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Workflow rules: choosing which workflow applies, by account, label or product

Workflow rules in SimplyPrint decide which workflow a print, item or order follows: "every print job in the account", "anything labelled Rush", "every item made from the Spiral Planter". This guide covers the kinds of rule, where you set each one, which rule wins when several match, and how extra work adds tasks for some orders.


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.


A published workflow does nothing until a rule says when to use it. This article is part of the Workflows guide.


Table of contents


What a rule is

A rule has three parts:


  • the workflow it starts;
  • what it is for: print jobs, Shop items, orders and so on;
  • where it applies: everything in the account, anything with a label, or one product.


A workflow with no rules shows "This workflow is not attached to anything yet, so it will never start. Add a rule to say when it should be used."


Adding a rule in Settings

  1. Open Settings > Workflows and expand the workflow.
  2. Under When it is used, click Add a rule.
  3. Under Applies to, pick Everything in the account or Anything with a label.
  4. For a label rule, type the Label.
  5. Under For, pick what it is for. Only the kinds of work the workflow covers are offered.
  6. Click Add rule.


The "When should "Item finishing" be used?" dialog with Applies to, Label and For fields.


Only orders, order lines, production work and files have labels. A label rule on a print-job workflow would never match, so it isn't offered.


To remove a rule, click Remove next to it. New work stops using the workflow there; anything already running is unaffected.


When you add a ready-made workflow, SimplyPrint offers to add a rule that uses it for everything of that kind.


Rules from the Shop

Some rules are set from the Shop, because choosing them means picking a product:


  • Settings > Shop > Production sets the Default item workflow and the Order workflow for the whole account. These are the same account-wide rules Settings > Workflows shows.
  • A product's page has an Item workflow row: pick a workflow to override the account default for every item made from that product, or go back to the account default.


See: Workflows in the Shop: order and item workflows, accepted pieces and moving on by itself


See: Shop products: map store products to Projects, variants and CSV import


A Shop product page (Spiral Planter) showing the Item workflow row with "Account default: Item finishing", the stage and task count, and the Extra work list.


Which rule wins

When several rules match the same work, the most specific one wins. From most to least specific:


  1. One order line
  2. A product, or a label
  3. A project item, or a plate
  4. A project
  5. A file
  6. Everything in the account


So a product rule beats the account default, and the account default only applies where nothing more specific does. A rule for a workflow that can't follow that kind of work never shadows one that can.


If two rules at the same level match the same work, the newest one wins. The rules list doesn't say which one that is, so avoid two rules at the same level for the same kind of work.


Extra work: adding tasks for some orders

Extra work adds tasks into a stage of whichever workflow wins, without a workflow per option. It is set on a product's page, under Extra work > Add extra work:


  1. Pick the stage under Add these tasks to.
  2. Add the tasks, for example Prime, Paint and Dry, and mark which are required.
  3. Tick One after another, in this order if each must wait for the one above it.
  4. Under When does this apply?, choose Always, or a condition such as What the buyer chose (a product option or paid add-on, for example Finish is Hand-painted).
  5. Click Add rule.


Items ordered from then on get those tasks when the condition holds. On the run, Why? says "Added by a rule on this product or project."


See: Working through a workflow: ticking tasks, notes, waiving, blocking and moving on


Rules that never apply

A rule saved before SimplyPrint started refusing impossible rules may be tagged Never applies: "Nothing this workflow covers can be chosen this way." Remove it and add a rule of another kind. New rules like this are refused when you save them.


What changing a rule affects

Adding, changing or removing a rule only affects work that starts afterwards. A run that has started keeps its workflow and revision to the end. To move one thing onto a different workflow, it has to start again, for example with a reprint.


Workflows


Shop and Projects


Printing

Updated on: 06/11/2026

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