1. Creating blueprints 

A blueprint is a visual plan of a business process. It allows you to implement process flows within your applications by defining how a record moves from one stage to another.

Application Received -- (Shortlist) -- Candidate Shortlisted -- (Select) -- Candidate Selected.

In this flow, each state (like Application Received, Candidate Shortlisted and Candidate Selected) is called a Stage and the trigger to move a record from one stage to the next is called a Transition. The transition is typically a button (example: Shortlist) that, when clicked by a user, moves the record to the designated next stage. Likewise, you can create a complete process flow using blueprint. Creating a blueprint is essentially designing this process by laying out the stages and defining transitions that connect them. It also lets you automate various actions in each transition.

Before building a blueprint, its essential to understand its core elements which are covered in the Understanding blueprints page.

2. Blueprint creation flow 

3. See how to create a blueprint

4. Steps to create blueprints 

Creating a blueprint involves a three step procedure.

This step allows you to automate various actions when a transition occurs.

4.1 Define when to trigger blueprint 

1. Go to the required application's edit mode and click Workflow in the top menu bar.

2. In the Workflow dashboard, click the Blueprints tab. Then click the New Blueprint button.
   
   
   
   

3. Enter the below details in the next page.

1. Choose the form for which the blueprint must be created.

2. Enter a name for the blueprint.

3. Set the condition that determines when the blueprint should run. For example, the above blueprint runs when the candidate applies for the Marketer role.

4. Click Create Blueprint.
   
   

4.2 Build the process flow 

The next step is to create a process flow in the blueprint builder. It involves creating multiple stages and connecting them through transitions.

1. Click +Add Stages in the right pane of the blueprint builder. Add Stages pane will appear.
   

2. Provide a name for the Stage and click Add. For example, Application Received.
   
   
   

3. Click + Add Stages again to add more stages, say Application Shortlisted. You can add multiple stages by giving comma separated values (Shortlisted, Selected,Rejected). The Available Stages tab shows the list of stages that have been added and the Used Stages tab shows the list of stages that have been used in the blueprint.
   
   
   

4. Drag and drop both the stages in the builder.
   
   
   

5. Place the cursor over a stage, drag the dot/connector that appears on the stage and connect it to the other stage. This creates a transition between those stages.

6. Click the + icon in between the stage. The Add transition pane will appear on the right. Specify a name for the transition, preferably a verb. For example, Shortlist. Clicking each transition shows the Edit Transition pane where you can configure Before, During, and After settings of each transition which is explained in the section Set up transition settings.
   

7. Create required stages and add transitions in the same way.
   

8. Hover over any transition to make it a common or parallel transition. A common transition will be available from all or multiple stages of the blueprint (For example: Reject). A parallel transition allows a record to move from one stage to another only when multiple transitions are fulfilled. (For example: Clearing multiple interviews)

9. Click Save Blueprint.

This creates a blueprint. Now, the above setup will allow the app user to move the record stage by stage. To automate actions and to set criteria for each transition, you have to configure the transitions.

4.3 Set up transition settings 

Transitions are the actions in between the stages that move a record from one stage to another. Each transition can have different configurations, which allows you to tailor unique behaviors and requirements for every transition.

Each transition contains three parts: Before, During and After.

 4.3.1 Configuring before actions  

1. Click the required transition; the Edit Transition pane will appear on right. Click the Before tab.
   
   
   

2. Choose the transition owners whom can view the transition button in the record.
   
   
   

• Everyone: All app users can perform the transition.

• Selected users: Only the chosen users can perform the transition. On selecting this option, the Add Transition Owner pop-up appears. Here, you can choose one of the following:

• Users:  Choose the users by clicking the required users. You can also search for specific users by entering their name or email address.

• Permissions: Selecting a permissions allows the users with the permission to perform the transition. (Example: Customer)

• Fields: Pick a user field or system field of the current form. The users associated with the selected field will be allowed to perform the transition. (Example: Added user)
  
  
  
  

3. Specify the criteria on which the transition button should be displayed in the record. You can choose one of the below:
   
   
   

• Always: Transition button will appear without checking any criteria.

