Two steps built from an empty form, the difference between Workflow Created and Last Workflow Order, and the numbering rule that decides whether it runs at all.
Building a workflow from an empty form, using a situation you already handle by hand: you met somebody yesterday, they should hear from you tomorrow, and a couple of days after that you should follow up on what you actually discussed.
Two steps, two different kinds of timing, and the numbering rule that decides whether the thing runs at all.
Workflow Management → Workflow Automation → Add Workflow, or Add New Workflow Automation from the Workflow List.
Workflow Name — name it for the situation. “New Client Process” still means something in a year.
CRM Type — Client, Prospect, Lead or Contact.
Workflow Type — Database Specific if you want to start it on people yourself, All Database Records if it should run on everybody matching your filters. For a first workflow, Database Specific is the safer choice: nothing happens until you decide it does.
Workflow Start Date, and an End Date only if the sequence should stop being applied after a certain point.
Send Count is filled in for you — it is a running total, not something you set.
Leave Active on, and use Database Type Filters to narrow who this applies to by Client Type, Rating Type or Lead Type.
Add Workflow Sequence gives you a row: Order, Action Type, From, Days and Minutes.
The row expands to ask for a Workflow Email Template and a Signature. If that template list is empty, see Workflow Email Templates — the template has to be flagged for workflows before it appears.
So: one day after you put somebody on this workflow, they receive the thank-you.
Add another sequence row:
This is the part worth understanding, because it is the whole shape of the feature.
Workflow Created counts from the moment the workflow started on that person. Every step measured this way is an offset from one fixed point.
Last Workflow Order counts from the step before it. This is how you say “and then two days after that” without doing the arithmetic yourself — and it keeps working if you later change the timing of an earlier step.
Minutes spaces actions out within a day, so two things due on the same day do not land in the same second. The small Date and Time buttons switch those fields from a relative wait to a fixed date and time.
The crons walk a workflow one step at a time, advancing the status by one. A gap in the numbering, or a step left at 0, stops the whole sequence — it looks Active, and nothing happens.
Saving protects you from most of this: the rows are sorted by the Order you typed and renumbered 1, 2, 3. But it cannot read your mind about ties. If two rows both say 1, the one higher up the form wins, and the other is pushed after it.
So number the rows in the order you actually want them to happen before you submit, especially when you add a step later — a new row does not know where it belongs.
Back on the Workflow List, the Activity column counts what has fired. Once
your two steps have gone, you will see (1) - Send Email and
(1) - SMS Text. That is the honest answer to whether it works.
For a per-person view, open anybody and look at the Workflow tab.
Build it with Active off, then switch it on. A half-finished active workflow starts sending.
Make the first version tasks only. Add Task actions land on your own To Do list, so a mistake costs you nothing in front of a client. Swap in the emails once the timing looks right.
Chain with Last Workflow Order. It survives later edits. Offsets from Workflow Created all have to be recalculated by hand if step one moves.
Give Minutes different values. Same-day actions in a sensible order read better than a burst.
Re-check the Order boxes after every edit. This is the single most common reason a workflow silently does nothing.
Let us build a real one. You met somebody yesterday. Tomorrow they should hear from you. And a couple of days after that, you should follow up on what you actually talked about. Name it for the situation. New Noodle Client Process.
CRM Type, Client. Workflow Type, Database Specific, so it starts when you put it on somebody rather than running on everyone. A start date, leave it Active, and Add Workflow Sequence.
Every step begins the same way. Pick the Action Type.
Step one is Send Email Template. From, Workflow Created. Days, one. So the thank-you lands the day after you put them on it. Pick your template, pick a signature, and add another step.
Step two is Send SMS/Text Template. And this time, From says Last Workflow Order. That is the one worth remembering. Workflow Created counts from the start. Last Workflow Order counts from the step before it. Days, two. So the text goes two days after the email, whenever the email happened to go.
One thing about the Order boxes. Number them in the order you actually want. Gaps and zeros are tidied up when you save. But if two rows share a number, the higher one on the form wins, and that may not be what you meant.
Submit. And a few days later, the proof. One beside Send Email. One beside SMS Text. It ran, without you.
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