![\"Gravity](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Gravity-Flow-FI.png\")
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Gravity Flow<\/a> is a Gravity Forms Certified Add-On,<\/a> built for optimizing and automating recurring business processes. Perfect for organizations of all shapes and sizes, it can help you streamline your business processes and turn your forms, spreadsheets, follow-up calls, and emails into efficient workflows.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can also implement review loops in your processes, allowing users to edit their entries before re-submitting a form for approval. Interested in learning more?<\/p>\n In this article, we’ll show you how you can use Gravity Flow for your WordPress-specific workflows, workflows powered by Gravity Forms, and other business applications.<\/p>\n Workflow management is all about streamlining and automating the tasks performed by an organization.<\/p>\n \u2018Workflow\u2019 refers to a series of tasks that are necessary to achieve some larger objective. Workflows (sometimes referred to as business processes) follow a set order, are predictable, and help achieve some definite outcome.<\/p>\n The aim of \u2018workflow management\u2019 is to optimize workflows to get the desired results.<\/p>\n Gravity Flow is a native WordPress integration for Gravity Forms. It\u2019s designed to help you automate and streamline workflows, assign responsibilities, minimize errors, increase transparency, and bring accountability to your business processes.<\/p>\n Gravity Flow comes with a number of useful features, including feedback loops and process branching, reporting, scheduling, granular permissions, and audit trail.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s say you\u2019re looking to set up a WordPress editorial workflow. Here\u2019s an outline of what it might look like in Gravity Flow:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you want to create a \u2018Paid Time Off\u2019 form for staff members:<\/p>\n The first step is to create the \u2018Paid Time Off\u2019 form using Gravity Forms. Head over to Forms > New Form <\/strong>from the WordPress admin panel and give your form a title. Use the Gravity Forms form editor to build your form.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve added two fields to the end of the form called \u2018Days Remaining\u2019 and \u2018HR Comments\u2019 which will only be visible to the form\u2019s \u2018Approver\u2019 and \u2018HR Processing\u2019 user roles. We\u2019ve done this by setting the form\u2019s visibility to Administrative<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Click the Update<\/strong> button to proceed.<\/p>\n When you install Gravity Flow, its installation wizard automatically creates pages for you for displaying the workflow on your site\u2019s front-end. It creates three pages: Inbox<\/strong>, Status<\/strong>, and Submit<\/strong> by adding the corresponding shortcodes to each page:<\/p>\n Inbox <\/strong>– <\/p>\n Status<\/strong> – <\/p>\n Submit <\/strong>– <\/p>\n If you\u2019re using Gutenberg, you can also use Gravity Flow blocks<\/a>. You can open these pages at any time and add content, if necessary.<\/p>\n Next, we\u2019re going to set up three Gravity Flow workflow steps:<\/p>\n From the form editor, go to Settings > Workflow<\/strong> and click the Add New<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n Enter the title in the Name <\/strong>field and add a description. Select the Approval <\/strong>option in the Step Type<\/strong> field.<\/p>\n The Approval<\/strong> section lets you select the username of the approver. You can choose a specific user or user role.<\/p>\n From the same screen, scroll down to the Emails<\/strong> option to create email notifications. We\u2019ll create three different email notifications for different stages in the workflow:<\/p>\n All you have to do is click the checkbox next to the Send an Email to the Assignee<\/strong> option under the Assignee Email<\/strong> tab and fill out the fields. You can use merge tags to enter data from the submitted form fields.<\/p>\n Repeat this step for the Rejection Email<\/strong> and Approval Email<\/strong>.<\/p>\n At this time, leave both the Next Step if Rejected<\/strong> option and the Next Step is Approved <\/strong>option set to their default values. We\u2019ll come back and configure these options once the remaining workflow steps are created.<\/p>\n Click on the Update Step Settings<\/strong> button to continue.<\/p>\n Click the Add Another Step<\/strong> link. Same as before, enter the title in the Name<\/strong> field and add a description. Select the User Input<\/strong> option in the Step Type<\/strong> field.<\/p>\n Complete the User Input<\/strong> section. In the Select Assignees<\/strong> section, select User (Created by)<\/strong> and in the Editable Fields<\/strong> section, select the Date From<\/strong> and Date To <\/strong>fields.<\/p>\n Configure the Email<\/strong>\u00a0settings based on your preferences. Set the Next Step<\/strong> option to Manager Approval<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019re done, click the Update Step Settings<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n Click the Add Another Step<\/strong> link. Same as before, enter the title in the Name<\/strong> field and add a description. Select the User Input <\/strong>option in the Step Type<\/strong> field.<\/p>\n Complete the User Input <\/strong>section. In the Select Assignees<\/strong> section, select HR Manager<\/strong> and in the Editable Fields<\/strong> option, select the HR Comments<\/strong> field.<\/p>\n Set the Next Step <\/strong>option to Next Step in List<\/strong>. Once you\u2019re done, click the Update Step Settings<\/strong> button.<\/p>\n Go back to the first workflow step i.e. Manager Approval Step<\/strong> and set the Next Step if Rejected<\/strong> option to Modification by Submitter<\/strong> and set the Next step is Approved<\/strong> option to HR Processing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re done, click on the Update Step Settings <\/strong>button.