When used together, Project Management Central (PM Central) and Workflow Conductor make it easier than ever before to manage project sites on PM Central. Users can take advantage of Workflow Conductor’s powerful process management capabilities for everything from getting feedback and approval from users (in regards to who can approve project site creation requests) to creating workflows on project sites (including full template, lite template, and stand-alone template sites) to manage issues relating to each project.

In this article, we’ll show you how to use workflow on the project site. This includes projects sites created using the full template, lite template, and stand-alone template.

How to Associate Project Management Central and Workflow Conductor on SharePoint 2013 and Use Workflow on the Project Site

1. Create a workflow

• If you haven’t already, create a project site using either the full template, lite template, or stand-alone template.
• Go to the Change Requests list on the project site.  From the List Tools, select List > Create or Edit Workflow.
• Select Import from the Workflow Conductor menu.
• From the browse folder, select the file PMC Change Request Workflow.xoml for the project site.
• This workflow template will automatically be loaded into Workflow Conductor. Go to the workflow and click Submit the request to Approvers from the middle pane.
• In the right pane, you will see the workflow template’s configurable fields including Approvers, Approval Type, Due Date, and Allow Change Request.
• The fields that can be modified include:
  • Approvers: This value is pulled from the Approvers field of the Project Creation Workflow Configuration list at the project site.
  • Approval Type: “One Approval Required” is set as the default. Additionally, you have the option of choosing “All Approvals Required” or “Multiple Approvals Required.”
  • Days Until Due: You can set the number of days until a workflow task is due.
  • Due Date: This value is pulled from the Requested Date field of the current item. Please note that if values are entered for both the Days Until Due and Due Date fields, the tool will automatically choose the earliest date as the due date.
  • Allow Reassignment: “No” is set as the default. If you choose to select “Yes,” the workflow task will be assigned to another approver.
  • Allow Request Change: “Yes” is set as the default. This setting allows the approver to enter a comment for the requester to make a change and resubmit for approval. You can also choose “No” to hide the “Request Change” button on the Workflow Approval Task
  • Logging Level: “Errors Only” is set as the default. Additionally, you have the option of choosing “Errors, warnings, and info” or “Errors and warnings.”
• Once you have finished configuring the workflow fields, return to the Workflow Conductor menu. Select the Publish to List button.

2. Configure change requests workflow configuration list

• To configure the change request workflow configuration list, navigate to the Change Requests Workflow Configuration page from the project site. Click on Add a new item to enter the names of users who can approve change requests.
• For this example, we’ve given the user “Tester- KietLam” permission to approve change requests on the site.

3. Create a workflow button

• To create your own buttons for the Change Requests workflow approval process, begin going to the Site Settings.
• Under Workflow Start Feature, click the Activate button.
• Go to the Workflow Configuration List and create a new item. Enter the relevant data for your button and click Save.

4. Start Workflow

• To begin, create an item on the Change Requests list. After creating the item, you can submit the request by navigating to List Tools > Items and selecting the Submit for Approval button from the Ribbon.
• To start a workflow, you can use either the out-of-the-box SharePoint button or the Change Requests workflow approval process button you created in the steps above.
• After you have clicked the Submit request for approval button, Workflow Conductor will open. Click the Start Workflow button.
• The change request you requested will now have its status listed as Submitted.
• The designated approver will receive a notification email much like the one below. The email will contain a link to the Change Request item, as well as a link to the approval form.
• The approver can either click Approve or Reject for the item. In the event that the Change Request has already been approved or rejected, the form will only display the Cancel button.
• Once the Change request is approved, its status will be updated from Submitted to Approved. The values for the ‘Approval ‘ and ‘Approval Date’ fields will be automatically populated in the workflow.
• A notification email will be sent to the requester with the status listed as ‘Approved’ or ‘Rejected’.

For more on associating PM Central and Workflow Conductor on SharePoint 2013, check out Part 1 of our series: How to Use Workflow on the Top Site