SharePoint Workflows Start Here

I get asked a lot about workflows.  I have yet ran across a good course.  If you have let me know.  So I am putting together a list of workflow resources here.  I hope this helps.

Office 365

It is official that Flow is the successor to SharePoint Workflows.  Note that Microsoft is saying that Flow is not the replace since it has yet to reach feature parity with SharePoint Workflows.  More to come …

https://blogs.office.com/en-us/2016/10/31/sharepoint-welcomes-powerapps-and-microsoft-flow/

“Support for InfoPath 2013 and SharePoint Designer 2013 will match the support lifecycle for SharePoint Server 2016, running until 2026.”

More from the cloud engineer

PowerApps and Flow

SharePoint Examples
https://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2019/04/flow-and-sharepoint.html

More on PowerApps and Flow
https://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2018/11/powerapps-and-flow.html

Workflows

Popular Workflows
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2017/06/popular-workflows.html
Default Workflows
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2012/09/default-workflows.html
General Info
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2011/12/workflows.html
Document Routing
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2011/08/document-routing-in-sharepoint-2010.html
Workflow Issues
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2012/08/workflow-issues.html
Workflows with Visual Studio (2010)
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2011/07/sharepoint-site-workflows.html

SharePoint 2016

Workflows on SharePoint 2016 (2010 2013)
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj219638(v=office.16).aspx

Working with Web Services in SharePoint 2013 Workflows using SharePoint Designer 2013
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/dn567558.aspx

Overview of workflows included with SharePoint (2010)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Overview-of-workflows-included-with-SharePoint-d74fcceb-3a64-40fb-9904-cc33ca49da56

SharePoint Designer 2013 (MSDN)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj554671.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

Ninetex Workflow Upgrade 2016
http://help.nintex.com/en-US/nintex2016/current/Default.htm#NW-Upgrade/aa-top-upgradeguide.htm%3FTocPath%3DGetting%2520started%7CUpgrading%2520to%2520Nintex%2520for%2520SharePoint%25202016%7C_____0

SharePoint 2013

Quick Reference 2013 Actions and Conditions

2013 Workflow Actions
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj164026.aspx

2013 Workflow Conditions (MSDN)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj822976.aspx

Missing 2010 Workflow Actions (MSDN)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj163929.aspx

Infamous Workflow kicking of when File Checked Out / Just been created in document library
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/infamous-workflow-kicking-when-file-checked-out-just-been-de-roock

Visio Shapes in SharePoint Designer 2013 (MSDN)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj856990.aspx

Secondary Workflow (2007,2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-a-secondary-workflow-6b77ffd5-9ad6-4c20-b5a4-d686e2deafc2

How To Design and Customize Workflows (2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Introduction-to-designing-and-customizing-workflows-32c9c0bf-5e20-4f74-8b9c-d3ea79f2962b

Overview of Workflows (2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Overview-of-workflows-included-with-SharePoint-d74fcceb-3a64-40fb-9904-cc33ca49da56
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Introduction-to-workflows-15d0d459-cce8-4d8b-b34f-9ab6cda1075b

Introduction to Workflows (2007,2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Introduction-to-workflows-ee1efda5-82d8-4bb3-aa6b-544a2102fcff

Create a Workflow (2007,2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-a-workflow-f6a92a4b-c919-40d7-9728-2e79c524764c

SharePoint Designer 2010 Resources

https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/SharePoint-Designer-2010-Resources-98376b15-ab11-4ec0-a23f-c8e58c1465cf

Getting Started with SharePoint Designer 2010
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Get-Started-with-SharePoint-Designer-2010-35A4AEAD-FA83-42A7-B0AF-5F152F06A16A

Workflow History Issues- Upgrade Issues

Myths and Truths
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/zsoltilles/2017/05/24/myths-and-truth-about-the-sharepoint-workflow-history-list/

Powershell fix after upgrade
https://exploresharepointfeatures.com/2014/05/06/sharepoint-missing-workflow-history-after-migrationresolved/

Legacy Updates

What's new in workflow in SharePoint Server 2013
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj219638.aspx

Start: Set up and configure SharePoint 2013 Workflow Manager
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj163276(v=office.15).aspx

Setup 2013 Workflow Manager - This good article series by Spencer Harbar focuses on the deployment and configuration of a highly available, SSL, Workflow Manager Farm for use with SharePoint 2013
Workflow Manager Farms for SharePoint 2013 Part One
Workflow Manager Farms for SharePoint 2013 Part Two ...
Workflow Manager Farms for SharePoint 2013 Part Three ...
Workflow Manager Farms for SharePoint 2013 Part Four ...

