Managing Task Lists

1. Open the K2 Management site if it is not already open. Navigate to the Task List option found under the Users node.
2. Click Task List to expose the central pane. In the Workflow Name field, enter
   workflow administration sample
   then click the search spyglass to the right of the field. After K2 has found the workflow and replaced your search entry with the system name, click the search spyglass found at the bottom of the search fields (roughly half-way down the screen, on the right-hand side.)
To return a list of all active tasks, simply click the Task List spyglass (about half-way down the screen on the right-hand side) without entering any search criteria.



You should now see all of the tasks currently assigned for the Workflow Administration Sample process instances. Notice the destination users are all the same, because the same user started the workflow (in our sample, "Administrator" started the process instances).



3. You will now open a second instance of Internet Explorer, logged in as Jonno. Click on the User Shortcuts link found in the lower right corner of your screen. Then expand the Legal folder and finally, click on IE (Jonno). A second instance of IE should open.
If you are working within your own environment, you will not have the user shortcuts and will need to access the target user's computer for the following steps.



4. With Jonno's IE the active browser, launch another instance of K2 Workspace so that it opens in Jonno's browser. (Start > All Programs > K2 blackpearl > K2 Workspace)

Notice that Jonno does not have any Workflow Administration Sample tasks.



5. Return to Administrator's K2 Management site. Navigate to the Workflow Administration Sample Task List. Click to highlight the TaskRedirect process instance, then click the Redirect button in the navigation pane.



6. The Redirect Worklist Item screen opens. Here, you have a number of options to use in searching for the target user. Begin by confirming the Label is set to K2.
When configured, K2 can interact with a number of third-party products, such as CRM and SharePoint. You can narrow your search to one of these data sources if desired. You can also change the search type to Starts with, Equal to or Ends with to help further define the search criteria.

You will be searching for Jonno, so in the Search field, enter
Jonno
then click the Search button or spyglass. When Jonno's name shows up in the results pane, highlight his name, then click OK. Click OK once again to confirm the action.




Notice the Task List now shows Jonno as the destination for the TaskRedirect process instance.



Before you move on to viewing Jonno's task list, let's confirm that the TaskRedirect task is no longer in Administrator's task list.

7. Switch to the Administrator's K2 Workspace.
This should just be a matter of clicking the Workspace tab in your browser. If you closed K2 Workspace after the Process Instances tutorial, launch K2 Workspace once again from the start menu. Make sure that Administrator's IE is the active browser before opening Workspace.
8. If Administrator's K2 Workspace is still open from the last exercise and you are still on the Process Instances screen, click the home icon to return to the landing page.



On the K2 Workspace landing page for Administrator, notice the three tasks that remain as part of the Workflow Administration Sample process instances. The redirected task is no longer on Administrator's task list.



9. Return to Jonno's K2 Workspace. On the landing page, there should be one task listed, TaskRedirect. If you do not see the task listed, refresh the browser.

STEP 1 REVIEW

In this step, you redirected a task from Administrator to Jonno. Redirecting tasks is a very common request made to the K2 administrator. There are many reasons why a user might want to redirect a task to another user. This is a simple process for the K2 administrator. Redirecting a task completely removes it from the original destination user's task list. The new destination user will receive any notifications that were configured in the workflow. (The workflow simply restarts the event using the new destination user.)

1. Return to the K2 Workspace landing page for Administrator. Make a note of the current tasks available.



Now you will configure Administrator’s Out of Office to forward any tasks to Jonno. There are three steps involved. First, you will select the user you are setting up the out of office for (Administrator), second, you will select the user to forward tasks to (Jonno) and third, you will change Administrator's current status from In the Office to Out of Office.

2. Returning to the K2 Management site, expand the Users node, then click Out of Office. The Out of Office details are displayed in the central pane. Click Add. On the Add Out of Office User screen, click the Choose user link.



3. On the Find User screen, type
   administrator
   into the text box. Click the More... link and confirm the Label is set to K2.



4. Click the spyglass. You should now see the search results just below the search criteria properties. Click SELECT to add Denallix Administrator.



Back on the Add Out of Office User screen, notice now that Administrator is displayed as the user you are creating settings for. Now you will add Jonno as the recipient of Administrator's redirected tasks. Notice that the Forward To and Exceptions panes are now displayed.



5. Click the plus (+) sign in the Forward To section. On the Find User screen, enter
   jonno
   into the text box, then click the More... link. Confirm the Label is set to K2, then click the spyglass. After Jonathan King's name is displayed, click SELECT.



6. The final step is to set the current status for Administrator from In the Office to Out of Office.
7. On the Add Out of Office User screen, change Administrator's status to Out of Office, then click Save. You will not be configuring any exceptions for this user.



8. You are returned to the Out of Office screen. Confirm that the OUT OF OFFICE box is CHECKED for Administrator. If it is not, CHECK the OUT OF OFFICE box, then click Save once again.



9. At this point, all of Administrator's tasks should be shared with Jonno. Open Jonno's K2 Workspace and confirm the tasks from Administrator are assigned to Jonno as well. (You may need to refresh the browser.)



