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# Workflows: the stages and tasks work follows after it prints

Workflows in SimplyPrint lets you describe what happens after a print comes off the printer: the stages a print, an item or an order goes through, the tasks a person does at each stage, and the checks that decide when it may move on. This guide covers who Workflows is for, how its parts fit together, where you find it in the panel and which plans include it.

|| **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.

When a printer says a print is done, the work usually isn't. Supports come off, every piece gets checked, a student is told their print is ready to collect, an order is packed and shipped. Until now SimplyPrint stopped at "done". Workflows covers what comes after.

You find the board at **Workflows** in the sidebar (`/panel/workflows`), and you set workflows up in **Settings > Workflows** (`/panel/settings/workflows`).

![The Workflows board on desktop for Fernwood Print Co.: columns Printing, Post-processing, Ready to pack, Packed, with Item and Order cards, one blocked card at the top of a column, stage ages on the cards.](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/f/f/2/2/ff22a914001c1000/00-workflows-overview-wfboardd_12uhkob.png)

## Table of contents
- [Who is this for?](#2-who-is-this-for)
- [What can you do with it?](#2-what-can-you-do-with-it)
- [How it all fits together](#2-how-it-all-fits-together)
- [The building blocks](#2-the-building-blocks)
- [Where you see workflows in the panel](#2-where-you-see-workflows-in-the-panel)
- [Plans and availability](#2-plans-and-availability)
- [What workflows do not do](#2-what-workflows-do-not-do)

## Who is this for?
Workflows is built for places where more than one person touches a print after it comes off the bed:

- **Print farms and shops** that finish, inspect, pack and ship parts, and want every item and order to show where it is.
- **Schools and makerspaces** where a teacher or technician finishes prints and the student who asked for one should hear when it is ready to collect.
- **Any team** that has a checklist on paper next to the printers, such as "remove supports, inspect, bag, label".

If nobody does anything to a print after it finishes, you don't need a workflow. With no workflow attached, nothing changes: a print is done when it is printed, exactly as before.

## What can you do with it?
- **Describe what happens after printing, once.** A workflow is a list of stages, such as Printing, Post-processing and Ready for collection, each with the tasks a person does there.
- **Only ask for work that is needed.** A task like "Remove supports" can be set to appear only when the slice used supports. When SimplyPrint can't tell, the task is still shown and marked as possibly not needed, with the reason one click away.
- **Check every piece, not just the batch.** A task can be done once per piece, so three pieces need three ticks.
- **Let work move on by itself.** Stages can be entered when the print starts, when it finishes or when the bed is cleared, and a stage can move on as soon as its checks pass.
- **Hold work until it is really ready.** An order doesn't reach Ready to pack until every item is accepted and every item's own workflow is finished.
- **Tell the person who asked.** The ready-made **School pickup** workflow emails whoever asked for the print when it is ready to collect.
- **See everything in flight.** The [Workflows board](/en/article/the-workflows-board-see-every-print-item-and-order-in-its-stage-fn0n4w/) shows every running workflow in columns, with blocked work at the top.

## How it all fits together
1. You add a [ready-made workflow](/en/article/ready-made-workflows-basic-post-processing-school-pickup-item-finishing-and-the-order-workflows-52kt51/) or [build your own](/en/article/building-editing-and-publishing-a-workflow-9pzfmw/) in **Settings > Workflows**.
2. You publish it. Publishing makes a numbered revision. Work that is already running keeps the revision it started on.
3. You add a [rule](/en/article/workflow-rules-choosing-which-workflow-applies-by-account-label-or-product-1cd6r50/) that says when it is used: for everything in the account, for anything with a label, or for one product.
4. When something it covers starts, such as a print job or a Shop item, a **run** of that workflow starts for it. A run is that one thing's copy of the workflow, with its own tasks and history.
5. People [work through the run](/en/article/working-through-a-workflow-ticking-tasks-notes-waiving-blocking-and-moving-on-7eyr9e/) on the board or on the run's own page, ticking tasks and moving it to the next stage.
6. When the run reaches a stage marked as finishing the job, it is done and leaves the board.

