Understanding Action Types

Overview

Practifi includes actions to the workflow engine that can be used in a multi-step workflow or single-step workflow. These actions are designed to automate work outside of the workflow itself. This article outlines the Action Types available to you within your organization and considerations around using these Action Types. For more information about creating multi-step and single-step workflows, please consult our Creating Processes and Creating and Using Task Templates articles. 

• Understanding Action Types
• Creating Actions
  • Available Inputs
• Sending Emails
• Actions and Active Forms

Understanding Action Types

Actions are created and associated with workflows within your organization, either within a multi-step workflow or a single-step workflow. Each Action has an Action Type associated with it, which sets what automation occurs within your organization after completing the associated workflow step. 

Our workflow engine includes the following Action Types to be associated with workflow steps:

Action Type Name	Action Performed	Notes
Create New Task in this Process	When this action is associated with a process step, it will progress the process by creating a new task when the current step is completed.
Start a New Process	Begins a new process within your organization upon completion of the current step.
Set Process Stage for this Process	Sets the overall stage of the process that the process step is associated with.
Create a New Service	Creates a new Service record related to the Key Entity.
Set Service Stage for Related Service	Changes the workflow's related Service stage to the stage designated.
Set Client Stage for Related Client	Changes the workflow's related Client stage to the stage designated.
Create a New Service and a New Process	Creates a new Service record related to the Key Entity of the workflow and begins a new process in the organization.
Save to Related Record	Pushes data captured in an Active Form to records related to the Task or Process, either directly or indirectly. An example of this would be capturing contact details in the form and updating the Primary Member of the related Household with those details.	This action type requires an Active Form to work. Without it, there’s no data to save to the related record. Once this action type is created, the Action Field Values area can be used to pre-fill values on the record.
Create a Deal	Creates a new Deal associated with the workflow's Key Entity.
Create an Event	Creates an Event associated with the workflow's Key Entity.
Post to Noticeboard	Creates a Noticeboard post on the Key Entity's record.
Send a Notification	Sends a notification to an associated team member to alert them to designated information.
Send an Email	Sends an email to the designated recipients. The email sent by the workflow engine is a Lightning Email Template, which can be created using Salesforce’s drag-and-drop email builder tool.	Please see the Sending Emails section below for considerations around using the Send an Email Action Type.
Send to Quik	Send information from an Active Form to a Quik! form.	This option is specific to the data integration with Quik! Forms
Create an Asset/Liability	Creates an Asset or Liability record related to the Key Entity record.
Create a Person	Asks the System Administrator to select if they want to create a Contact or Individual. Contacts are related to a parent Entity record. Individuals can be related to the parent Entity record, which is determined via a checkbox in the Action Settings.
Create a Client Entity	Creates a Client Entity record related to the Key Entity record.
Create a Reference Document	Creates a Reference Document record related to the Key Entity record.
Create an Asset/Liability Role	Creates an Asset or Liability role record related to the Key Entity.
Create a Relationship	Creates a Relationship on the Key Entity record.
Create a Record	Creates a Record in the specified Object.	This action type requires an Active Form to work. Without it, there’s no data to save to the related record. Once this action type is created, the Action Field Values area can be used to pre-fill values on the record. To relate the record created to other records related to the workflow task, like its related Entity, specify “Related Record” as the Lookup Value Type when creating an Action Field Value. This provides a field for capturing the Related Record Path, which works in the same way as other field paths used in Active Form configuration.
Create Envestnet Proposal	Creates a Proposal record to be sent to Envestnet.	This option is specific to the data integration with Envestnet
Promote Envestnet Proposal to IGO	Promotes an Envestnet proposal to a status of In Good Order.	This option is specific to the data integration with Envestnet

Creating Actions

1. Select the Actions heading located beneath the Task Outcomes heading on the Process Task overview page.
2. Select the New button located on the right-hand side.
   • Please note: You can also access the creation of new Process Actions by using the caret button next to the hyperlinked Process Action heading. This article guides users through the list view process since it offers a better view of all the process actions built.
3. Enter the name of the action in the Name field. 
4. From the drop-down menu within the From Outcome field, select the outcome that should then trigger this action when selected upon task completion.
5. Set the action to occur when the task is completed with the specified outcome from the Action Type field drop-down menu.
6. Once the action has been specified, select the appropriate task, process, service, service stage or client stage within the rendered fields to direct the action to the specific value. 
7. Press Save to finalize the creation of the action. 

