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# Building, editing and publishing a workflow

Workflows in SimplyPrint lets you write your own route for work after it prints, with the stages and tasks your team follows. This guide covers making a new workflow, changing one you already have, the task library, and what publishing does.

|| **Not live for everyone yet.** Workflows is rolling out to a closed pilot first, so some accounts won't see it yet. Once it opens up, it is part of the Print Farm, School and Enterprise plans.

Everything here happens in **Settings > Workflows** (`/panel/settings/workflows`) and needs the **Manage workflows** [permission](/en/article/workflow-permissions-group-only-steps-and-the-activity-history-24a4ap/). This article is part of the [Workflows guide](/en/article/workflows-the-stages-and-tasks-work-follows-after-it-prints-1gh5hy8/). If you'd rather start from a finished one, add one of the [ready-made workflows](/en/article/ready-made-workflows-basic-post-processing-school-pickup-item-finishing-and-the-order-workflows-52kt51/).

![Settings > Workflows with "Item finishing" expanded: Revision badge, "Production work" applies-to text, Edit stages / Details / Archive buttons, the stage list with Required / Optional / Only sometimes badges, and "When it is used" with one rule.](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/f/f/2/2/ff22a914001c1000/03-workflows-build-and-publish_18h4uc1.png)

## Table of contents
- [Reading a workflow before you change it](#2-reading-a-workflow-before-you-change-it)
- [Creating a new workflow](#2-creating-a-new-workflow)
- [The editor: stages](#2-the-editor-stages)
- [The editor: tasks](#2-the-editor-tasks)
- [The task library](#2-the-task-library)
- [Publishing a revision](#2-publishing-a-revision)
- [Renaming, changing what it applies to, and archiving](#2-renaming-changing-what-it-applies-to-and-archiving)

## Reading a workflow before you change it
Each workflow in **Your workflows** opens to show exactly what it does, as published:

- its stages in order, with what enters each one automatically ("Entered automatically when the print finishes"), what each one does on entry ("On entering, it emails whoever asked for the print") and which one finishes the job;
- every task, marked **Required**, **Optional** or **Only sometimes**, with its time estimate;
- **When it is used**: the [rules](/en/article/workflow-rules-choosing-which-workflow-applies-by-account-label-or-product-1cd6r50/) that attach it to work.

A workflow marked **Not published** has no published version yet, so nothing can use it.

## Creating a new workflow
1. Click **New workflow** at the top of **Settings > Workflows**.
2. Give it a **Name**.
3. Under **It applies to**, pick what it covers. You can pick several, for example print jobs and orders.
4. Click **Create**. The editor opens straight away, because a workflow with no stages can't be published.

## The editor: stages
The editor lists stages in the order work flows through them. For each stage you can set:

- **Stage name**, and a **Stage role** that decides which column it shows in on the [board](/en/article/the-workflows-board-see-every-print-item-and-order-in-its-stage-fn0n4w/).
- **Starts**: **Only by hand** (the default), or automatically **When the print starts**, **When the print finishes** or **When the bed is cleared**.
- **Where it happens**: a place, such as a shelf or tray from the Shop, or free text. Leave it as **Anywhere** if it doesn't matter.
- **Reaching this finishes the job**: tick it on every stage that ends the run.
- **Every piece must be in a tray or on a shelf first** (Shop work only): work waits before this stage until each piece is put away.
- **Do these steps for each plate as it comes off, not once for the whole item**: each plate gets its own copy of the stage's tasks.

Use **Add a stage**, **Move up**, **Move down** and **Remove stage** to shape the list. Removing a stage also removes anything it did automatically.

|| A stage carrying automatic actions, such as an email or adding to the print queue, shows "N automatic actions". You can't add or change those in the editor, but the editor keeps them when you edit the stage. They come with the ready-made workflows.