• on condition: The Add Criteria pop-up will appear. Here you can select multiple conditions; only when the data in the current record satisfies those conditions the transition button will be displayed to the transition owner. (Example: Age is greater than 18 AND Applying for equals Marketer)
  
  
  
  

4. Under the Transition Properties, select the following:

• Display tooltip: Tick this checkbox to include a message that will be shown on hovering the transition button. Once ticked, a textbox appears where you can enter the text.
  
  
  

• Require confirmation before execution: Enable this checkbox to show a confirmation pop-up when the transition button is clicked.
  
  
  
  On enabling, the Execution message pop-up appears:

• Message: Enter the text that must be shown. This can be made dynamic by clicking Insert Fields and choosing the required field, which will be replaced with the data of the current record.

• Under button text:

• Confirm execution: Provide the text for button that proceeds the transition.

• Cancel execution: Specify the text for button that cancels the transition.
  
  

4.3.2 Configuring during actions 

The During part consists of actions to be performed when the transition occurs. In other words, when the transition owner carries out the transition or clicks the transition button. The During transition allows you to perform one of the following options:

• View and update fields of the same record.

• Add a new record to another form.

After transition actions are executed once the transition is completed, that is when the record has moved to the next stage. On the other hand, During transition actions are executed just when the transitions occur.

To configure

1. Click the required transition; the Edit Transition pane will appear on right. Click the During tab.

2. You can choose between three actions to be performed during the transition.

• None: No action will happen.

• Update fields: This option allows to view or update fields of the current record when the transition is performed.
  By selecting this option, you can choose fields from the current form. The selected fields will be displayed with their values (which was entered previously) as a popup in edit mode. The transition owner can view or edit the values while performing the transition.
  
  Click +Add Fields and select the fields one by one. (A maximum of 100 fields can be selected)
  
  
  
  
  Note:

  1. Updating the fields will trigger on-edit workflows associated with the form. Only on successful execution of those on-edit workflows will the stage be changed.

  2. You can skip the execution of on-edit workflows by selecting the Skip on-edit workflows checkbox while updating these fields, which is present at the bottom right corner.
     

  
  

• Open new form: This option opens a form and allows to add a new record in another form when the transition occurs.
  
  On selecting this option, you can choose another form of that application and then its fields. Additionally, you can also pass values from the current form to the other form that is selected. The passed values will be prefilled and can be edited if needed before form submission. This eliminates one step of replicating the same information that is present in the current form to another form.
  
  
  
  

1. Choose the required form in the dropdown.

2. On the left side dropdown, choose the field from the above selected form. On the right side dropdown, choose the field from the current form. You can map multiple fields by clicking the Add icon , then passing their values according to your needs.
   
   

   Note:
   

   1. You can map up to 15 fields.
      
   2. Display fields of composite fields (name and address) can be mapped individually.
      
   3. Integration forms and forms from other applications are not supported.
      
      

3. Click Save Blueprint.

4.3.3 Configuring after actions 

The After part of the transition allows you to automate various actions once the transition has occurred successfully to the next stage.
 

To configure

1. Click the required transition; the Edit Transition pane will appear on right. Click the After tab.

2. Click the Add New Action button. The Add New Action pane will appear on the right.
   

3. Choose when this action should run.

• Always: The action will be executed without any criteria.

• on condition: The action will be executed based on the criteria selected.
  
  
  
  

4. Choose the required action under Action type.

• Notifications - Choose this option to send an email, sms, in-app notification, success message or to redirect to any URL.

• Send email - Triggers an email

• Send SMS - Triggers an SMS message

• Send notification - Triggers a notification inside the live mode of the application

• Show success message - Displays a message in live mode after the transition is completed.
  

• Redirect to a URL - Allows to redirect to a website, form, report, or a page after the transition happened.

• Data access - Select this option to perform data operations on forms.

