Automation not obeying conditions?

Harvey E

I have created an automation to send reminders for an Actions Log. The workflow is as follows:

1. Run every day at same time
2. If "notify" field is checked
3. Various date conditions, eg due today, due yesterday, due tomorrow
4. Send email depending on branch selected in (3)

Not all of the action items have the notify field checked. However, the workflow passes (2) for one of the action items, but includes several action items on the same email notification. Some of the action items that are included on the notification do not have the "notify" field checked. It seems that the notification is linked to the last condition in the workflow?

1 - is it possible for the automation to send an email per entry in the log (assuming the conditions are all met)?

2 - how do I prevent the workflow from excluding any items which don't have the "notify" field checked?

Andrée Starå

Hi @Harvey E

I hope you're well and safe!

Can you share some screenshots? (Delete/replace any confidential/sensitive information before sharing) That would make it easier to help.

I hope that helps!

Have a fantastic week & Happy Holidays!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Harvey E

Hi

I have amended my workflow to also include the check for step (2) as part of the conditions for step (3), however the same thing happens so I think I misunderstand how workflows should flow!

Attached screenshot, hope it is legible. The final step that is cut off is the notify option, which just notifies the action owner with a message based on the rule that has triggered. The correct rule is triggering based on the bate and the status, but it continues to include items in the email that don't have the "Notify Action Owner?" box checked.

Thanks

James Keuning

2 - how do I prevent the workflow from excluding any items which don't have the "notify" field checked?

I can help with this one, but this is obviously a compound problem. I do not let my automation rules do the work that you are. I create checkbox fields that show me very clearly if the conditions are met, and if so, I know the automation will run.

In your case I would create another Due Date (v) column with an IF statement that only puts the due date in there if Notify Action Owner? is checked, like

=IF([Notify Action Owner?]@row = true, [Due Date]@row)

If you do that you can completely remove that condition from your automation, and switch all of the other conditions to look at Due Date Helper.

Harvey E

Thanks for the advice, appreciated. I guess I could try this but to achieve the result I was hoping for, ie different emails based on the date and the action status, it's going to need a slightly more complex formula. I guess it would be helpful to know if there is a way to achieve this through the automation as it seems to suggest, and whether my code is wrong or there is a platform bug, as the automation builder is far easier to use than a cell formula...