Manage Workflows

The following instructions describe typical workflow management tasks completed by Nintex administrators.

Setting the time out for the workflow designer

The time out value defines the number of hours the Workflow Designer page can remain inactive before it times out. It is set to 2 hours by default and Nintex administrators can change this value when required.

Set the time out value

  1. Open the Workflow Gallery.

    • On a SharePoint Site Contents page, click the Nintex Workflow for Office 365 app. The Workflow Gallery is displayed with the site workflows created for the site.
    • On a SharePoint List or Document Library page, click Nintex Workflow on the top ribbon. The Workflow Gallery is displayed with the list workflows created for the current list or document library.

  1. On the left menu, click Settings.
  2. Click General.

  3. In the Nintex Workflow designer timeout section, type the number of hours in the Hours field.

    4. Note: The value entered must be within a minimum of 2 and maximum of 120.

View workflow status

After a workflow is started on a document or item, you can monitor the progress of the workflow on that document or item in the Workflow Status page. You can also view the status of workflows for a site.

Clicking the workflow name will display the Workflow Status page which shows key metadata as well as the tasks and workflow history records created by the workflow. The Workflow Status displays the following information about the workflow:

  • The name of the workflow initiator.

  • Date and time the workflow started.

  • Date and time the workflow was last run.

  • Name and link to the document or item involved in the workflow.

  • Current status of the workflow.

  • The option to terminate the workflow. If a workflow is not working, you can end the workflow. To terminate, click End this workflow.

  • List of tasks assigned to the workflow participants.

  • Lists of all of the events that have occurred in the history of the workflow.

Refer to the Description to view details of why a workflow failed.

View the workflow status for a site

  1. On the top ribbon of the Site Contents page, click Site Workflows.

    2. The Workflows page is displayed. This shows the running and completed workflows associated with the selected site. You can click on a workflow name to drill in and see workflow status.

  2. To view the workflow status, click on a Workflow name.

    3. Key metadata is listed along with any associated tasks and workflow history records.

View the workflow status and history for a list or library item:

  1. Open the list and hover the cursor over the item and click the vertical ellipsis icon ().

    2. An options menu appears.

  2. On the options menu, point to More and then click Workflows.

    3. The Workflows page is displayed. This shows the running and completed workflows associated with the selected item. You can click on a workflow name to drill in and see more details.

  3. Click on a Workflow name to view the workflow details.

    4. Key metadata is listed along with any associated tasks and workflow history records.

Resuming suspended workflows

You can resume a workflow that has suspended due to reasons such as an error occurring in the workflow run-time or if your subscription to Nintex for Office 365 has expired.

Resume a suspended workflow

  1. Open the workflow with the Suspended status and click the information icon [] next to the Internal Status.
  2. In the pop up that appears, click Resume this workflow.

Unpublishing workflows

A Nintex for Office 365 workflow can be unpublished or removed.

Note: If there is a retention policy enabled for the associated SharePoint Online site, it must be disabled before you unpublish workflows.

Unpublish a workflow

  1. Open the Workflow Settings page for the list, library or site the workflow is published on.
    • For a list or library, click the Settings icon, click List Settings and then under Permissions and Management section click Workflow Settings.
    • For a site, click Site Settings and under the Site Administration section, click Workflow Settings.
  2. On the Workflow Settings page, click Remove, Block or Restore a Workflow.

    3. The Remove Workflows page opens.

  3. Select Remove for the required workflow and click OK.

    4. Removing a workflow association cancels its running workflows. You can select No New Instances if you want to allow only the running workflows to complete.