## The building blocks
### Stages
A stage is somewhere work sits, such as "Post-processing". Each stage can say what moves work into it automatically, what it does on entry (for example, email the requester), and what must be true before work may enter or leave it.

See: [How a workflow works: stages, tasks, conditions and checks](/en/article/how-a-workflow-works-stages-tasks-conditions-and-checks-yqf8sa/)

### Tasks
A task is something a person does at a stage, such as "Inspect". Tasks can be required or optional, done once or once per piece, ask for a note, and be limited to one user group. Reusable tasks live in the task library, so you write the instructions once.

See: [Building, editing and publishing a workflow](/en/article/building-editing-and-publishing-a-workflow-9pzfmw/)

### Rules
Rules decide which workflow a print, item or order follows. The most specific rule wins: a rule on a product beats the account default. Rules can also add extra tasks, such as "Hand-painted adds Prime, Paint and Dry".

See: [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/)

### Runs and the board
Every piece of work following a workflow is a run. The [board](/en/article/the-workflows-board-see-every-print-item-and-order-in-its-stage-fn0n4w/) shows them all; clicking a card opens its stages and tasks.

See: [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/)

## Where you see workflows in the panel
- **Workflows** in the sidebar: the board of everything running.
- **Settings > Workflows**: your workflows, their rules and the ready-made ones. You need the **Manage workflows** [permission](/en/article/workflow-permissions-group-only-steps-and-the-activity-history-24a4ap/) to see this page.
- **A run's own page**, `/panel/workflow/<run>`: what a link in an email opens, and what the board opens on a phone.
- **In the Shop**: an order's **Production** tab, the **Work** list and each item's page in the [Shop](/en/article/the-shop-run-your-3d-printing-orders-from-store-to-shipped-11v71lf/) show the workflow the order or item follows.

See: [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/)

## Plans and availability
| What | Plans |
| ---- | ----- |
| Workflows (board, settings, runs) | Print Farm, School, Enterprise |
| Shop order and item workflows | Print Farm, Enterprise (the Shop is not part of School) |

While Workflows is in its pilot, a plan alone doesn't turn it on. Accounts in the pilot see it; other accounts see nothing of it yet.

## What workflows do not do
- **The board is read-only.** You can't drag a card to another column. A card opens its run, where moving on asks for confirmation when the next stage does something outside the workflow, such as adding work to the print queue.
- **Photo evidence isn't available yet.** A task can ask for a note; a task can't yet ask for a photo.
- **Scanning a tray to open its work isn't built yet.** Open the work from the board, the Shop or the link in an email.
- **Workflow emails go to SimplyPrint users only**, such as the person who asked for the print. They are not sent to Shop buyers.
- **Automatic stage actions can't be added in the editor.** Emails and adding to the print queue come with the ready-made workflows. The editor shows them and keeps them when you edit.

## Related articles
### Setting up workflows
- [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/)
- [Building, editing and publishing a workflow](/en/article/building-editing-and-publishing-a-workflow-9pzfmw/)
- [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/)

### Day to day
- [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/)
- [Workflow permissions, group-only steps and the activity history](/en/article/workflow-permissions-group-only-steps-and-the-activity-history-24a4ap/)

### Workflows and the Shop
- [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/)
- [The Shop: run your 3D printing orders from store to shipped](/en/article/the-shop-run-your-3d-printing-orders-from-store-to-shipped-11v71lf/)
- [Shop production work: the Work page, clearing plates, trays and finishing steps](/en/article/shop-production-work-the-work-page-clearing-plates-trays-and-finishing-steps-cvy4nw/)

### Printing and teams
- [The print queue: manage, schedule and automate your prints](/en/article/the-print-queue-manage-schedule-and-automate-your-prints-1syc86o/)
- [Print farm workflows: running a farm with the print queue, AutoPrint and automation](/en/article/print-farm-workflows-running-a-farm-with-the-print-queue-autoprint-and-automation-1vdan82/)
- [School and makerspace workflows: from teacher-led to student-led printing](/en/article/school-and-makerspace-workflows-from-teacher-led-to-student-led-printing-cfmow0/)
- [User groups and permissions: what each one controls](/en/article/user-groups-and-permissions-what-each-one-controls-1284ueh/)