Edit an active workflow
Using Zoho Campaigns, you can edit your active or running workflows. Currently, you can only edit workflow processes and actions.
How to edit an active workflow
- From the Navigation toolbar, select Automation and click Workflows.
- Select the active workflow you want to edit.
- Click the More button and select the Edit button.
- Click Proceed in the pop-up to proceed with editing the workflow.
- Make your changes to the workflow and click Reactivate.
Consequences of editing an active workflow
Please keep in mind that modifying a live workflow will result in the following actions:
- Upon clicking 'Edit,' a drafted version of the workflow is created, while the active version continues to work as intended.
- Only after clicking 'Reactivate' will the new changes to the workflow take effect.
- Contacts who enter the edited version of the workflow will be eligible to enter any new workflow components.
- The workflow will be updated for all new contacts, but old contacts may or may not move forward depending on the changes.
- If a component or process is deleted, contacts who've already entered it may not be able to move forward in the workflow.
- If the components are reorganized, the workflow path changes, and all contacts except those who've already performed the actions in the new path will flow in the new path.
- If the email activity process is edited, only new contacts will enter the component when they satisfy the set criteria.
- If the email response action is edited, both new and old contacts will enter the component if they satisfy the set criteria.
What happens to the old contacts present in the workflow after editing?
All of the old contacts in the workflow before editing will be retained in the new version and may or may not be moved forward based on the modifications made. Let's look at the following instances wherein contacts may not move through the workflow:
When a component is deleted from the workflow:
If a component is deleted from the workflow, some of the old components may become stuck in their last active position in the workflow and fail to proceed to the next components in the workflow.
User Scenario
You have an active workflow for a list of contacts who've attended your 'How to be a good content marketer' webinar. You've set up the workflow where the list of contacts entering the workflow through the selected list will have their job title updated to 'Content Marketer' and will be assigned with a new tag.
Realising that all those who've attended the webinar are not content marketers, you decide to delete that component. So you edit the workflow and delete the 'update field' component and reactivate the workflow. Here, the contacts who've already entered the 'update field' component will be stuck and will not move forward in the workflow and only the new contacts will be assigned with the new tag.
When the path of the workflow is re-organised:
If the workflow path is re-organised by moving some components around, some of the old contacts may not move forward and all further actions in the workflow will not be performed on them.
User Scenario
You have an active workflow that will be triggered for a list of contacts who've entered through a signup form. You've set up the workflow for the contacts entering the workflow to be added to a new list. Then you update their job title field to 'Content Marketer' and assign them with a 'Marketer' tag.
You realise you want to first assign the tag to the contacts and then update their job title. So you re-organise the workflow by placing the 'assign tag' component over the 'update field' component and reactivate the workflow. In this case, all the old contacts whose job titles have already been update will not be assigned with the new tag and only the new contacts entering the opened the email will first be assigned to a new tag and then have their job titles updated.
When a component in the workflow is moved:
If components of a workflow are moved, the following consequences will occur:
- If a component is moved from one path to another path of the workflow, all the contacts (new and old) that are already present in the component will move to the new path of the workflow,
- If a component is moved above another component, then the old contacts who've already performed the actions will not move further into the workflow.
User Scenario
You have an active workflow for a list of contacts who've attended a special content marketers event. You've set a simple condition when the contacts enter the component. If the contacts are a content marketer you will add a score and create a task to be performed in CRM and move them to a new list. If contacts don't satisfy the condition they will be removed from the list.
However, you need the contacts to perform the tasks in CRM first before proceeding in the workflow. So you edit the workflow and move the components as intended and reactivate the workflow. That is, contacts who satisfy the condition will first perform their tasks in CRM, then a score will be added to them and then they will be moved to a new list. In this case, old contacts who've already performed the task will not re-enter the 'Create task' component and not enter the new list. Only new contacts will move further in the workflow.
When the email activity component is edited:
If the email activity component is edited, then only new contacts will enter the component when they satisfy the set criteria.
User Scenario
You have an active workflow for a list of contacts who've performed some actions on an email campaign sent to them. You set up the workflow using a predefined list and configuring the email activity component for the delivered and opened actions. All contacts who've received an email will be added to a list and contacts who've opened the email will be assigned with a new tag.
You want to change the tag to be assigned to contacts who've opened the email. So you edit the workflow and delete the previous tag. Now you add a new tag to be assigned to the contacts and reactivate the workflow. Here, only new contacts will be assigned with the new contacts and the old contacts assigned to the previous tag will not re-enter the workflow because an action has already been performed on them.
When the email response component is edited
If the email response action is edited, both new and old contacts will enter the component if they satisfy the set criteria.
User Scenario
You have an active workflow that sends an email to the contacts entering the selected list. You've configured the email response for contacts who've received the email to be assigned with a tag and for contacts who've opened the email, a score will be added to them.
However, you edit the email response by removing the delivered path and adding 'Clicked on any link' path to the workflow. Here both old and new contacts will enter further processes of the workflow when they satisfy the set condition.
Does this affect the wait time process in your workflow?
The wait time process that has not yet expired in your workflow is unlikely to be affected by this. Contacts will not enter the path that precedes the wait time component of the workflow if the wait time process has expired or completed.