<\/p>\n Your form will look something like this on the front-end:<\/p>\n When the user submits the form, it\u2019ll appear on the Status <\/strong>page.<\/p>\n You can also view the entries:<\/p>\n You also view workflow activity by heading over to Workflow > Activity<\/strong> from the WordPress admin panel.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s quickly take a look at the advanced features and integrations supported by Gravity Flow:<\/p>\n You can send email notifications for different stages of the workflow.<\/p>\n The PDF Generator Extension<\/a> lets Gravity Flow Administrators add simple PDF creation steps at any time in the process. The PDF template is built just like a notification with merge tags.<\/p>\n The Gravity Flow Stripe Extension<\/a> enables workflows to approve payments during the initial form submission (pre-orders), accept or reject the payment at a later date, refund payments, and set up and cancel recurring subscriptions. Similarly, the PayPal Extension<\/a> lets Gravity Flow administrators add a payment step at any time in the workflow.<\/p>\n For instance, the form can capture the credit card information and approve a payment during the initial form submission. The form can include a series of User Input<\/strong> and Approval<\/strong> steps to complete a process. The payment is captured once the process ends.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Gravity Flow can help you build advanced business workflows using extensions:<\/p>\n The Flowchart extension<\/a> is the simplest way to create more advanced workflows. Its Flowchart view feature helps you make complex workflows easy to follow, design, optimize, and communicate to your team members. With the Flowchart extension, you can easily switch between the standard step list view and a Flowchart view of the steps.<\/p>\n The Gravity Flow WooCommerce extension<\/a> lets you add workflow automation to e-commerce orders. Whenever an order is created in WooCommerce, an entry is automatically generated in Gravity Forms which gets Gravity Flow to initiate the first step in the workflow.<\/p>\n This enables you to integrate orders more efficiently and more deeply within the business processes.<\/p>\n Gravity Flow makes it easy for businesses to set up workflows, automating tasks and streamlining processes.<\/p>\n To recap, here\u2019s what Gravity Flow can do for you:<\/p>\n Ready to automate your business processes? Get Gravity Flow<\/a> today!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you want to keep up-to-date with what’s happening on the blog sign up for the Gravity Forms newsletter!<\/strong><\/p>\nWhat Is Workflow Management?<\/h2>\n
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How to Set Up WordPress Workflows Using Gravity Flow<\/h2>\n
Step #1: Create the Gravity Form<\/h3>\n
![\"Gravifty](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/gf-pto-2.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Administrative\"](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/administrative.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStep #2: Create Workflow Pages<\/h3>\n
Step #3: Set Up Workflow Steps<\/h3>\n
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Manager Approval Step<\/h3>\n
![\"Add](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/add-new-workflow.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Workflow](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/workflow-step-title.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Approver\"](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/approver.png\")
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![\"Approve](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/approve-link-reject-link.png\")
<\/a>For example, you can use the \u201c{all_fields}\u201d merge tag to display all of the submitted form fields and \u201c{workflow_approve_link}\u201d and \u201c{workflow_reject_link}\u201d which lets the approvers approve or reject an entry directly from an email.<\/p>\nModification by Submitter Step<\/h3>\n
![\"User](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/user-input-option.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"User](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/user-input-settings.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Next](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/next-step-manager-approval.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nHR Processing Step<\/h3>\n
![\"HR](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/hr-user-input.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"HR](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/hr-manager.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Next](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/next-steps.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStep #4: Preview<\/h3>\n
![\"Request](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/form-preview.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Workflow](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/workflow-status.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Workflow](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/workflow-status-entries.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Workflow](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/workflow-activity.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAdvanced Integrations<\/h2>\n
Email Notifications<\/h3>\n
Generate PDFs<\/h3>\n
Take Payments Through Stripe or PayPal<\/h3>\n
Build Advanced Business Workflows<\/h2>\n
Set Up WordPress Workflows Today<\/h2>\n
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\n![\"Gravity](\"https:\/\/www.gravityforms.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Gravity-Forms-Newsletter-1.png\")
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