In this series of posts, you will learn how to get started with SharePoint Designer workflows. The below posts targeted for beginners who would like to learn about how to build workflows using SharePoint Designer 2013.
- Introduction and Prerequisites
- Workflow Types and Implementing Training Approval example
- Workflow settings and Deployment
In this first post of the series Introduction and Prerequisites, we will discuss on below concepts to get started with this.
- Why workflows
- Training approval Example
- Introduction to new Workflow platform
- Requirements - 1: Sign-up Office 365 Trial
- Requirements - 2: Install SharePoint Designer and opening the site using SharePoint Designer
Why Workflows?
If you are new to the Workflows, the primary purpose is to automate the business process. Also, if you look at this example, every process comes with some time that will get completed, and if you are doing the same activity over a period, then it involves a process cost. Therefore, our idea using Workflows is to reduce the time we are going to complete each iteration.
Let us say, for example; you are going reduce the time you are going to finish each iteration to two hours, the overall process cost of your activity reduced to 50%.
Therefore, using the Workflows within SharePoint, you can reduce the process cost, which in turn benefits for your organization.
What are the different kinds of Workflows that you can build using SharePoint Designer?
These are the different examples, like absence reporting, help desk ticket management. So, you can do a lot more. These are just a few set of examples.
▪ Absence Reporting and Vacation Scheduling
▪ Expense Reimbursement
▪ Help Desk Ticket Management
▪ Change Request Management
▪ Policy Review and Approval
▪ Product Planning
▪ Interview Management and Hiring Processes
▪ Training Sign Up and Management
Training Approval System
In this blog post, we will look at Training Approval example that we are going use throughout the blog post. Using these examples, we are going learn how we are going apply different concepts with these example Workflows.
So, let us look at the first one, which is training approval where you will have an employee, that is the first role, then the second one is the manager. The employee can submit a training request, that will send it to the manager, and the manager will approve or reject the application.
The first section is for the employee, where he will submit the training request, and he would get the notifications based on approval or rejection of the manager. Also, the Workflow will end there.
The next level is manager level, where he will get a notification when the user submits the requestor, the employee in this case, and he can approve or reject that particular request.
SharePoint 2013 workflows
Once you install SharePoint Server 2013, you get SharePoint 2010 Workflow platform by default, where you could build workflows using SharePoint 2010 Workflow platform. However, if you install Workflow Manager, which will be running outside of the SharePoint, then you get SharePoint 2013 Workflow platform, where you could build complex workflows by using loops and the communication that happen between the workflow manager and SharePoint 2013 Server uses the REST API.
If you want to get some information from SharePoint Server or update some information to SharePoint Server, so, it uses the REST API. Let us look at what Workflow Manager is, and what is the importance of the Workflow Manager. The first version is 1.0, as I said; it is going run outside of SharePoint Server. Also, your workflow manager will execute all workflows so that you could build complex workflows.
The next one is the workflow manager uses OAuth and Server to Server high trust authentication, which it uses for the communication between your workflow manager and your SharePoint Server, which uses the REST APIs again to get the information as well as to update the information from and to SharePoint Server. Moreover, it requires SharePoint Server, and you have to configure using profile service application so that it could use the latest workflows.
However, if you are using SharePoint Foundation, then you might need to use the previous version of the workflows. Moreover, it uses.NET Framework 4.5 Workflow Foundation behind the scenes, and the important part is all workflows are declarative now, and there is no code behind, and it's all XML now.
Let's set up some of the prerequisites before we look into more on workflows.
Sign-up Office 365
Let us do a simple exercise where we are going to set up Office 365 E3 trial version. Once I set up, you can go ahead and do by yourself so that you could use that particular Office 365 tenant.
If you want to set up, just search for Office 365 E3 trial. Then click on the first link, which is available, which is going to show the products, which are available, the Office's free trial. Click on the Free Trial button that you see in the screen below.
