Project

Profile

Help

Edit History

Guide ยป

Create a custom workflow for recurring tasks » History » Sprint/Milestone 1

Jan Schulz-Hofen, 03/19/2014 04:02 AM

1 1 Jan Schulz-Hofen 
# Create a custom workflow for recurring tasks
2 





    3
    
    
    
Planio is not only great for [one-off projects](https://plan.io/project-management/). It really shines when it comes to [recurring tasks](https://plan.io/task-management/) that follow a certain workflow within your organization.





    4
    
    
    





    5
    
    
    
Follow along this guide to create a simple vacation approval workflow for your team members - and apply what you've learned to implement your own custom workflows.





    6
    
    
    





    7
    
    
    
## Planio workflow basics





    8
    
    
    





    9
    
    
    
{{>toc}}





    10
    
    
    





    11
    
    
    
In Planio, every issue must belong to a tracker which defines its workflow. Let's look at this in more detail:





    12
    
    
    





    13
    
    
    
### Trackers





    14
    
    
    





    15
    
    
    
We'd like to see trackers as special issue types. An issue must belong to exactly one tracker. **Task**, **Support incident**, **Software bug**, or -- you guessed it -- **Vacation request** would be great examples for a tracker.





    16
    
    
    





    17
    
    
    
### Issue statuses





    18
    
    
    





    19
    
    
    
Issue statuses describe the different states, that an issue in Planio can have at any given moment. For instance, an issue can be **Open**, **In progress**, **Waiting for review**, or **Closed**. An issue will always have exactly one status and the status will likely change over time as people work on the issue.





    20
    
    
    





    21
    
    
    
### Roles





    22
    
    
    





    23
    
    
    
Users in Planio have their own user account using which they take part in projects using one or more roles: While some users may take part as **Manager**, others may be **Assistant** or e.g. **Client**. The role defines what a user can and cannot see or do in a given project. It also defines the user's workflow.





    24
    
    
    





    25
    
    
    
### Workflows





    26
    
    
    





    27
    
    
    
The workflow brings it all together: A workflow defines for every possible combination of tracker and role which issue statuses are available. It defines for all its tracker's issues which status changes are allowed and which issue properties are visible and/or changeable.





    28
    
    
    





    29
    
    
    
Say what!? This is arguably the most complex (and powerful) part of Planio, but don't worry -- we will walk you through it and you will be a workflow expert in no time!





    30
    
    
    





    31
    
    
    
![](sample_task_workflow.png)  





    32
    
    
    
*Sample workflow for **Managers** working on **Tasks**.*





    33
    
    
    





    34
    
    
    
### b