Available Inputs

Below are the available inputs for each action that appear on-screen once you’ve selected them from the Action Type picklist:

Action Type	Field	Notes
Create New Task in this Process	Create Task
Start a New Process	Launch Process
Set Process Stage for this Process	Process Stage
Create a New Service	Service Type
	Service Stage
Set Service Stage for Related Service	Service Stage
Set Client Stage for Related Client	Client Stage
Create a New Service and a New Process	Launch Process
	Service Type
	Service Stage
Save to Related Record	Target Object	Specifies which object the related record exists within.
	Target Method	Used to specify whether the lookup value determining which record is the related one lives on the Process or on the Task, or both. Available values: Process only Task only Process first, then Task Task first, then Process Please note: Task Templates cannot include Processes in their Target Method.
Create a Deal	Service Type
	Deal Stage
Create an Event	Subject
	Event Type
	Description
	Name	On the Event record, Name captures the People (Individuals & Contacts) that are associated with the record. Choose the types of people related to the Key Entity that you want to associate with the Event.
	Attendees (Role)	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include as Event Attendees, based on their Role.
	Attendees (Business Role)	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include as Event Attendees, based on their Business Role.
Post to Noticeboard	Alert Level
	Post
	Archive Date Interval	Set the number of days after the post is created that you want it to appear. After that, it will be archived automatically.
Send a Notification	Notification Message
	Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to notify, based on their Role.
	Business Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to notify, based on their Business Role.
	Public Group	If the people you wish to notify aren’t members of the Servicing Team, create a Public Group in Salesforce Setup as a way of including them.
Send an Email	Email Template	Specify the Record ID for the Lightning Email Template you wish to send.
	Show Additional Message	If checked, then the Additional Message section appears when the user previews the email before sending it. Check this box if the Email Template contains an %AdditionalMessage% string.
	Allow Users to Remove Email Addresses	If checked, then when previewing the email in the Mark as Complete action, the user will be able to remove predefined recipients.
	Cc Recipients
	Bcc Recipients
	To - Person Type	Specify the Individuals & Contacts you wish to include in the To field, based on their Relationship Type.
	To - Team Member Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include in the To field, based on their Role.
	To - Team Member Business Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include in the To field, based on their Business Role.
	Cc - Person Type	Specify the Individuals & Contacts you wish to include in the Cc field, based on their Relationship Type.
	Cc - Team Member Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include in the Cc field, based on their Role.
	Cc - Team Member Business Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include in the Cc field, based on their Business Role.
	Bcc - Person Type	Specify the Individuals & Contacts you wish to include in the Bcc field, based on their Relationship Type.
	Bcc - Team Member Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include in the Bcc field, based on their Role.
	Bcc - Team Member Business Role	Specify the Servicing Team Members you wish to include in the Bcc field, based on their Business Role.
Create an Asset/Liability	Asset/Liability	Select if you would like the record created by this Action Type to be an Asset record or a Liability record.
	Name
	Category
	Stage
	Under Advice
Create a Person	Person Type	Contacts are only created if the workflow’s Related Entity is a Household or Organization. If the Related Entity is an Individual, then the Person created will also be an Individual regardless of the selection made here.
	Household/Organization Member	If checked, then the Primary Entity value of the created Individual will be prefilled with the workflow’s Related Entity, and a Relationship record will be created linking the Person to that Entity.
	Member Type
Create a Client Entity	Client Entity Type
	Parent Entity Location	Specify how the workflow engine will locate the Parent Entity you’re creating this record for. If the Active Form is used to locate this record and a different option is selected here, the form takes precedence.
	Parent Entity Field	Optionally specify the field path from the workflow step to the Parent Entity you’re creating a record for using Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Asset_Liability__r.practifi__Client__c. If blank, then the workflow will refer to its own Entity lookup fields to find an Entity.
Create a Reference Document	Document Name
	Document Type
	Description
	Entity/Person Location	Specify how the workflow engine will locate the Entity or Person record you’re creating a record for. If the Active Form is used to locate this record and a different option is selected here, the form takes precedence.
	Entity/Person Action	Which action is the Entity or Person created by?
	Entity/Person Field	Optionally specify the field path from the workflow step to the Entity or Person you’re creating a record for using Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Sp use__c. If blank, then the workflow will refer to its own lookup fields to find either an Entity or a Person, in that order.
	Store in Lookup Field	Optionally specify the field path from the workflow step (Task) to a lookup field of the same object, using Salesforce formula syntax. When this record is created, its value will be stored in the named lookup field.
Create an Asset/Liability Role	Asset/Liability Location	Specify how the workflow engine will locate the Asset or Liability record you’re creating a record for. If the Active Form is used to locate this record and a different option is selected here, the form takes precedence.
	Asset/Liability Action	Which action is the Asset or Liability created by?
	Asset/Liability Field	Optionally specify the field path from the workflow step to the Asset or Liability you’re creating a record for using Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Primary_Asset__c. If blank, then the workflow will refer to its own Asset/Liability lookup fields to find the record.
	Entity/Person Location	Specify how the workflow engine will locate the Entity or Person record you’re creating a record for. If the Active Form is used to locate this record and a different option is selected here, the form takes precedence.
	Entity/Person Action	Which action is the Entity or Person created by?
	Entity/Person Field	Optionally specify the field path from the workflow step to the Entity or Person you’re creating a record for using Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Sp use__c. If blank, then the workflow will refer to its own lookup fields to find either an Entity or a Person, in that order.
	Role
Create a Relationship	From Location	Specify how the workflow engine will locate the Entity or Person you’re assigning as the From party in this relationship. If the Active Form is used to locate this record and a different option is selected here, the form takes precedence.
	From Action	Which action is the Entity or Person created by?
	From Field	Optionally specify the field path from the workflow step to the Entity or Person you’re defining as the From party using Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Sp use__c. If blank, then the workflow will refer to its own lookup fields to find either an Entity or a Person, in that order.
	Relationship Type	Only external relationships are supported by this Action Type, not members of households and organizations.
	To Location	Specify how the workflow engine will locate the Entity or Person you’re assigning as the To party in this relationship. If the Active Form is used to locate this record and a different option is selected here, the form takes precedence.
	To Action	Which action is the Entity or Person created by?
	To Field	Optionally specify the field path from the workflow step to the Entity or Person you’re defining as the From party using Salesforce formula syntax, e.g. practifi__Related_Entity__r.practifi__Sp use__c. If blank, then the workflow will refer to its own lookup fields to find either an Entity or a Person, in that order.

