Blueprint Tutorial

Blueprint lets you automate tasks by setting up a workflow. Set up a workflow and the system will help you track the progress of the task from start to finish. This tutorial will help you set up and execute a Blueprint with scenarios and examples to help you understand how different aspects of this feature can be used.

• Learning Objective
• Create a Blueprint
• Status and Transition
• Cases
  • Case I
  • Case II
  • Case III

Learning Objective

To learn how to

• Design a workflow for your task
• Map tasks to a Blueprint
• Execute tasks using the Blueprint

Create a Blueprint

Status and Transition

Every blueprint is made up of statuses and transitions. A status tells you the current position of the task in the work flow. A transition is used to move a task from on status to another.

How can you apply this to your tasks?

The blueprint will be applied to your tasks which meet its criteria. By default, the status of the task will be open. The transitions will appear as buttons in the task details page when the criteria for them are met. You can click the transition buttons to move the task to the desired status.

Cases

We have chosen three domains where Zoho Projects and we have one scenario for each of these domains for you to understand how they work.

Case I - Insurance Claim

Before you start:

1. Decide the workflow of the Blueprint
2. Make a list of the additional fields that will have to be added
3. Decide the actions that have to be carried out for every instance

Create a Layout

Firstly, you need to create a layout for the Blueprint. This layout is where you will add the additional fields and sections. Edit the fields with the following information:

Add Email Templates and Email Alerts

For this use case, you will need to add two email templates and associate them to two email alerts that will be triggered from the blueprint. Refer to the table below to create the email alerts.

Note: $TaskCFReason for Rejection} is a placeholder of the Reason for Rejection custom field.

Now, go to the Email Alerts section, click Add Email Alert and use the following information to create two email alerts:

Draw the Blueprint

The next step is to draw the workflow of your process using statuses and transitions. Choose Insurance Claim Layout from the Select Layout dropdown and specify the criteria for this Blueprint to be applied. Now, create the statuses and drag and drop them to the Blueprint creation space. Click the + symbol to name the transactions as in the image.

Define the Transitions

Click on each transition and define the actions that have to be carried out when the task moves through that transition to the target

Execute the Blueprint

• Go to the project you have applied the Blueprint to and click on the Started Analyzing for the transition
• . The task's status will change to Analysis in Progress.
• You can only send the claim when you receive the legal documents. Click the Request Legal Papers button.
• Once the papers are attached, click the Legal Papers Submitted button.
• If the Claim Value is more than 2000, you will have to send it for fraud click the Fraud Check (>2000) button.
• If the fraud check is passed, you can click Approve the Claim or if there are legal issues, click Found Legal Issues.

• If the Claim Value is less than 2000, you can click the Approve Small Claim (<2000) button to approve the claim.
• Once the payment has been processed, click the Payment Processed button to complete the process. Alternatively, you can reject the claim by clicking Reject the Claim.

Case II - Feature Release: Software

Before you start:

1. Decide the workflow of the Blueprint
2. Note down the additional fields that have to be added
3. Decide which actions that have to be carried out in every instance

Creating a Layout

First, create a layout to be applied to the Blueprint. This layout is where you will add the additional fields and sections. Select a layout to clone and enter the name as Feature Development.

Draw the Blueprint

The next step is to draw the workflow of your process using statuses and transitions. Choose Feature Development from the Select Layout dropdown and specify the criteria for this Blueprint to be applied.

Define the Transitions

Click on each transition and define the actions that have to be carried out when the task moves through that transition to the target

Execute the Blueprint

• Go to the project you have applied the Blueprint to and click on the task.
• Click Started Requirement Analysis if the team has started working on it.
• You can click Suspend at any time if you'd like to put the whole process on hold.
• When the analysis is complete, click Requirement and the task will move to the Waiting for Development status.
• Click Development Completed when the feature has been fully developed.
• The task needs to be tested and will be the Waiting for Testing status. Click Testing Initiated when the team has started testing the product.
• If you find bugs while testing the product, click Found Issues will redirect you to the development phase.
• If the product has no bugs, click Testing Completed to end the testing process.
• Once you have completed the marketing process for the product with the marketing team and are ready to release it, click Release Preparation. The status will change to Released.
• If your customers encounter issues, you can restart the same process by clicking Reopen the task.

Case III - Retail Store: Sofa Manufacturing

Before you start:

1. Decide the workflow of the Blueprint
2. Note down the additional fields that have to be added
3. Decide the actions that have to be carried out in every instance

Create a Layout

First, create a layout to be applied to the Blueprint. This layout is where you will add the additional fields and sections. Select a layout to clone and enter the name as Manufacturing Sofas.

Draw the Blueprint

The next step is to draw the workflow of your process using statuses and transitions. Choose Sofas from the Select Layout dropdown and specify the criteria for this Blueprint to be applied. Now, create the statuses and drag and drop them to the Blueprint creation space. Click the + symbol to name the transactions as in the image.

Define the Transitions

Click on each transition and define the actions that have to be carried out when the task moves through that transition to the next status.

Execute the Blueprint

• Go to the project you have applied the Blueprint to and click on the task.
• Click Sent for Approval when you send the order for approval. Once the design is approved, the task will move to the Order Approved status.
• Click Uploading the Design when you are ready to upload the design.
• The task will move to the Design is Finalized status when the design gets finalized.
• When the manufacturing process for the sofa starts, click Cutting the Panels. The task will automatically move to the Manufacture in Progress status.
• Assemble the product and send it for polishing by clicking Polishing in Progress.
• Once it has been polished, click Polished. The task will move to Painting in Progress as the item will next be painted.
• Once is completed, send the sofa for inspection.
• If there's anything that needs to be fixed, click Corrections, fix the issues, and then click Sending it for Inspection to send it for inspection again.
• Once everything is complete, send the item for packaging and for Packaging.
• The task will be in the Yet to be Packed status while the packaging is in progress.
• Once the packaging is complete, the product will be sent for delivery. Click Packed and Sent for Delivery so that the task moves to the Closed status.