Question about form elements in approval workflow

Hello,

In the approval workflow, after an approval, is there a difference between sending an email with the link to another form vs using the approval element FORM itself? Can both have the ability to be prefilled?

Hello Trista,

Thank you for reaching out to Jotform Support. Using the Form element in the approval workflow is more recommended when you're trying to add a prefilled form into the flow. The only difference when using an email is that you can attach a message in the email's content that the recipient of the email can read before clicking on the form's prefilled link.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Thank you for the response. I prefer the email because i need to attach the pdf invoice which i can not do with the form element without having to send another email. My concern is that will form 2 be prefilled by the last person who submitted form 1? what if the person im sending the email to is not the last person to submit form 1?

Hello xotristxo,

Thank you for reaching out to Jotform Support. Please check on our guide Prepopulate your form using URL parameters. With this method, you will fill in your form data by passing values to the form URL. Each form field has a unique code and that code can be used in the URL to pass in values to those specified fields. This of course would mean that you will need to create a new URL for all of your different clients.

Please give it a try and let us know how it goes.

If i use the form element into my workflow for form 2, will all the entry values from that form be usable into my workflow or just the entry values from the original form 1?

Hello xotristxo,

Thank you for reaching out to Jotform Support. You may want to check this link for further guidance. If you need us to check on this for you, kindly share the URL of your forms so we can better identify your request and provide further suggestions.

i understand. thank you!

Does (and can?) the form element in the workflow act as an approval? like base on their answers in that form will it determine if the workflow ends or continues ? Can i autocomplete the task if they dont fill it out by a certain date?

Hello Xotristxo,

There is an option within the Approvals to automatically approve or deny if a specific period of time has passed. For example, if after 24 hours the approval has not had a result, you can set it to automatically deny the request.

Here is a screenshot for reference:

Please give this a try and let us know if you need further assistance.

Yes i understand but does the form element act as an approval point? or is it just to send a prefilled form? cuz i dont see approval properties on the form element settings.

how does the workflow "flow" after the form element?

Hello xotristxo,

Thank you for reaching out to Jotform Support. The Approval flow can be set up from your form settings, please check A General Approach on Building an Approval Process Workflow on how to do so.

If you have any further questions, please let us know.

I have a workflow chart already made. I used a form element (circled in red)...

This form is to confirm if they do or do not want the order. Can i set it up so that whatever they choose in that form that it denies or approves and continue the workflow? or the workflow continues regardless?

Hello xotristxo,

The approval flow next step will be triggered once the form assigned is submitted by the user.

If the form user did not submit the form, the approval flow will not continue.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

I see! thank you. If the user did not submit the form, is there anyway for the workflow to auto-terminate? or the workflow remains stagnant until the user fills the form?

Id like to set 7 days for them to fill in the form, if not i would like to terminate the workflow.

Hello Trista,

The workflow will remain stagnant until the user submits on the form. To clarify on your concern, would you like to disable your form after seven days, or just disable the approval flow after a seven days?

We're awaiting your reply and looking forward to assisting you further.

i would like to keep receiving orders so i do not want the form to be disabled. I just want to end that specific order if the user doesnt submit the form, in essence disable the approval flow after seven days.

Hi there,

Let me check further, I will get back to you as soon as I can. I'm afraid there's no feature that fits your preference.

Thank you for your patience.

Hi there,

Unfortunately, we don't have this feature available. I will escalate your request as a feature request to our backend team. Please note that we can't give an ETA for when this will be implemented. Feature requests depend on the workloads of our developers and popularity among our users. But rest assured we will inform you once this feature becomes available.