SharePoint Online - New or update list item

Use the SharePoint - New or update list item  start event The connector and event for triggering the workflow to run, including required configuration. An example is Box - New file, which triggers the workflow to run when a new file is uploaded to the specified folder. to start your workflow whenever a new item is added or an existing item is updated in a specified SharePoint Online list.

SharePoint Online has other start events as well as actions. For more information, see SharePoint Online.

Before you begin: 

Tip: 

  • If a workflow uses both a SharePoint - New or update list item start event and a SharePoint Online - Update items action A tool for building the processes, logic, and direction within workflows. that references the same SharePoint Online list, we recommend that you add a condition to the SharePoint Online start event so that the workflow does not repeatedly start new instances of itself in an infinite loop. If you do not add a condition, the item updates from the workflow will subsequently start a new instance in reaction to the item update. For example, assume the credential used in the SharePoint Online connection for the SharePoint Online - Update items action is serviceaccount@contoso.com. Set the condition on the start event as 'Modified By (Username) does not equal (≠) serviceaccount@contoso.com'. This will allow the workflow to be started by any item update event except for updates the workflow itself has made.

Jump to:

Select the SharePoint - New or update list item start event

  1. Open your workflow and in the designer canvas, click Start event. The configuration panel is displayed.
  2. In the Start from drop-down under CONNECTORS, select SharePoint Online. The Event field is displayed.
  3. For Event, select SharePoint - New or update list item.

    The Configuration section is displayed to configure the start event.

Configure the SharePoint - New or update list item start event

  1. In the configuration section, select a SharePoint Online Connection. If you do not have a connection, see Add a connection.

    Note: Only the connections created with the List and libraries authentication method are available in the drop-down. For more information about authentication methods for SharePoint Online connections, see Authentication methods for SharePoint Online connections.

  2. Type a SharePoint site URL and click .
  3. All the lists in the specified site are displayed in the List name drop-down.

    Example: https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/hr

  1. Select the List name that you want to monitor for this start event.

See the SharePoint - New list item start event fields and settings table for all the configuration fields.

SharePoint - New or update list item start event variables

Important: If the SharePoint Online list has a multi-value enabled column of Person type with a user that doesn't have the email address configured, only the user ID is returned for that column. All other Person columns in that list are also impacted and only the user ID is returned for all Person columns.

You can view the start event variables automatically added to the workflow.

  1. In the designer canvas, click Start event to open the configuration panel.
  2. Click Show variables. The Variables pane opens.

SharePoint - New list item start event fields and settings

Section Field Description
Start event Show variables Opens the Variables pane where you can view all the start event variables.
  Hide variables Closes the Variables pane.
(unlabeled) Start from

Lists the Nintex connector and third-party connectors, such as SharePoint, Salesforce, and Dropbox Business.

  Event The event that must occur in the selected connector to trigger the workflow.

Configuration

Connection Credentials and other settings required to pass data between the workflow and the indicated service, which could be a cloud service, business application, or content store.

SharePoint Online connection to access the SharePoint Online site containing the list to be monitored.

To refresh the available connections, click Refresh.

 

SharePoint site URL

The URL of the SharePoint Online site containing the list that you want to monitor.

To retrieve the lists or libraries for the SharePoint site URL, type the SharePoint site URL and click . Example: https://domain.sharepoint.com/sites/hr

To edit the SharePoint site URL:

  1. Click Edit.
  2. Edit the site URL and click .
 

List name

The name of the SharePoint Online list that you want to monitor for this start event. When a new item is added or an existing item is updated in the selected list, the workflow will be started.

Conditions Add conditions/Edit conditions

Displays the condition builder to define new conditions or edit existing conditions.

  • Add conditions - Displayed when there are no existing conditions specified for the action.

  • Edit conditions - Displayed when there are existing conditions set for the action. You can edit the conditions.

The Condition builder supports nested conditions, enabling you to create conditions within another condition.

Condition builder When

Displays the items from the Column field of the selected list.

Note: 

The following columns are not supported in the Condition builder:

  • Calculated

  • Hyperlink

  • Managed Metadata

  • Multiple lines of text

  Operator

How the item from the When drop-down and Value are compared. Select from the drop-down.The operators available in the drop-down depend on the data type of the item selected from the When drop-down.

  Value

The value you are expecting in the column (field) specified for When.

The data type of Value must match the data type of the item selected in the When drop-down.

  Add

Adds a new condition. When adding a new condition you have to select the level of the condition.

Select Nested condition to nest the new condition within the condition above it.

  And/Or

The connecting operator to use for the conditions. If you select:

And: The workflow starts when the item that is added matches all the conditions.

Or: The workflow starts when the item that is added matches any one of the conditions.

  Edit

Displays the following options menu for a condition. The following options are available:

  • Promote: Promotes the condition to a higher level. Promote option is shown if the condition is nested within another condition and allows you to move it to a higher level.

  • Demote: Demotes the condition to a lower level. If you demote a condition it is moved to a lower level making it nested within the condition immediately above it.

  • Delete: Deletes the selected condition.