workflow from the list or library altogether. All running instances are immediately terminated, and the column for that workflow no longer appears on the page for the list or library. (This action isn’t reversible.)

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If the workflow runs in all lists and libraries in the site collection

1. Open the home page for the site collection (not the home page for a site or subsite within the collection).

2. Click the Settings icon and then click Site Settings.

3. On the Site Settings page, under Galleries, click Site Content Types.

4. On the Site Content Types page, click the name of the site content type on which the workflow runs.

5. On the page for the selected content type, underSettings, click Workflow Settings.

6. On the Workflow Settings page, click the Remove a workflow link.

7. Use the form on the Remove Workflows page to disable, re-enable, or remove workflows.
   

There are five columns in the form:

• Workflow    Name of the workflow.

• Instances    Number of instances of the workflow currently running on items.

• Allow    Option that enables the workflow to continue to operate normally.

• No New Instances    Option that allows any currently-running instances of the workflow to complete, but disables the workflow by making it unavailable to run any new instances. (This action is reversible. To re-enable the workflow later, return to this page and select Allow.)

• Remove    Option that removes the workflow from the site collection altogether. All running instances are immediately terminated, and the column for that workflow no longer appears on the page for the list or library. (This action isn’t reversible.)

What’s next?

If you’ve made any changes, run a test instance of the workflow to double-check the effects of the changes.

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Customizing further

There are a wide variety of ways to further customize the workflows included with SharePoint products.

You can even create custom workflows from scratch.

You can use any or all of the following programs:

• Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2013    Customize workflow forms, actions, and behaviors.

• Microsoft Visual Studio    Build your own custom workflow actions.

For more information, see the Microsoft Software Developer Network (MSDN) Help system.

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