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Add a workflow to a list or document library

Applies To: Office SharePoint Server 2007

This Office product will reach end of support on October 10, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see , Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

After you activate a workflow for your site or site collection, you configure the workflow by associating (that is, adding) it with a list or library. You can associate the same workflow multiple times with a single list or library. For example, you might have two approval workflows associated with one document library based on the predefined Routing workflow. One approval workflow routes a proposal to the reviewers of a proposal, and the other workflow routes the proposal to the executive stakeholders.

Before performing this procedure, read:

Adding a workflow to a list or library

When you add a workflow to a list or document library, you name the workflow, select workflow tasks, specify the participants, write notification mail, specify start parameters, and select completion activities.

Important

You must be a member of the Farm Administrators SharePoint group to perform this procedure.

Add a workflow to a list or library

  1. Navigate to the document library or list to which you want to add the workflow.

  2. On the Settings menu, click List Settings.

  3. On the Customize page, in the Permissions and Management column, click Workflow Settings.

    If no workflows are associated with the list or library, the Add a Workflow wizard starts. If other workflows are currently associated with the list or library, click Add a Workflow.

  4. On the Add a Workflow page, in the Workflow section, in the Select a workflow template list, select the name of the workflow that you want to use.

  5. In the Name section, type a unique name for the workflow. This name will be used to identify the workflow to site users.

  6. In the Task List section, specify a tasks list to use with this workflow.

    Note

    You can use the default tasks list or you can create a new one. If you use the default tasks list, workflow participants can find and view their workflow tasks easily by using the My Tasks view of the Tasks list. If the tasks for this workflow will reveal sensitive or confidential data that you want to keep separate from the default tasks list, you should create a new tasks list.

  7. In the History List section, select a history list to use with this workflow. The history list displays all of the events that occur during each instance of the workflow.

    Note

    You can use the default history list or you can create a new one. When SharePoint lists exceed 2000 items, site performance may be impacted. If your organization will have numerous workflows, consider creating a separate history list for each workflow to avoid potential performance problems.

  8. In the Start Options section, specify how (automatically or manually), when (item update, creation, or both), or by whom a workflow can be started. Note that the available start options are determined by the workflow template and will differ from one workflow to another.

    Note

    By default, users with Edit Item permissions can start a workflow. If you specify that Require Manage List permissions are needed to start the workflow, only list administrators (that is, anyone with Manage List or Web Designer permissions) can start an instance of the workflow. Most workflows do not require this restriction. However, you can use this setting for workflows with tasks that only certain people should be able to perform, such as deleting documents.

  9. Click Next to configure workflow-specific settings, as necessary.

  10. After you have configured workflow-specific settings, click OK to finish adding the workflow to the list or library.

See Also

Concepts

Activate workflows
Start a workflow