1. Overview

In Zoho Creator, schedules let you create timed actions that get executed automatically based on a date value. They can either be executed periodically based on the date and time values present in a Creator form's field, or on a custom date and time of your choice.

Using schedules, you can automate the following actions:

1. Sending notifications, such as sending installation reminders to customers after a product delivery or sending birthday wishes based on date fields in your form.
2. Manipulating data in Creator forms, for example, by updating a feedback record to "Resolved".
3. Executing customized actions using Deluge, such as calculating a discount for a customer based on the total purchase amount or sending a follow-up email to a lead after a set number of days.
4. Integrating with other services for data manipulation, such as syncing attendee information from external apps or updating lead data in Zoho CRM on a periodic basis.

There are two ways in which a schedule can be triggered in Zoho Creator. They are:

1. Custom Schedules - Starts to run on a specific date and time you provide.
   Example - An e-mail can be sent to all organization users reminding them to submit claims on the 10th of every month.
2. Form Schedules - Starts to run on the date and time values recorded in a Creator field.
   Example - A push notification can be sent to newly recruited employees on a day before they start work, prompting them to collect their assets and access cards. It will be sent based on the start date mentioned by the employee in a Creator form.

After a custom or form schedule is created, you can add predefined actions to it. When the schedule is triggered, it invokes the associated actions in the order of their hierarchy. Additionally, for form schedules, you can set a custom criteria to run a specific action only for selected records in your form. Learn more about actions in schedule workflows.

2. Schedule workflow dashboard

The schedule workflow dashboard offers a comprehensive view of all schedule workflows configured within an application. It presents workflows in a structured and organized manner, making it easy to identify the schedule workflow type, actions, status, and other key details.

2.1. Components of the schedule workflow dashboard

1. New Workflow: Click New Workflow to create a new schedule workflow. You will be taken to the workflow creation screen. Click here to learn how to create a schedule workflow.
2. Search: Use the search bar to find specific schedule workflows by entering keywords related to the workflow name or form name.
3. Form name: Form schedules will be classified and listed under its respective form name.
4. Edit workflow: Click on the workflow name to navigate to the workflow's edit screen. You can view, add, and edit the associated actions. Click here to learn more about managing schedule workflows.
5. Custom Schedules: All custom schedule workflows will be listed here.
6. Actions: The number of actions associated within a workflow is shown here. Hover over the text to see the information related to actions.
   
7. When: For form schedules, displays the name of the date or date-time field that triggers the schedule. For custom schedules, displays the start date and time selected during workflow configuration.
8. Enabled/Disabled: Use the toggle to enable or disable a workflow. This lets you temporarily suspend its execution without deleting it.
9. Created on: Specifies when the workflow was created.
10. Delete: Hover over the workflow and click on the delete icon ()that appears to delete the workflow permanently.

3. Schedule workflow builder

When a schedule workflow is created, its actions must be configured and managed in the schedule workflow builder. You can add multiple actions to a workflow, and they will be executed in the order they appear in the builder. This execution order can be rearranged at any time by simply dragging and dropping the actions. Click here to learn more about how to configure actions in form workflows.

3.1. Components of schedule workflow builder

1. Breadcrumbs: Specifies the workflow navigation path in the format:
   1. For form schedule: Form name > Field name > Workflow name
   2. For custom schedule: Schedule start date > Schedule start time > Workflow name
2. Action block: The container that holds a specific set of actions or scripts to be executed. Each action block can have a multiple actions which will have a common execution criteria.
3. Criteria: Displays the condition criteria that must be met for the action block to execute in form schedules. You can add multiple criteria to refine the logic further. Hover over it to reveal edit and delete icons to modify or remove the criteria.

Note: Criteria is only supported for form schedules.

4. Action: Displays the action configured within the action block. Click to edit it, or hover to reveal the edit and delete icons to modify or remove the action.
   
5. Add New Action: Creates a new action block in the workflow. To add a new action within an existing action block, hover over the action and click the + icon.
    
6. Workflow Properties: Click the gear icon () to open the right pane with workflow properties. Here, you can rename the workflow, set conditions, configure the schedule date and time, select the time zone, and define when the workflow should run.
   
7. Drag slider: Click and drag the drag slider to rearrange the workflow action block. Alternatively, You can also hover over the action block to reveal the drag handle icon. Click and drag the drag handle or anywhere within the action block to rearrange.
   
   
   You can also rearrange actions within an action block or move them to another block by using the drag handle that appears when you hover over the action.
   

4. See how it works

5. Use cases

1. Custom schedule to add "Payment Due" record every month - A finance company manages a portfolio of personal loans with monthly repayment schedules. To ensure timely payments and reduce the risk of late fees, a schedule workflow is configured in Zoho Creator to run on the 3rd of every month. This workflow automatically checks for all loan accounts in the "Active" status and checks if the repayment is due. If yes, it then updates a record in their Repayment report that displays a "Payment Due" status. This record includes the loan balance, due date, and payment options.

2. Form schedule to send an email reminder - A procurement company needs to review all contracts before their seasonal audits. A form schedule is configured to run ten days before the Audit Date, which is recorded in the Upcoming Audits form. The schedule triggers an automated email to the procurement team, listing all contracts that need to be reviewed based on their term. It pulls a report of all active contracts, containing all the necessary details for the review process.

6. Navigation guide for creating schedules

In the edit mode of the application, when the + button is clicked, the screen shows the different components that can be created in the application. Here, when Workflow is clicked, the screen displays the seven types of workflow creation that Creator offers. Clicking On a schedule date allows you to create schedulers.

7. Related topics

1. Configuring schedules based on a date value
2. Configuring integrations actions for schedule workflows
3. Configuring Deluge script for schedule workflows
4. Configuring notification actions for schedule workflows
5. Configuring data access actions for schedule workflows

8. Related Tutorials

1. Store records for 30 days after deletion
2. Automate a mailer to a set of users