Workflow Conductor 3.5 is available now for SharePoint 2013, bringing with it all of the same improvements that our SharePoint 2010 users have been enjoying. This release includes some completely new features, as well as enhancements to some of our most popular existing features. Our customers have given us great feedback about what they like, and about which processes could be better/easier to use. We’ve listened, and have added a set of new features to make automating regular, day-to-day work processes both more robust and simpler.

Here are some of the new things you’ll see in Workflow Conductor 3.5 for SharePoint 2013:

• Automatically Send Task Reminders – Schedule reminder emails for custom workflow tasks using the Request Approval, Request Feedback, and Collect Data from User widgets to make sure unfinished tasks get completed on time.
• Automatically Escalate Tasks – Escalate overdue tasks dynamically to a manager or other user for custom workflow tasks for Request Approval, Request Feedback, and Collect Data from User.
• Add Attachments to SharePoint List Items – Add attachments to list items dynamically using document library contents or a Web URL with the new Add Attachment widget.
• Get Field Values from Previous Item Versions – Retrieve the previous value of an item field when list versioning is enabled using the Get Previous Version Data widget.
• Create Custom Workflow Start Buttons – Create custom workflow buttons that are displayed on item ribbons in a SharePoint library that will run specific workflows when a user clicks them using the optional Workflow Start Feature.
• Run Up To Five Parallel Branches Simultaneously – Define and run up to five parallel sets of activities using the updated Run Parallel widget.
• Request Approval and Feedback on other items – Run approval and feedback tasks on items other than the one on which the workflow is being run.
• Subscribe Groups to Alerts – Assign alerts to groups now, not just individual users with the updated Subscribe User to Alert widget.
• Support for comma-delimited lists of users – Use comma-delimited lists when performing lookups to text field values for actions such as sending emails.

If that’s still not enough, there is another big feature we plan to show off soon for Workflow Conductor 3.5 Custom Widgets. Developers will soon be able to create their own custom workflow activities in Visual Studio, then import them as widgets into Workflow Conductor. And they won’t just be “widgets” names alone. You will be able to use common Workflow Conductor lookup forms and field types to get data into and out of your custom widgets easily. We’re still working on the instructions but plan to provide those soon, along with a sample project developers can use to easily develop their own widgets. Stay tuned to Bamboo Nation for more information.