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Start a process instance

A process instance is a process put into action for a real case: a new arrival, a purchase, an incident… It reuses the process's steps, but with real people and real dates.

Process or process instance?

1. Start the process instance

1. Click New process instance

   In the Process instances tab. The Create New Process instance panel opens.

2. Details

   Enter the Process instance name (required) and a Description using the text editor (bold, lists, links…).

3. Process

   Choose the process to follow. Only published processes are offered, with their version number. Its participants and its variables are loaded automatically.

4. Start

   Choose the start date and time. If they are in the past, a warning lets you know: the first tasks will then be due immediately.

5. Participants

   For each participant planned by the process (for example "the manager"), choose the person (or group). An "x / y assigned" counter shows how far along you are.

6. Variables (optional)

   A collapsible Variables block lists the process information you can adjust for this particular case (the items whose Override option is checked).

7. Create process instance

   Click this button: the process instance is created and each person receives their tasks.

2. Follow the process instance

In the Process instances tab, three chips filter your process instances by status, with their count: New, In progress and Archived. Click a process instance (or its Edit pencil) to open it.

• On the left: the task tree (Overview, then each task). An icon flags the ones with a review request.
• In the middle: the selected task (email, meeting, document, milestone, free-form task). The toolbar stays visible as you scroll, with the Save button.
• On the right: the task's information — Risk assessment, Details (status, proposed dates, effort, reminder) and Collaborators (assignees, reviewers, validators, signers).

On a narrow window (a tablet or a phone), the task tree and the task's information no longer sit beside the task: use the Tasks and Task details buttons at the top right of the process instance's title bar to open them as panels over the task; choosing a task closes the tree panel.

3. Request a review of a task

Email, meeting and document tasks have a Review menu:

• Ask for a review: possible if the task has at least one reviewer and no review is already pending.
• Accept / Reject: reserved for the task's reviewers, while a review is pending. You can attach a comment to your decision.
• The state (Review pending / accepted / rejected) is shown in Details, with the reviewer's name and the date.

Statuses

The process instance's status is shown in front of its name; a task's status appears in its Details.

View the details

To see who started a process instance, when, how far it has gone and which Process it comes from, click the View details icon (the “i”) on its row in the Process instances page. A panel opens on the right, without leaving the list:

• The status of the process instance, at the top of the panel.
• Overview: who started it (name and email), the creation date, the start date, the last modification and the number of tasks.
• Associated process: the Process it comes from and its version, with an Open process button.

The Open process instance button opens the process instance; Close, the cross or the Esc key close the panel. The pen icon (Edit) opens the process instance straight away, without showing the panel.

Delete a process instance

A process instance started by mistake, or no longer needed, is deleted from the Process instances page (bin icon Delete on its row) or from its own page (Remove button at the top of the details column (on a narrow window, in the Task details panel)). Confirm, and the process instance disappears.

• Only the person who started the process instance (its owner) can delete it.
• All its tasks disappear too, including from the My tasks and Activity pages of the people they were assigned to.
• Once its process instances are deleted, the Process they come from can be deleted too.

Permissions

To start a process instance (New process instance) you need Start process instances and also View processes, because the form lists the published processes. Deleting a process instance needs Delete process instances and being the person who started it. The Viewer role only lets you look at process instances.