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Publication of processes / documents

For a process or process group to be visible to users without editing rights , it must be published. If processes are to be viewed via the tree structure of the Process Explorer , it must be ensured…

Dennis Reichle
Updated by Dennis Reichle

For a process or process group to be visible to users without editing rights, it must be published.

If processes are to be viewed via the tree structure of the Process Explorer, it must be ensured that any higher-level process groups are also published.
To check the currently visible processes, use the button Viewer mode, for example.

As soon as the process is in either the "Not published" or "Unpublished changes" state, you will be offered various options for publishing above the process model.

The descriptions of publication also apply to documents.

Publishing with the approval workflow

The approval workflow consists of three steps, in which the process ist first reviewed, then released and finally published.

The approval workflow ensures that processes and documents are managed properly and in accordance with the ISO 9001:2015 standard.

Start the approval workflow

With a click on <Publish by approval workflow> the main form for creating the case opens.

By clicking on the magnifying glass in the field reviewer a list of all users opens. Here you can select the responsible reviewer. With the checkbox next to this field up to 10 reviewers can be selected. You can proceed in the same way with the approver.

Data about the process, such as the name, the number and the latest version are transferred to the approval workflow. The changes to the previous version or the reference to an initial publication are entered in the field Version description.

You then define how the process participants or document users are to be informed after the publication has been completed:

Demand read confirmation

All process participants or document users receive an e-mail notification that contains a link.

This link leads to a form in SmartProcess where the updated process version can be viewed and the user must actively confirm that he noticed the changes.

As long as each individual process participant or document user has not submitted confirmation, the approval workflow remains in the list of the case creator as an open case.

In the activity list of the approval workflow, you can monitor who has already submitted the read confirmation and who has not yet done so.

Inform user

All process participants or document users receive an e-mail notification with the most important information about the published process and a link to SmartProcess where the new process version can be viewed.

In the field Validity time (in months), you can specify how many months the process should be valid. The Valid from date is automatically set as the date of publication.

In the settings for process management, the validity time and the reminder before the expiration of the validity can be preset and configured in such a way that no longer validity can be entered than predefined.

Alternatively, an exact date can be entered using the field Set exact valid end. The date of publication is automatically set as the Valid from date. However, you can change this later (see article Validity).

In the field Reminder before expiration, you can define whether a reminder mail is to be sent to the process owner and process manager or document responsible before the validity period expires. Days, weeks and months are available as possible units.

Even if the validity has expired, the process remains published. This function only affects the notification of the process owner and process manager and can be used to filter by expired processes in reporting.

With a click on <Save> the workflow is started and the tasks are sent to the selected reviewers. The creator keeps the approval workflow for observation in his list "My cases" and can track the progress there. From this point on, the process has the state "In Approval".

If a process has the state "In Approval", it should no longer be edited, since the changes are not automatically transferred to the approval workflow.

Changes should only be made if the creator is assigned the task "Execute changes" due to a negative review or release result.

Review, Approval & Publication 

The reviewer is informed by e-mail about the receipt of a new task for review. There is a link to the review task in the e-mail and in the Cases menu. The task is also displayed via the My cases or My tasks window on the start page.

The reviews are carried out in parallel. Therefore, if more than one reviewer has been specified, all reviewers receive their tasks simultaneously. The workflow does not continue with the next step until all selected reviewers have completed their task.

In the approval workflow window, the reviewer can open the task to be performed by clicking on the task link.

On the right side the reviewer is shown the process model including all details. With the button <Version comparison> the changes of the current version to the previously published version are shown. On the left side, the user can then enter the reviewer's result and a comment if necessary.

With a click on <Save and send back> the review is completed. If all selected reviewers have a positive result ("Alright" / "Approved"), the task is forwarded to the approver.

If one of the reviewers or the approver comes up with a negative result ("Not alright" / "Not approved"), the task is sent back to the creator of the approval workflow for revision. If it is a process, the creator can directly revise the process model in the step "Execute changes" and will find the comments of the reviewers or approver, if they have entered one.

Approval and publication are carried out in the same way as the review.

When publishing, a main version is automatically created and the selected information is sent to the process participants (read confirmation or information to users).

All approval workflows for a process can be viewed again later via More actions -> Publication & approval -> All approvals.

Like all workflows, the approval workflow can be flexibly adapted so that individual procedures can be defined.

Publish a new version manually

Publishing without the approval workflow does not comply with the standard-compliant control of processes and documents according to ISO 9001_2015.

Publication without the approval workflow can be used for publishing process groups, since these are generally not business processes worthy of control according to ISO 9001:2015.

You can set any valid-from and valid-until date and a reminder before the validity expires (see Publishing with the approval workflow). As an option, reviewers and approvers who have worked out or reviewed the process / process group can be entered manually. Optionally, a version description can be added.

Notification can be suppressed via the “Notify user about the publication” radio button if desired. Otherwise (if “Yes” is selected), the internal text module "Process management - Process model has been published" is sent to all process participants.

After clicking on <Publish now> a new main version is created and the process is published immediately.

Publishing without the approval workflow is only possible with the appropriate authorization.

Automatic publication settings

In the drop-down menu More actions you can use the settings for automatic publication to achieve that all changes to the process / process group are always published immediately. The versioning of the process is stopped and replaced by the note "Working copy published".

This approach does not correspond to a standard-conform control of processes according to ISO 9001:2015.
This option can be used for process groups which, in your opinion, do not need to be controlled.
In process management settings you can configure that each newly created process group automatically receives the status "working copy published".

In the settings for process management, you can define whether related documents are automatically published when the process is published.

If the setting is activated, unpublished documents that are used in the process model are published automatically when the process is published. This only applies if the document previously had the state "Not published". If the document has the state "Unpublished changes", only the version of the document that has already been published is visible in the published process.

If the setting is deactivated, only the symbols of unpublished documents are displayed in the published process model. If you click on the symbol, the document is not opened, but a note is displayed indicating that it is an unpublished document.

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