 

Sending Emails

When using the Send an Email Action Type, it is essential to know that Salesforce supports sending emails via Microsoft 365 or Gmail, but only for those created manually using the email composer found in the Global Actions menu and the Activity Timeline. Emails sent using other means, such as our workflow engine, can only be sent via Salesforce’s email servers. Learn more about sending through Salesforce's email servers. 

Any workflow step with the Send an Email Action Type displays a preview of the email to the user before sending it. The preview step also allows you to add additional recipients, choose what email address the message is sent from, and add an additional message if supported by the action’s email template.

If you want to allow team members to slot in a personal message before the email is sent, include the %AdditionalMessage% string in the email template at the relevant point. This string should be included in the template as a separate paragraph to ensure proper sending. Only one additional message per email template is supported. If you add the above string to a template multiple times, the same message will appear in each spot. If an additional message is added, the Show Additional Message checkbox must be selected on the Action after selecting the Send an Email Action Type. 

Actions and Active Forms

Actions were designed with Active Forms in mind as they become much more helpful when they can factor in information captured while completing a workflow. To take creating an Event as an example, fields like Start & End Date/Time can’t be meaningfully set ahead of time; you need to do so while working with the Event Attendees to coordinate schedules. The lone exception is the Send an Email Action Type, where the content is handled by the Email Template and the dedicated preview step that appears in the Mark as Complete action.

When editing an Active Form, if the related Form Fields and Field Sections are changed after a task is created, the record is not updated with these changes. However, the Actions executed are based on what is present in the Active Form at the time of the Task completion. This means it is possible for an Active Form to not correctly reflect the inputs required for a Task Action at completion, causing an error.