Loops in SPD 2013 Workflow
http://www.nothingbutsharepoint.com/2012/10/24/create-sharepoint-2013-workflow-loop-by-using-sharepoint-2013-designer-preview-aspx-2/

Call Web Service via Workflow
http://spandps.com/2013/03/05/sharepoint-designer-2013-workflow-action-call-http-web-service/

CSOM Errors
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/sharepointdevelopersupport/2016/10/19/fixing-error-the-request-uses-too-many-resources-in-csom-rest-operation/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=SharePointDevNews

Troubleshooting Workflow Server and SharePoint
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj193529(v=azure.10).aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/dn508412.aspx
http://www.harbar.net/articles/wfm2.aspx

Notes from a student …

Import the Workflow Manager SSL Services Certificate to the SharePoint Certificate Store.
Execute the following Windows PowerShell:1    $trustCert = Get-PfxCertificate "c:\wfm.cer"2    New-SPTrustedRootAuthority -Name "Workflow Manager Farm" -Certificate $trustCert
Watch out with this cmdlet. If the certificate file doesn’t exist it will still create a trust! Make sure to watch the output for any errors.
If there are some, you will need to delete the trust before running New-SPTrustedRootAuthority again after resolving the problem.

Register the Workflow Service connection with SharePoint by executing the following Windows PowerShell:1   
Register-SPWorkflowService -SPSite "https://intranet.fabrikam.com" -WorkflowHostUri "https://wfm.fabrikam.com:12290"
Watch out with this cmdlet. If this command fails the Service Application Proxy will still be created but it will be effectively broken. Again monitor the output for any errors.
Clean up the connection and re-run Register-SPWorkflowService after resolving the problem.

SharePoint 2010

Quick Reference 2010 Actions and Conditions

2010 Workflow Actions (MSDN)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj822977.aspx

2010 Workflow Conditions (MSDN)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/jj822976.aspx

Workflow actions in SharePoint Designer 2010 (Office)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Workflow-actions-in-SharePoint-Designer-2010-A-quick-reference-guide-5a7ad276-0ed7-49b0-b652-e56a77dd96c6

Workflow conditions in SharePoint Designer 2010 (Office)
https://support.office.com/en-US/Article/Workflow-conditions-in-SharePoint-Designer-2010-A-quick-reference-guide-d8e33ac7-9336-487f-a60b-388c4ea497ff?ui=en-US

Secondary Workflow (2007,2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-a-secondary-workflow-6b77ffd5-9ad6-4c20-b5a4-d686e2deafc2

How To Design and Customize Workflows (2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Introduction-to-designing-and-customizing-workflows-32c9c0bf-5e20-4f74-8b9c-d3ea79f2962b

Overview of Workflows (2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Overview-of-workflows-included-with-SharePoint-d74fcceb-3a64-40fb-9904-cc33ca49da56

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Introduction-to-workflows-15d0d459-cce8-4d8b-b34f-9ab6cda1075b

Introduction to Workflows (2007,2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Introduction-to-workflows-ee1efda5-82d8-4bb3-aa6b-544a2102fcff

Create a Workflow (2007,2010,2013)
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-a-workflow-f6a92a4b-c919-40d7-9728-2e79c524764c

Updates

SharePoint 2010 Workflow Limit (February 2011 CU or later build)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2557533

Building Effective Workflows Using SharePoint Server 2010
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh237664.aspx

Workflow administration (SharePoint Server 2010)https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc531334.aspx

