Workflows are recipe-driven automations that move data between GoFormz and third-party business systems in real time.

With Templates and Forms, you collect information. With Workflows, you create a digital information ecosystem.

If you manage your account’s Templates, or process your organization’s received Forms, Workflows can help you increase information accuracy, and aid your efficiency.

🗒️ Note: Workflows are available for Team, Advanced, and Enterprise accounts.

Merge the information you’re collecting with your Forms into your existing processes when you set up Workflows. Consider the journey of your Form and Form data. What do you want to do with the information you collect? If you. . .

Send Forms to people.
Send Form data to a third-party integration (like Salesforce or Zapier).
Upload Forms to cloud storage.
Add the information you receive to a sheet or DataSource.

. . . or process your Forms or their information in another way, then you can leverage Workflows to automate steps in your process.

Set up and manage your Workflows in the GoFormz web app when you access the Workflows tab. In Workflows, you’ll also access the information you need to monitor and manage your Workflows.

Elements of a Workflow, and how to make the most of them

Workflows are made up of a trigger, and steps (sometimes called actions).

Triggers determine under what conditions your Workflow starts
Actions determine what your Workflow accomplishes

Together, they create a Workflow recipe. Create and manage your Workflow recipes in the web app’s Workflow Editor.

Screenshot displaying a Workflow recipe in the Workflow Editor in the GoFormz web app.

The trigger initiates your Workflow. When you set up your Workflow, you’ll determine which Templates and associated users that’ll guide your Workflow actions. Available triggers include:

🗒️ Note: The Manual trigger - which provides a means to create an ad-hoc Workflow trigger, requires training with Pro Services.

Steps determine what your Workflow does.

Available steps include an ever-growing list of tasks, including actions like dispatching completed Forms to Google Drive, pulling an email address from a completed Form to send an email, and making HTTP requests against custom API endpoints.

Pre-made recipes are available for common Workflows. These recipes include tasks like emailing or uploading completed Forms. For data management needs beyond what these recipes offer, you can create Custom Workflow recipes.

📢 Looking for some guidance on how Workflows can help you automate your manual tasks? Book a demo today.

As you build out your Workflow recipes, you’ll specify how you want to manage the information you collect.

Guide your information with Workflow step details

Each Workflow step has unique details. The details you provide within a Workflow step that determine what information you want to reference from your Template, Forms, or third-party system is called its input. Common inputs include:

Form fields
Object IDs
Form metadata
and dataset specifications

For many Workflow steps, you’ll find step outputs. Outputs are the data collected in response to the input. You’ll find each step’s outputs listed at the bottom of its page in the Workflow Editor.

Use a step’s outputs as the input for any step that follows. You can also reference information from your connected apps, DataSources, and Form fields in addition to Workflow variables.

When you reference outputs throughout your Workflow, be sure that you use the appropriate Workflow variable syntax.

Workflow variable syntax

The outputs related to your Workflow are considered Workflow variables.

Workflow variable syntax is the format used to indicate both the source and specifics of the information you want to reference. Reference any data captured by a Form, including a Form’s data fields or metadata.

Reference a Form’s data fields to pull the information directly from the matching Form.
Form metadata variables reference information about the Form itself. This includes information like a Form’s name, status, or source Template.

Establish naming conventions to recognize and reference information with clarity. When you reference Form fields in your Workflow, you’ll be glad you took the time to name your fields when you built your Template.

💡 As an example. . .

Workflow variable syntax tells you where you want to source your reference, and the specific information you want to reference from that source.

A common example of variable syntax is #{trigger.formId}. Include this variable to reference the Form ID.

In this example, “trigger” references your Workflow’s trigger. This indicates that you’re pulling information from your trigger’s available step outputs. From those step outputs, you’re referencing the Form ID (displayed in syntax as “formID”).

Your variable here is the Form ID output sourced from your Workflow’s trigger. It is spelled out in variable syntax as #{trigger.formId}.

When you select a field that accepts variables, a menu containing your available Workflow variable options appears.

Screenshot displaying the Form ID field in the Step Configuration details of the Workflow Editor within the GoFormz web app.

Your selected variable populates the field information formatted as variable syntax.

Screenshot displaying the Form ID field populated with the Form ID trigger variable syntax in the Step Configuration details of the Workflow Editor within the GoFormz web app.

Include Workflow variable syntax to:

Assign information from your outputs to areas within later steps.
Populate information in your third-party integrations using information from Form fields.
Pre-populate fields created by a Workflow action.

Verify that you provide complete variables, with proper syntax so that your Workflows run successfully.

Required inputs in Workflows

Some inputs within your Workflow steps are required. You’ll need to provide the required information in order to publish - and successfully run - these Workflows.

If your step has an incomplete required field, both the step and its required fields appear highlighted until you provide the required information.

Screenshot displaying the Workflow Editor with required fields and their matching step highlighted in the GoFormz web app.

With each required field satisfied, you’re ready to publish your Workflow.

Integrate third-party apps into your Workflows

Integrate apps with your account to dispatch information between GoFormz and third-party apps. Integrations are available for an ever-increasing suite of ubiquitous business software. Some integrations require Pro Services training.

If you need to set up Workflows for different parts of your business, you’ll add multiple connections for a single integration.

💡As an example. . .

If you store Form PDFs to OneDrive, add connections for each of your departments to automatically organize your received Form PDFs.

Connection 1 is for your HVAC team, while Connection 2 is tied to your electricians. Add two separate OneDrive connections - one for each team.

Set up two Workflows. In Workflow 1, add your HVAC team connection. For Workflow 2, add your electricians connection.

Both connections and Workflows will use the same OneDrive integration, but process information using their unique connections.

When you add connections, assign them descriptive names.

Some connections do not indicate the credentials used to add the connection, so consider including the associated account’s username. This is especially important for integrations with multiple connections.

Maintain your Workflows

Workflows require occasional maintenance. The Workflow Dashboard provides a centralized place to monitor your account’s Workflows. Common Workflow failure causes include:

Misspelled variable syntax.
Connections in need of re-authentication.
Formatting errors (incorrect letter casing, special characters, extra spaces, etc.).

You’ll find details about each Workflow step - including the cause of any issues - in the Jobs section. The Jobs section aims to help you troubleshoot, and analyze your Workflows.

Workflow versioning and history

Whenever you modify an existing Workflow, you create a new version of that Workflow. Any user with access to Workflows can access and manage your previous Workflow versions in Workflow History.

While you set up your Workflow, you can save your Workflow as a draft to come back to it later. Publish it once you’re ready for it to go live.

Screenshot displaying the location of the Workflow History option in the Workflow Actions menu in the GoFormz web app.

A Workflow’s history provides you with an audit trail to track changes to your Workflows. This aids in accountability and troubleshooting. Add notes to your Workflow versions to track updates between your Workflow versions.

Your Workflow will always run using your current Workflow version. This includes if you re-run any Workflows. Should you need to re-run a Workflow using a previous Workflow version, you’ll need to revert the matching Workflow to the necessary version.