Workflow Rules for Projects | Online Help | Zoho Projects

Workflow Rules for Projects

Workflow rules let you manage projects more efficiently by creating criteria and actions that satisfy business needs. For the Workflow Rule to function, a trigger that runs the rule and an action are required. Workflow Rules can be added, edited, and disabled.
Idea
For e.g., if you want projects assigned to a particular user given the highest priority and automatically set as a Strict Project, you can set conditions as shown.

In this instance, when a project is created, the rule automatically checks the first condition: If the project owner is Monica Hemsworth, it will update the priority to High, enable Strict Project, set the start date to Today's date, and associate the project to the group Enterprise Users. If this condition is not met, the next condition is checked and so on till a matching condition is found. The rule will exit after the first matching condition is found without checking the subsequent conditions.
Workflow rules are associated with project layouts. When creating a rule, users will have the option to select layouts or associate it with All Layouts. If specific layouts are selected, the workflow rule will apply to projects associated with those layouts.
Notes
Feature Availability: Latest user based Enterprise plan
Info
A maximum of 20 workflow rules can be created or associated per project layout.

Benefits of Workflow Rules for Projects

  1. Automate project functions
  2. Automatically update project fields
  3. Send email notifications for updates
  4. Workflow rules will trigger automatically if they are enabled and if the condition matches
  5. Send out email alerts
  6. Associate webhooks and custom functions

Add a Workflow Rule

You can add as many Workflow Rules as desired for Tasks.
  1. Navigate to   > Automation > Workflow Rules.
  2. Click Projects Tab and then click New Workflow Rule.
  3. Enter a Rule Name and a Description.
  4. Select layouts.
  5. Select the Execution Condition.
    1. Based on User action : Select this condition if the trigger will be user based.
    2. Based on Date &Time: Select this condition if the trigger will be time-based.
  6. If selected Based on User action:
    1. Select the triggers for the rule to Execute On. Multiple triggers can be selected.
    2. Click Next
    3. Click Add Criteria under Condition 1, choose a criteria and select value from the given options.
    4. Multiple criteria can be added under the same condition by hovering over the criteria and clicking icon on the right side.
    5. Click Done to set criteria.
    6. Click Add Action, choose an action from the drop-down.
    1. Click the  icon below the condition to add the next condition.
    2. Check the Execute the next workflow rule box if you want to execute the next workflow rule in the Workflow Rule list view.
    3. Click Save Rule.
7. If selected Based on Date & Time:
    1. Set the desired time frame.
    2. Set the Date and Time for Workflow Rule, such as, on/before/after, Start date/ Created date/ Due date, Created time/ Specific time, Once/ Every/ Daily, Days/ Week, and set repeat up to a specific number of times (this is specific to the project and does not limit the number of time the workflow is executed).
    3. Select a layout.
    4. Time based triggers cannot be applied to all the layouts. Users will have to select an individual layout to apply this trigger.
    5. Add a Criteria and then click + Add Action.
    6. Select the desired action.
    7. Click on Save Rule.
Learn more about Time Based Workflow Rules.

Edit Workflow Rule

  1. Navigate to   > Automation > Workflow Rules.
  2. Click Projects Tab.
  3. Hover over a rule and then click  and select Edit to modify the workflow rule.
  4. Click Save.

Delete Workflow Rule

  1. Navigate to   > Automation> Workflow Rules.
  2. Click Projects Tab.
  3. Hover over a rule and then click  and select Delete.
  4. Confirm your action.

Executing Workflow Rules

Workflow rules are executed automatically if they are enabled.
  1. Navigate to   > Automation > Workflow Rules.
  2. Click Projects Tab.
  3. Enable the rules that need to be applied.
  4. Select the Execute Next Rule option if you want the rules to be executed one after the other.
  5. The Workflow rules will run automatically and check for matching conditions within the rule.
    Note: The rule will execute when the first matching condition is found and update the fields or execute custom function or trigger a webhook as per the action selected. The subsequent conditions will not be checked.
  6. The rules will stop executing at the end of the list or at the rule where Execute Next Rule option is not selected.

Reorder Workflow Rules

Workflow rules can be reordered. The order can affect the sequence in which they are triggered.
  1. Navigate to   > Automation > Workflow Rules.
  2. Click Projects Tab.
  3. Hover over the workflow rule you would like to reorder and click .
  4. Drag and swap the workflow rules. You can reorder them as many times as you want until you get the desired order.
Back to Help
Workflow Rules - Concept
Time Based Workflow Rules for Projects