Conditions in SPD 2010 Workflows: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Workflow-actions-in-SharePoint-Designer-2010-A-quick-reference-guide-5a7ad276-0ed7-49b0-b652-e56a77dd96c6

Actions in SPD 2010 Workflows: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Workflow-conditions-in-SharePoint-Designer-2010-A-quick-reference-guide-d8e33ac7-9336-487f-a60b-388c4ea497ff

More from The Cloud Engineer
General Workflow 
Default Workflows
Auto Site Provisioning
Start PowerShell in your Workflow using SPD
Site Workflows using Visual Studio
Issues
Vendors
PowerShell and Workflows
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2011/07/execute-powershell-with-spd-workflow.html
http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2011/07/auto-site-provisioning-based-on.html

How to Use Default Workflows
Use Approval Workflow (SharePoint 2010)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/understand-approval-workflows-in-sharepoint-2010-HA101857172.aspx
Use Three Start Workflow (SharePoint Foundation's only workflow)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/sharepoint-server-help/use-a-three-state-workflow-HA101793530.aspx
Use Collect Feedback Workflow  (SharePoint 2010)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/use-a-collect-feedback-workflow-HA010154426.aspx
Use a Collect Signatures workflow
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/use-a-collect-signatures-workflow-HA010154428.aspx

All about Workflows
All about Collect Workflows
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-foundation-help/all-about-collect-feedback-workflows-HA102615319.aspx
All about Collect Signatures workflows
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-foundation-help/all-about-collect-signatures-workflows-HA102639357.aspx

Tutorials
http://blogs.msdn.com/sharepointdesigner/archive/2009/01/27/visio-diagram-and-site-template-from-office-online-workflow-videos.aspx

Lookups
http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/108544/workflow-condition-using-a-lookup-column

Simple Approval Workflow Using 3 State Workflow

Student asked if you can use a 3 state workflow on a library and the answer is yes.  Create a simple choice column with three options and the wizard will do the rest.

Library Settings

More info

Here is where I would have you start ... http://thecloudengineer.blogspot.com/2011/06/sharepoint-workflows.html

Popular Workflows

Delete Item

Since a condition is missing for delete item, there are many workarounds to solve this issue.

SharePoint 2010 Start a Workflow on Item Delete
https://jenniferannmason.com/2011/01/26/sharepoint-2010-start-a-workflow-on-item-delete/

Guest Post: Instantiate SharePoint Workflow On Item Deleted
https://briantjackett.com/2010/12/09/guest-post-instantiate-sharepoint-workflow-on-item-deleted/

Launch Workflow on Delete
http://www.go4sharepoint.com/Forum/launch-workflow-item-delete-8368.aspx

Default Workflows

Workflow Resource Center
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff819861.aspx

More on the Default Workflows

Collect Signatures Workflow - Step by Step - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/all-about-collect-signatures-workflows-HA102639357.aspx?CTT=1
Step by Step (2007) - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/use-a-collect-signatures-workflow-HA010154428.aspx

Approval workflow – step by step - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/understand-approval-workflows-in-sharepoint-2010-HA101857172.aspx?CTT=1
Step by Step (2007) -  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/use-an-approval-workflow-HA010154425.aspx

Three State Workflow – step by step - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/use-a-three-state-workflow-HA101793530.aspx?CTT=1
Step by Step (2007) -  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/use-a-three-state-workflow-HA010154431.aspx?CTT=1

Disposition Approval workflow – http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/understand-approval-workflows-in-sharepoint-2010-HA101857172.aspx?CTT=1 Step by Step Step by Step (2007) - http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/use-a-disposition-approval-workflow-HA010154429.aspx?CTT=1

Workflow History Cleanup
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee662522.aspx

Workflow Management
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee662529

Workflow Issues

Where is the SharePoint workflow history list?

http://servername/sites/sitename/lists/Workflow%20History
 

Ref for Hidden List - Temporary Log - Disable Cleanup Job - Permanent Audit List

http://www.inclusivedesignsolutions.com/sharepoint/where-is-the-sharepoint-workflow-history-list-hidden-list/