• Add record - allows to add a record in any form of the application

• Update record - allows to update a record in any form of the application

• Delete record - allows to delete a record in any form of the application
  
  

• Integration - Pick this option to add a record to the below services.

• QuickBooks

• SalesForce

• Zoho CRM

• Zoho Recruit
  
  

• Deluge script - Choose this option to add deluge script which will be executed after the transition happens. 

5. Multiple actions can be added for each transitions using the above steps.

6. Click Save Blueprint. 
   
   

5. Create a common transition  

A common transition is a transition that will be commonly available from all or multiple stages of the blueprint. Making a transition common will be useful for cases like Reject or Cancel. For example, a candidate can be Rejected at any level of the screening process and so the Reject transition must be available from all the stages.

To add a common transition

1. Hover over the required transition and click the hierarchy icon .
   
   
   

2. Change the Common Transition toggle to Yes. To make it available only for specific stages, click the dropdown and choose the stages. To make it available from all stages, choose the Select All option.
   
   
   
   This makes the stage available to the selected or all stages. This suits for cases like Reject/Cancel of a process.
    

6. Create a parallel transition 

A parallel transition allows to add multiple transitions between two stages. In the live mode, it lets a record be moved to the next stage only when all the transitions are fulfilled. For example.

To add a parallel transition

1. Hover over the transition and click the hierarchy icon .
   
   
   

2. Change the Parallel Transition toggle to Yes. It adds a new transition parallel to the existing transition. Click the (+) icon that gets added. You can also click + Add to add multiple number of parallel transitions.
   
   
   

3. Provide a name for the transition and click Add. Similarly, you can add up to five parallel transitions between two stages.
   

7. How blueprint works in live mode   

After a blueprint is created, every time a record is added to the form, the record enters the blueprint. If criteria is set, then a record enters the blueprint if it satisfies the criteria. On clicking a record's detailed view shows the blueprint's first stage and the transition buttons. The required transition button can be clicked to move the record to the next stage. Likewise, a record can be moved stage by stage in order to finish the complete blueprint process. Each transition can be configured to perform various automated actions.

When multiple blueprints are present for a form, the record enters the blueprint one by one in the order given in the blueprint page.

The below video shows how a blueprint works in live mode with few transition configurations.

8. Points to note 

• Blueprint fields are available in Deluge, allowing you to access details like blueprint name, current stage, and status directly in your scripts.  You can also use Deluge tasks such as changeStage and executeTransition to move records between stages or trigger transitions. For more details, refer to the Deluge blueprint help page.

• Common errors

• All stages in the blueprint must be connected from the start stage(via transitions) through to the end stage. No stage shall be left isolated in the blueprint. In such a case the Unconnected stages error will be displayed.

• Every stage (except the start stage) must have at least one incoming transition, so that they can be reachable from the start stage. When a stage has an outgoing transition but no incoming transitions then the Unreachable stages error will be displayed.

• Stages must be connected via transitions. When two stages are connected and transition is not added, then Unnamed transition error will be shown.

• General 

• The blueprint will be applied only after all the workflows associated with the record are completed. The entry of a record in to blueprint is associated with a form event like creating or editing a record.

• A field can have multiple blueprints associated with it. However, only one blueprint can be active at any given time. In other words, only after completion of the first blueprint will the second blueprint be applied.

• The blueprint with highest priority will be applied first. The priority of the blueprints by rearranging the blueprints in the blueprint listing page. The order of priority is from top to bottom In other words, the blueprint in the top has high priority and the ones in the bottom will have low priority.

• On the submission of Form the blueprint entry criteria be checked in the listing order of the blueprints. Changing the entry criteria of the blueprint won't affect the records already associated with the blueprint. 

• Blueprint strip
  If a record is associated with the blueprint then a Strip would be visible in the record’s detail view in all the reports. This strip will contain the current stage of the record and the next available actions (i.e. transitions).The visibility of the strip depends upon the transition owner and criteria, only if both are satisfied that strip will be visible.

9. Related topics 

• Understanding blueprints

• Workflows

• Approval workflows

• Form workflows

• Video: How to create blueprints