Microsoft® SharePoint® Server 2007 Bible

Creating Basic Workflows

Basic workflows can be created directly from an authoring application or a browser. One template is available out of the box in WSS and more are available in MOSS. More sophisticated workflows can easily be designed using Office SharePoint Designer without writing code. This section discusses the creation of the most basic workflows as well as how the power user can take advantage of Office SharePoint Designer.

WSS out-of-the-box workflows

The only workflow template available from the browser out of the box in WSS is the Issue Tracking Workflow. This workflow can be used to manage business processes that require organizations to track a high volume of issues or items, such as customer support issues, sales leads, or project tasks. Other custom templates can be added and associated with document libraries, lists, and content types.

Workflows that are available on a list or site are called templates. Workflows that are running on a SharePoint item are called workflow instances. It is possible to have several instances of the same workflow template running against a singe list, each on a separate SharePoint item. It is also possible to have more than one workflow running against a particular SharePoint item at a time.

Configuring an Issue Tracking workflow

Configuration of the Issue Tracking workflow begins at a basic Windows SharePoint Services Team Site as shown in Figure 8.2. It is curious that Microsoft decided not to provide the Issue Tracking template ...