Workflows

To understand the functionality of Workflow, it is crucial to know the terminologies. These terminologies are very easy to deal with. It's just a nomenclature through which the components of the tool are being addressed. So, let's dig deeper into this document and know what the plugin has.

Workflow

A workflow is a set of steps that are connected logically to meet an objective. it is configured to automate your task.

Each workflow has to have at least two elements, Trigger and Action.

You can create more simple or complex workflows as per your use case by using Gupshup Workflow Automation plugin. For example, when an order is placed on WooCommerce store, Send WhatsApp message to customer on his phone number .

Trigger

A trigger is an event or an occurrence that kick-starts step(s) configured in a workflow. It is a mechanism that initiates the execution of a workflow. It is basically a trigger or starting point of workflow automation which tells, “If this (event of your choice) happens, trigger automation”.

Some of the most popular triggers are New Order, Order Status and Order Cancel and so on.

Action

An action is a user-defined step that performs a task whenever a trigger event occurs.

Referring to the workflow use case discussed above Workflow section, the first part i.e. " when an order is placed on WooCommerce store" is your trigger and the second part "... Send WhatsApp message to customer on his phone number " is an action.

Create Workflow

To create a workflow with a WhatsApp message template action in our plugin, follow these steps:

1. First go to Gupshup plugin, and click on Workflow menu item

2. Clicking on the Workflow Menu item, you will be redirected to the Workflow’s Landing Page.
3. On the Workflow landing screen, Create a new workflow by clicking on Create New Workflow button

4. Next, give your workflow a title by filling out Title field. This should be a descriptive name that will help you and other users identify the workflow later on.

5. After you've named your workflow, select a trigger that will start the workflow. In this case, you want the trigger to be something that will cause the WhatsApp message to be sent. Here you have the following triggers available in gupshup plugin.
   1. Order Create: On enabling this, a message is sent to the user once he/she creates an order
   2. Order Status Updated: On enabling this, a message is sent to the user once the shop owner updates the status of the order. For example : If in case, the shop owner updates the status from Processing to On Hold, a message is sent to its user based on the workflow defined
   3. Order Delete: On enabling this, a message is sent to the client once the order is deleted by his/her shop owner

6. Once you have selected your trigger, it's time to add the WhatsApp message template action.
7. Template Type: Choose template type Text/Image/Video or Document.

Supported Message Types for Notifications
| Type | Supported Content-types |
| :--- | :---------------------------------------------------- |
| Text | English and Unicode characters (max. 1024 characters) |

8. Template Name: Select the Template Name. Based on the Template type selected, a list of all approved templates in your Business Whatsapp No will be populated in dropdown.

9. Based on the template selected, you will be able to see the preview of the message in the Message Section.

10. Body: If the template has got some attributes associated to it, you will be able to see the Body section.
    1. Static Inputs in the Body section: If in case, we manually input values, then all the users will get the same message with the same attributes we input manually. For example, I have selected change_status_ticket template and in the body section, if I want I can add static inputs in the section as shown in image below.

2. Dynamic Inputs in the Body section: If in case, we dynamically input values, then the users will get the message based on the attribute selected. The values will keep changing based on the attribute selected. For example : I have selected Order ID as the first variable / attribute and Order Status as Second Variable. 
   

11. After filling out all the mandatory fields, we can Save or Save and Activate the workflow.
    1. Save : If we click on Save button, then the Workflow won’t activate
    2. Save and Activate : If we click on Save and Activate button, then the Workflow is Activated as well.
       The difference can be seen in the image below