Milestones

A milestone is a point in time within workflow at which all tasks until that time must be complete in order for work to continue.

Your system relies on the display order of the task to find out the prior tasks. All tasks that are displayed before the milestone task on the workflow screen are assumed to be a part of that milestone. If tasks before the milestone are not complete, then the milestone is not met and the next task cannot begin. If the prior tasks are not complete, your system shows the appropriate error message, saying all prior tasks in the milestone should be complete to mark the milestone as complete or active. In that case, the system stops you from updating the milestone task.

Why use milestones

By using milestones within a workflow, you can better enforce process for your lists and campaigns, so that tasks take place in the intended order. In addition, the specific milestones you select in a workflow aid in reporting.

How available milestones are defined

To add milestones, click Collaborate Settings > List Definitions > Workflow Milestone Types.
Note: You must have administrative privileges to define milestones. Specific milestones are also available for selection as defined in a database table by your administrator.

A milestone cannot be removed if it is used in an instance (Corporate Campaign, On-demand campaign, or Advanced List).

Note: A milestone can be removed if it is used in template, but it cannot be removed if it is used in instance.

Disabled milestones are not shown while you create an instance or template. They are shown in instances or templates where they are already used, however.

Setting milestones in a workflow

You can set milestones for tasks within a workflow for an Advanced List, On-demand Campaign, and Corporate Campaign from the Milestone Type column.

When you set a milestone, the next task in the workflow cannot begin until the milestone is reached.

Example

Consider a scenario of three user tasks followed by flowchart run system task. A milestone is declared at 1.3 task.

If you try to update the status of the milestone task (1.3 in this case), your system performs a check to ensure that all prior tasks are complete.

When your system tries to start Task 1.4, it checks the status of the earlier milestone task. If milestone is complete, only then can task 1.4 begin. Otherwise, the appropriate error message would be shown to you and the task does not start.

By using a milestone at task 3, you can ensure that all creatives for the On-demand Campaign are approved by the necessary people before campaign fulfillment begins.