![The workflow editor for "Item finishing": intro text, the revision line, two stages with Stage role, Starts and Where it happens fields, the finish checkbox, and a task table with Required, Needs and Takes columns.](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/f/f/2/2/ff22a914001c1000/03-workflows-build-and-publish_1r70v2j.png)

## The editor: tasks
Each stage has a task table. For each task you set:

- **Task name**.
- **Required**: whether the stage waits for it.
- **Needs**: **Nothing** or **A note**. A task that needs a note can't be ticked off until someone adds one.
- **Takes**: an estimate in minutes.
- **Do this for every piece**: count it per piece instead of ticking once.
- **Who can do it**: **Anyone who can complete tasks**, or one user group. Shown on accounts with their own user groups.

Tasks marked **Only sometimes** have a [condition](/en/article/how-a-workflow-works-stages-tasks-conditions-and-checks-yqf8sa/), such as "only when the plate used supports".

## The task library
A task you use in many workflows can be written once in the task library, with its instructions, a video, a reference link and an [Academy](/en/article/the-academy-built-in-training-and-courses-inside-simplyprint-jfi696/) course. Operators then see that guidance on the task, with **Watch how** and **Reference** links.

- **Add from library** puts a library task into a stage, with its defaults: required, time, what it needs, per piece, and any condition such as "only when the plate used supports".
- **New shared task** writes a new one. Its **When does this apply?** field sets the condition.
- **Save to the library** turns a task you typed into a shared one.

Writing to the library needs the **Manage the task library** permission. Using it in a workflow doesn't.

||| Editing a library task's instructions updates every workflow that uses it, including work already in progress. Its defaults (required, time, condition) only affect workflows published afterwards.

## Publishing a revision
Click **Publish** when you're done. The editor shows which revision you're editing, for example "Editing revision 2. Publishing creates revision 3".

- New runs use the new revision.
- Runs already going keep the revision they started on, to the end.
- Publishing refuses a workflow with no stages, with no finishing stage, with a stage or task that has no name, or with a task written for a group that no longer exists. The editor says why.

## Renaming, changing what it applies to, and archiving
- **Details** changes the name, the description and **It applies to**. Changing what it applies to affects new runs only.
- **Archive** stops the workflow being offered for new work. Anything already in progress carries on to the end, unchanged. Archiving is not deleting.

## Related articles
### Workflows
- [Workflows: the stages and tasks work follows after it prints](/en/article/workflows-the-stages-and-tasks-work-follows-after-it-prints-1gh5hy8/)
- [How a workflow works: stages, tasks, conditions and checks](/en/article/how-a-workflow-works-stages-tasks-conditions-and-checks-yqf8sa/)
- [Ready-made workflows: Basic post-processing, School pickup, Item finishing and the order workflows](/en/article/ready-made-workflows-basic-post-processing-school-pickup-item-finishing-and-the-order-workflows-52kt51/)
- [Workflow rules: choosing which workflow applies, by account, label or product](/en/article/workflow-rules-choosing-which-workflow-applies-by-account-label-or-product-1cd6r50/)

### Running the work
- [The Workflows board: see every print, item and order in its stage](/en/article/the-workflows-board-see-every-print-item-and-order-in-its-stage-fn0n4w/)
- [Working through a workflow: ticking tasks, notes, waiving, blocking and moving on](/en/article/working-through-a-workflow-ticking-tasks-notes-waiving-blocking-and-moving-on-7eyr9e/)
- [Workflows in the Shop: order and item workflows, accepted pieces and moving on by itself](/en/article/workflows-in-the-shop-order-and-item-workflows-accepted-pieces-and-moving-on-by-itself-1tkpyzp/)

### Teams and training
- [Workflow permissions, group-only steps and the activity history](/en/article/workflow-permissions-group-only-steps-and-the-activity-history-24a4ap/)
- [User groups and permissions: what each one controls](/en/article/user-groups-and-permissions-what-each-one-controls-1284ueh/)
- [The Academy: built-in training and courses inside SimplyPrint](/en/article/the-academy-built-in-training-and-courses-inside-simplyprint-jfi696/)