Broken URL in Workflow Email
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-us/sharepointworkflow/thread/28BDC5C7-AFFE-44EE-9C07-FE7084FB3A03

 

Knowing SharePoint Designer’s Limits

Great reference to impersonation step

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee428324

Reusable Workflows

http://sharepointyankee.com/2010/12/11/options-for-deploying-reusable-workflows-in-sharepoint-2010/

Copy Document

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sharepoint2010setup/thread/50940880-e284-4f28-a090-3e4d9be8d66f

Visio Import

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visio/archive/2010/04/09/visio-2010-editions.aspx

Found this interesting quote from Professional Workflow in SharePoint 2010 - Real World Business Workflow Solutions by Paul Galvin and Udayakumar Ethirajulu

 

You can get a lot of mileage out of SharePoint Designer. SharePoint Designer can help you solve a dozen or more common business problems. That said, SharePoint Designer is far from perfect and is not the right tool for many real-world problems. Just as you shouldn’t use a straight-edge screwdriver on a Philips head screw, you should avoid using SharePoint Designer when it’s just not the right tool. You might get it done, but no one is happy with the result. Keep these limitations in mind as you imagine business problems and solutions:

• SharePoint Designer workflow cannot loop: SharePoint Designer does not provide any feature that enables you to iterate over multiple items in a custom list or document library.
• State machines: In a certain sense, all workflows are state machine workflows. That said, SharePoint Designer is good at creating sequential workflows and not so good at state machine workflows. This book does offer some options for emulating some generic state machine behavior, but if you need a full-blown state machine engine, look to Visual Studio instead.
• Complex lookups: You cannot do a multikey lookup on a list. If you need to implement a complex lookup of this sort, you need to use a nonobvious technique, which is discussed later.

These may seem a little esoteric at this point, but subsequent chapters call these situations out and suggest alternative approaches.

 

NOTE: Interesting information, good high level read, but not a good book for step by step instruction

 

Reference

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Workflow-SharePoint-2010-Programmer/product-reviews/0470617888/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

General Information on Workflows

I get asked a lot about workflows.  I have yet ran across a good course.  If you have let me know.  So I am putting together a list of workflow resources here.  I hope this helps.

Workflow Resource Center
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/ff819861.aspx

Channel 9 Deep Dive Video
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Open-Specifications-Plugfests/Windows-File-Sharing-and-SharePoint-Protocols-Plugfest-2011/SharePointWorkflows

Good article to start
http://www.sharepointproconnections.com/article/sharepoint/SharePoint-Designer-2010-Workflows.aspx

Videos and references from Microsoft
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-designer-help/CH010373544.aspx


Orbit one setup list to auto create sites.
http://www.orbitone.com/en/blog/archive/2011/03/25/automatic-provisioning-sites-with-sharepoint-designer-workflow-and-powershell.aspx

Can you execute powershell from SPD?  Yes you can.  More here.
http://www.ilovesharepoint.com/2011/02/poweractivity-2010-advanced-sharepoint.html

Visual Studio - Site level workflow
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee231574.aspx

Video and Labs
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/gg620624

Books (still looking for 2010 book)
"Workflow in the 2007 Microsoft Office System" is the best book for SharePoint Workflows
http://www.amazon.com/Workflow-2007-Microsoft-Office-System/dp/1590597001

Auto SIte Provisioning based on SharePoint List

Check this out.  Orbit one setup list to auto create sites.

http://www.orbitone.com/en/blog/archive/2011/03/25/automatic-provisioning-sites-with-sharepoint-designer-workflow-and-powershell.aspx

Execute PowerShell with SPD workflow.

Can you execute powershell from SPD?  Yes you can.  More here.

http://www.ilovesharepoint.com/2011/02/poweractivity-2010-advanced-sharepoint.html

SharePoint Site Workflows using Visual Studio

Create a Custom Site Workflow Activity
Site level workflow from visual studio
 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee231574.aspx

Create Workflow using Visual Studio
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee335710.aspx

More on workflows
 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/gg620624