How Do I Create a Task Step?
In Kuali Build, creating a new Form in your App will automatically launch a new Workflow.
What steps can be added to a Workflow?
- Approval - approval or rejection of a course, program, form, etc. Approvals typically pause all other steps in a workflow until a decision has been made.
- Task - Complete a task in or out of the system when this reaches a step
- Acknowledge - allows a user or role to acknowledge a form's submission. Unlike an approval, an acknowledgment does not pause the workflow until the submission has been reviewed. The workflow process will continue with any subsequent steps.
- Notification - a configurable email sent to a selected user
- Branch - proposal routing based on conditions from the form
- Integration - allows you to select from a list of pre-configured integrations if any were created during implementation.
What is a Task Step? How do I create one?
- Go to Workflow tab in an app
- Drag on the Task step type in the upper left hand corner
- Place it where you would like the task to go
- Give the task step a name
- Provide instructions to let the user know what task they need to complete
- Define who needs to complete the step (same as approval steps)
- Customize the email notification to let the user know what task they need to complete (same as approval steps)
- Define the form sections that need to be viewable or editable to the user (same as approval steps)

What would I use the task step type for?
- There is a certain section on the form that needs to be filled out by a particular office. This office should only see this section of the form and does not have the authority to approve the proposal.
- Once the submission is approved, somebody needs to add information from the submission to another system. They do not have access to edit the proposal but they do need to be able to view it. Once they have finished their task they need to indicate that they have completed it.
- As an admin, I could add in a task step type to this step in the workflow and assign a role to that step. The users in that role would then get an email letting them know that they need to complete a task in the workflow.
What is Step Label?
By default, the Task Step you just created is called "Task." This typically isn't a problem with a basic workflow configuration, but for more complex workflows it can get pretty confusing to have multiple steps named "Task."
The Step Label allows you to customize the name of this particular step so it more accurately represents this part of the process. This will help you keep your workflow organized as you are building out your process, but it can also help provide clarity for reviewers who need to approve multiple times during the process.
The Step Label appears in the Task Notification that is emailed to the reviewer to help them identify where they are in the workflow process.
The Step Label is "Add To Calendar Task " in this example.
How do I choose who will complete this step?
Once you have created a task, the Task panel will open on the right-hand side of the screen. From there, you can choose from a list of individuals to complete a specific task. Each option is discussed below.
Person(s) in a role of a group, or the group's hierarchy, in the form
This will allow you to choose a person in a specific role from any group that was mentioned on your form.
Once this option is selected an additional field will load below that will ask you to specify the field on the form that lists the group.
You will then be prompted to select the role from that particular group that should approve the form submission. In this case, a role could refer to 1 person (e.g. Department Chair), or it could refer to a previously created role (or small group) that includes multiple people (e.g. Curriculum Committee).
Person(s) in a role of any specific group
This will allow you to choose a person in a specific role from any of the groups that were pre-populated in Kuali Build during your implementation.
Once this option is selected an additional field will load below that will ask you to specify the role and the group.
In this case, a role could refer to 1 person (e.g. Department Chair), or it could refer to a previously created role (or small group) that includes multiple people (e.g. Curriculum Committee).
A person specified on the form
This will allow you to choose a person listed in a field on the form.
Once this option is selected an additional field will load below that will ask you to specify the field on the form where that person is listed. Additionally, you can select the submitter of the form by choosing "Submitter (meta.submittedBy)" from the drop-down.
Please note, the Created By and Submitted By options are currently the same person. The ability for another user to submit doesn't yet exist in the application (other than via API). We recommend using the Created By option if you want to insert the user that created the form.
Any specific person
This will allow you to choose any person from any of the groups that were pre-populated in Kuali Build during your implementation.
Once this option is selected you will be asked to specify the user.
Instructions functionality:
Admins will be required to add instructions when they configure a task step.
These instructions will be included in the email that is sent to the assignee and will appear at the top of the document.
How do I compose the Task email and subject line?
The Customize Email Notification setting enables you to include a custom message in the notification that is sent to the assigned approvers.
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The Email Subject field allows you to customize the subject line of the task notification email that will be sent to the assigned taskee.
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The Add Variable button allows you to populate and personalize the subject line with information from the form. In the example below, the subject line alerts the approver that they are approving the travel request of a specific individual. “Submitter - Display Name” in the subject line will be replaced with the form submitter’s name in the task email.
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The Email Body field allows you to add a custom message to the task email. By default, the task notification will include the name of the form, the name of the task workflow step referenced in the email, and the action requested of the email recipient. In this case, the action requested is “Task.”
- The Add Variable button allows you to populate and personalize the email with information from the form. In the example below, the “Submitter - Display Name” placeholder will be populated with the form submitter’s name.
Make individual form sections at this step hidden or editable - This setting enables you to override the global setting for the various sections on the form.
- You can hide, unhide and allow a section to be editable as a part of the task
Make individual form sections at this step hidden or editable
- This setting enables you to override the global setting for the various sections on the form.
- You can hide, unhide and allow a section to be editable as a part of the task
How does the task action appear in the workflow tracker? - When a task has been completed it will appear as "task completed" in the workflow tracker.
- It’s important to note that a task step stops the workflow (meaning you cannot continue on in the workflow until completed) just like it does with an approval step.
Those assigned to Tasks have an optional comment box when completing their task as completed.
Comments
2 comments
Do Task Completers have the option to leave comments when Marking a Task as complete in workflow?
Shelby Iwamoto that's a great question! Yes, Task Completers have the option to leave a comment but it is optional, not required.

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