Once you click on it, it is going to ask you to fill some of the details. Fill your country, the first name, last name, and the business email address. You can give any first name, last name or your first name, last name, and you could enter the best email because they are going to send the details to your email. Then you go ahead, and you enter the company name and the number of persons who are available in that company.
After you enter all information, click on Next, then it is going to ask you to get the username you want to use. I am just entering SharePoint and trying to use school bar. Some of the IDs might have already taken, so you might need to use the different ones, which are available for you. In this case, I am just trying for the workflows, and again, it was already taken. I am going to try designer workflows now. It is going to be Sharepoint@designerworkflows.onmicrosoft.com. I am going to enter my password. I am going to confirm the password, which I have entered and click next.
Then I have to get the number for the verification. You will receive the code for the number that you have entered here.
I am going to enter that code; then I am going just to click on Create my account.
Once you complete this, it is going to give the account; then I can click on the bookmark where I can just save the details so that I can come back and use that information. It is just an option. I am going to click on you are ready to go, which is going to open the portal. Office.
I am going to click on the Admin icon at the bottom that I see there. Once I click on the Admin icon, it is going to ask me to update the contact information. If something lost there, then I can go ahead and update that information.
Here, I am going to enter my number and click on “text me” so I can enter the code and verify that. Once we complete that, I am going to enter my email where I could verify or authenticate myself. Then I am going to get the code. Once I enter that, it will be completed.
After it verified successfully, then we go to the Admin Centre, and you can just click on the Resources.
Let us close this pop up for now. I am going just to say, "No, thanks," this round of time. Then I am going to click on the Resource, which is going to show what the different actions I could do are, I can add users. I can go to the Home.
In the bottom, I can see that I can go to different sections. I am going to click on SharePoint here, which will redirect me to the Admin centre of SharePoint online.
Click on the default site collection.
In this site collection, we are going to use to build all our workflows. You could also use your site if you want. That can be on-premises, but I am going to use this one.
What I would suggest is go ahead and set up the similar kind of trial version in Office 365 tenant, so that you could practice what are the examples, which we are doing. So let us complete this particular Office 365 trial setup before you jump into the next lesson.
Install SharePoint Designer
In this section, you will learn how to install SharePoint Designer 2013. For that, type download SharePoint Designer 2013 in google, and click on the first link that is available from Official Microsoft Site, click on Download button. Once you click on, it will show two options, 64-bit, and 32-bit.
Select one of the options, which are compatible with your machine. Then, click Next and it will prompt for the Save or Run option. Either you could save the particular file, or run (mumbles).I am going to save this on my local machine before running it. Now, I am going double-click this particular 64-bit file to install SharePoint Designer. Once it extracts all the files, it will show the option to Install Now or Custom option.
What I am going do is I am going just click on Install Now button, which will install all the required files on my local machine. Once you click on it, in few minutes, it should install SharePoint Designer on my computer.
Once SharePoint Designer installed, I will just close that particular pop-up window and check if the SPD installed by going to the Apps on your computer. Just type SharePoint Designer, then you should be able to see SharePoint Designer 2013 installed on your machine.
Okay, so in this section, we have seen how to install SharePoint Designer on the machine.
Open site using SharePoint Designer
Open the site collection using SharePoint Designer 2013 by clicking on the Open site option; It will prompt for the password and username.
After entering the credentials, click on Sign-In. It will open the site in SharePoint Designer 2013. Please see the image below.
I will be presenting a session on "Building Workflows using SharePoint Designer 2013" @Collab365 Global Conference. If you are new to workflows, I hope these posts will help you to get started on building workflows.
I am planning to release next blog post soon. Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment! I love to hear what you like to see, and I’m always looking to improve my knowledge of workflows.
If you haven't setup anything yet, please install SharePoint Designer and Signup for Office 365 Trail. These two required for next post because we will be doing demo :)
You can read more about me here http://ift.tt/2aG1fQk.
by Devendra Velegandla via Everyone's Blog Posts - SharePoint Community
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