Create external workflows

It might happen that the first step in a workflow is an external user sending data to Next Matter. It might be a customer who wants to move stocks to your company and is filling in a form with the data. Sending the data can then start the stock transfer workflow.

If you want external user to access your workflows, you have three options to set it up:

• Create a public form

• Create a user portal

• Create a step and assign it to an external user

Public forms and requests created using user portals can be tracked! Portals offer My requests tab that shows the progress of created requests and when tracking is on for public forms, external requesters receive a public link that enables monitoring progress.

Watch a summary video

Create a public form

Use a public form when you want anyone with a link to be able to complete a form and start a workflow. The form is normally the first step of the workflow and can be easily accessed by scanning a generated QR code or a link. That’s why it’s a good solution anywhere where users use mobile devices and use the form to quickly log sth (an issue in a warehouse or a car failure).

Set up a public form

1. In your Next Matter portal, click Workflows.

2. Click Create new > Create a new workflow.

3. Enter the workflow name and click Create.

4. Click Add step > Form and create a new form. Assign it to the User triggering the workflow. This will be the form the external user will see.

5. Click the start step under the workflow overview.

6. In the Workflow start options, click Public form.

7. In Form configuration, click Use first step as public form.

8. Enter the instance name.

You can send the user the link available in Public form link or generate and send a QR code. You can also place the QR code on your website so that it’s available for any customer who wants to partner with you.

You can generate an external portal link that will automatically create data references. For details, see Pass meta information.

If you want to pass the information to another workflow, see Send data to an instance step.

For users who switch between devices, it’s a good idea to add ?qrCode=true to the end of the public form URL. This way the form will show with a QR code on top that can be quickly scanned by mobile users. This can come in handy if you open the form on your desktop but need to continue on your mobile for example to upload photos taken with your phone.

Create a portal

Portals are a good solution when you want to share multiple workflows with a number of users. You create a user hub, add workflows you want to share, and send the link to whoever needs access. You can share portals with teams, colleagues, or light users (users who have access to portals and their inbox and require a Next Matter account with a light user role).

For details, see Portals.

Create a form step and assign it to an external user

If you want to send an external user a form they can fill in as part of the workflow, you can also create a form step and assign it to an external user. Then create an email to the user and use data references to ink the created Public URL to the form. This way the user will be able to click the link and open the form without logging in.

You can use this solution in combination with the webhook trigger, when a customer logs a ticket, the customer email address is automatically extracted and used to send a confirmation email with an additional form to fill in.

Enable instance tracking

If you want external users to be able to track the progress of the workflow instance they created, you can enable instance tracking on the workflow. You can enable tracking for any workflow.

In the Workflow overview, toggle on tracking instances.

With the toggle on, the instance URL will be available as metadata you can use as data reference. For example, you can add it in an automated confirmation email you send to users confirming you have received the form they completed.

Make sure you create stages for the workflow for which you’ve enabled tracking. Stages will provide meaningful information to anyone wanting to monitor progress.

Users can open the provided link as a separate page.