What Workflow Actions Are Available?

A Workflow Action is the event that occurs when your specified criteria are met. In the Pro Suite Edition, there are five powerful out-of-the-box workflow actions that help automate key processes. Each action is explained below, along with details on How It Works and Why It's Useful.

1. Create New Task

How It Works:
The Create New Task action assigns a task to a specific user, role, or record owner. You can customize the task by setting details like the subject, status, priority, and due date. For example, you could automatically assign a follow-up task to a support representative one week after a case update.

Why It’s Useful:
This action automates task assignment, ensuring that important follow-ups or actions don’t get overlooked. It helps manage workloads and keeps processes running smoothly without manual intervention.

Note:

• On Activity Workflows, you cannot generate an Email Alert based on a completed task.

2. Email Alert

How It Works:
Email Alerts use pre-set email templates to send notifications to specific recipients. These recipients can be:

• Record Owner
• User
• Related User
• Contact
• Related Contact
• Role

Additionally, you can include up to 5 non-Salesforce email addresses by adding them to the “Additional Emails” section on the Configure Email Alert page.

Why It’s Useful:
Email Alerts automatically notify team members, clients, or other stakeholders when certain criteria are met. For example, you can send a thank-you email to a customer after a case is closed, or notify a manager about a new high-priority task.

Notes:

1. You cannot use an email address from a cross-object formula field as a recipient. For a workaround, refer to the "Copy & Paste Workflow Action" section.
2. On Activity Workflows, you cannot generate an Email Alert based on a completed task.

3. Field Update

How It Works:
Field Updates let you specify which field you want to update and set the new value. You can either:

• Assign a specific value (e.g., update status to "Closed").
• Leave the field blank.

Why It’s Useful:
Field Updates automate the process of updating fields, saving time and ensuring consistency. For example, when a case is resolved, you can automatically change the status or assign it to a "Closed Cases" queue.

Note:
In the current version of Workflow, formulas cannot be used in Field Updates.

4. Copy and Paste

How It Works:
The Copy and Paste action allows you to take a value from one field (Field A) and move it to another field (Field B). This is particularly helpful when you want to use information that may not be directly usable due to field limitations, like formula fields.

When using this action:

• Field A and Field B must have the same type and size (e.g., Text(75) to Text(75)).
• Mismatches, like Text(40) to Text(75) or standard Picklist to Multi-Select Picklist, will result in errors.

Why It’s Useful:
Formula fields can sometimes have limitations, such as not being able to use email addresses as recipients for Email Alerts. The Copy and Paste action solves this by:

1. Creating a new email field (Field B) that is not a formula.
2. Copying the email address from the formula field (Field A) to the new email field (Field B).
3. Allowing Field B to be used as an Email Alert recipient.

This process happens automatically through workflows, so you don’t have to manually enter data.

Other Limitations of Formula Fields:
Formula fields cannot reference certain field types (e.g., Text Area (Long), Text Area (Rich), Multi-Select Picklists). Some formula fields also cannot be used in roll-up summary fields. Using Copy and Paste helps bypass these limitations and makes your workflows more efficient.