Now you will configure Out of Office for Jonno. In the image above, notice that in addition to Administrator's tasks, Jonno also has a task of his own, TaskRedirect. By configuring Jonno's Out of Office, you will see how Jonno's task is shared, while Administrator's tasks are not.

10. Click the Configuration icon in Jonno's K2 Workspace. Click the Out of Office tab. Change Jonno's status to Out of Office, then click the Add button in the Forward all work items to pane.



11. Enter
    bob
    into the search text box and click the Search button. When you see Bob's name displayed, CHECK the box to the left of his name and click OK. If you see a confirmation dialog, click OK.



12. On the Out of Office Configuration page, click OK twice to commit the setting.



Now you will open Bob's K2 Workspace and confirm that Jonno's task is now shared with him.

13. Use the User Shortcuts to open Bob's IE. Bob is a member of the Finance group.



14. With Bob's IE the active browser, launch another instance of K2 Workspace. (Start > All Programs > K2 blackpearl > K2 Workspace)

Notice that Jonno's TaskRedirect task is now shared with Bob.



You've learned how a user can share their tasks by configuring their Out of Office settings. As a K2 administrator, you can manage Out of Office settings for other users, in addition to your own. You can add, edit and remove Out of Office settings from the K2 Management site.

If you have a user that frequently switches from In Office to Out of Office, one option for quickly managing their settings is to not remove them (when In Office), but to simply UNCHECK the Out of Office check-box (then Save) to toggle back and forth. This will save a great deal of time if your users do not manage their own Out of Office settings.
15. Switch to Administrator's browser and access the K2 Management site. Expand the Users node, then click the Out of Office option. Notice in the central pane, there are two users listed, Denallix Administrator and Jonathan King (Jonno). (You may need to refresh the browser.) Each time a user configures their own Out of Office settings, the Administrator will see (and be able to manage) their configuration from the K2 Management site. UNCHECK the Out of Office box for Administrator. Click Save.



16. Once again, switch to Jonno's IE and K2 Workspace. Click the Refresh My Tasks icon. Notice now, Administrator's tasks are no longer shared with Jonno.



One last concept to explore when configuring Out of Office settings is exceptions. By default, all processes are shared with the target user when configuring Out of Office. Exceptions allow users or administrators to specify individual processes or process activities to be shared, rather than having all processes shared.

17. Switch back to Administrator's K2 Management site. You should still be on the Out of Office screen, but if you are not, expand the Users node, then click Out of Office. In the central pane, CHECK the box to the left of Jonathan King (Jonno), then click Edit. On the Edit Out of Office User screen, locate the Exceptions section (on the lower half of the screen) and click the plus (+) icon.



18. The Add Out of Office Exception screen is now displayed. For the Name, enter
    Sample User Tasks Only
    then click the spyglass to the right of the Process text box.



19. You will now search for the correct process. In the Search text box, enter
    workflow
    then click the spyglass to the right of the field. Click to highlight the Workflow Administration Sample, then click OK. (Your screen may or may not have additional processes displayed.)



20. On the Add Out of Office Exception screen, click the spyglass to the right of the Activity text box.
21. On the Search screen, enter
    sample
    for the search criteria, then click the spyglass. Click to highlight the Sample User Task Activity, then click OK.



22. The last setting is to assign the target user for Jonno's Out of Office, Sample User Tasks Only, exception. In the Users section, click the plus (+) icon.
23. On the Add User screen, click the 'More...' link. For the Search value, select or confirm Users. Confirm to change the Label to K2. Confirm or change the Type to Contains. Enter
    anthony
    in the search text box, then click the spyglass.



24. Anthony's account is displayed just below the search settings. Click SELECT to add Anthony as the target user for Jonno's Out of Office exception.



25. On the Add Out of Office Exception screen, review the Name, Process, Activity and User information, then click Save.



26. On the Edit Out of Office User screen, click Save once again to commit the exception addition.

STEP 2 REVIEW

In this step, you worked with the Out of Office feature and learned how users can manage their own Out of Office settings through K2 Workspace. Configuring Out of Office essentially shares the task(s) with the target user. One tip is to simply toggle the Out of Office setting (from in-office to out-of-office), instead of removing it. This is helpful if your users need to activate/deactivate this feature often. By default, K2 shares all of the processes with the target user if Out of Office is activated. Exceptions can be added to filter which processes and activities are shared.

The K2 administrator can manage Out of Office settings for all users, while users can manage just their own settings. The K2 administrator manages Out of Office through the K2 Management site.

The Out of Office feature helps to ensure that workflows continue to move along, even if the destination user is unavailable. Another common use for this feature is to assign Out of Office sharing for executives that want another user (an assistant perhaps), to manage their workflow tasks.

In the next section, you will take a look at permissions in K2. If you are ready to continue, click the Managing Permissions link to get started. (If you are continuing on, leave the IE instances open for Anthony and Bob, as you will use them in the next section.)