What is a workflow stage?

A stage is a position in a workflow system where a job can be located.  Workflow systems (or to be specific sub-systems) have multiple stages and generally speaking as you move through them (i.e. progress to stages with a higher order value) the job is getting closer to completion.

A workflow system requires a minimum of 2 stages, this would be one stage that the job is set to on creation and that will be progressed at some point by a user (without one of these the workflow would be instantly be complete and largely pointless) and a completion stage that the job remains on once complete. Typically workflows have multiple stages to cover each of the key progress milestones in a job.

Within each workflow system (again more specifically sub-system) you will have at least one (but potentially multiple) workflow routes. It is the route that governs what appears on your job cards and that dictates how a job can progress from one stage to another. A route consists of a series of steps, principally progress buttons, these are the blue buttons visible on a job card that users press to move the job onwards (or backwards, in a loop, to any other stage, etc). A step will take a job from one of your stages to another one.

Stages have the following properties:

• Milestone achieved.
• Stage description.
• All stages are allocated to a group.
• Visibility (card).
• Target settings.
• Order -> The order is simply a number such as 20. Stages are listed on the job card (and in other reports etc) in this order. As the order value gets higher you are progressing through the workflow. When setting this keep an eye on the Min and max stage to make visible setting and also remember that the order values can be used as a filter in job alerts.