Articles on: Printing: start, queue & track

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

A run in SimplyPrint is one piece of work's own copy of a workflow: its stages and tasks, with a record of who did what. This guide is for the person at the bench, and covers opening a run, ticking off its tasks, notes, skipping and waiving, blocking and assigning, and moving it to the next stage.


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.


This article is part of the Workflows guide. For what stages, checks and conditions mean, see how a workflow works.


Table of contents


Opening a run

A run opens from several places:


  • The board: click a card on the Workflows board.
  • Its own page, /panel/workflow/<run>. This is what a phone opens from the board, and what a link in a workflow email opens. Built for someone holding a part: one screen, full width on a phone.
  • The Shop: an order's Production tab and an item's page show the same steps. See workflows in the Shop.


The run's own page on a phone for the Cable Clips (10-pack) - Charcoal item: Put away, Add note and Open item buttons, a note on the run, and the Finishing stage open with Inspect at 0 of 1 piece.


What the run shows

  • The stages top to bottom. Finished stages show a tick and "N of M steps done" (click to see them), the current stage is open with its tasks and how long it has been there, and later stages list the tasks they will ask for.
  • At the top, where the pieces are (for Shop work) and buttons such as Put away, Add note and Open item.
  • Activity: what happened, by whom and when. Show all expands it.
  • When the run is finished: "Every stage is done." When cancelled: "This workflow was cancelled."


People who may see a run but not work it, such as the student whose print it is, see the same run with no buttons.


Ticking off a task

Click the circle next to a task to tick it off. Click a ticked circle to undo it.


Under a task's name, a short line says what is unusual about it: Optional, Might not be needed, Needs a note, Assigned to (name), or Only (group) when only one user group can do it. Instructions from the task library show under the task, with Watch how and Reference links when the task has them.


Tasks done for every piece

A task marked for every piece is counted instead of ticked once. Each click on its circle counts one piece, and the circle fills as pieces are done, for example "2 of 4 pieces". To count every remaining piece at once, open the task's menu and choose Mark all pieces done. A reprinted piece reopens the task.


Why is this task here?

Some tasks are only added when the print needs them, such as "Remove supports". Click Why? on a task to see the reason:


  • "Added because the print needs it." The slice said so.
  • "Added by a rule on this product or project." Extra work from a rule.
  • A Kept because... reason, when SimplyPrint couldn't tell, such as "Kept because nothing has been sliced for it yet." The task is marked Might not be needed. Check the part and decide: tick it, or skip it.


Notes

There are two kinds of note:


  • A note on a task, when the task asks for one. Ticking it asks for the note first, or use Add the note in its menu. The note shows under the task.
  • A note on the run, with Add note at the top. It travels with the work, not with one task, and shows above the stages.


Photo evidence isn't available yet. A task that was set to need a photo before this changed can't be ticked off on the run.


Skipping and waiving

Open a task's menu:


  • Skip… on an optional task. It is recorded as skipped.
  • Waive… on a required task. The confirmation says "It will be recorded as waived, and this workflow will show that something required did not happen." Waiving a required task needs the Waive required workflow steps permission.


Skipped and waived tasks count as dealt with, so the stage can move on.


See: Workflow permissions, group-only steps and the activity history


Blocking and assigning a step

On a Shop item's page (Shop > Work, then the item), each step's menu also has:


  • Block, with a required reason, such as "out of sandpaper". The item stops offering that step until it is unblocked, and the board shows the card as blocked with the reason. Unblock reverses it.
  • Assign to me, Assign to someone and Unassign. The board's Mine filter and the Work list's Assigned to me filter use this. Assigning doesn't send a notification.


See: Shop production work: the Work page, clearing plates, trays and finishing steps


Moving to the next stage

When the current stage's required tasks are done, the run shows Move to (stage). If a required task is still open, it says what to finish instead, such as "Finish Inspect to move it to Ready for the order."


If the next stage does something outside the workflow, such as adding work to the print queue or sending an email, moving asks first. A stage set to move on by itself shows "Nothing to do here. It moves on by itself."


When the run says no

If the next stage's checks aren't met, the run explains instead of offering the move, for example:


  • "Not every item has been accepted yet." followed by the items still short, each with "N of M accepted" and Open item.
  • "Waiting for the work underneath this to finish."
  • "Some pieces are not where this stage needs them to be."


If a stage action failed, such as an email, the run says so at the top, for example "Failed to email whoever asked for the print", instead of looking as if nothing happened.


Workflows


Shop


Printing

Updated on: 06/11/2026

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