How to automatically create a review task?

How to automatically notify the relevant reviewer as soon as a contract draft is created?

With the help of our Automation Builder, you can now customize the entire review flow for all contract drafts generated from a specific template. 
Here is a short video tutorial of the automation setup:

How to set up review task automation with Contractbook?

Click on Automations tab from the main menu and then on the blue button Create new at the upper right-hand corner.

You will be redirected to a pop-up window where you can customize the automation's setup. To begin with, select the Draft is created trigger from the drop-down menu. This will automatically open a configuration window to the right in which you can define which contract should start the automation.

You can assign the trigger to every draft or only drafts created from a specific template.

For the most efficient automation flow, we recommend that you choose to use Every draft from a specific template. This will allow you to automatically assign a new review task to the relevant assignee each time you have created a new draft from a specific template. 

After you have selected one of the three main options, you can then use the search bar to find the particular draft or template you want to base the automation flow on by name. If you have several documents sharing the same name, you can click on the small eye icon and this will directly open the document. 
Your templates will be organized in three different sections in the drop-down menu: Owned by you, Shared with you, and Contractbook templates. In our example, we will select a shared template that allows the automation to be shared with external accounts having access to the template:

Read more about sharing automations here.

After choosing the correct file, confirm by clicking on Save and the next step in the automation setup will be displayed.

How can I delete the trigger in the Automation Builder? 

At the very bottom of each trigger configuration window, you have the option to delete only this specific trigger and not the complete automation:

How can I configure the action event?

This adjustment step is covering the action that the automation trigger you have just defined will generate. You can use the search bar to find the option Ask for review:

A new configuration window will appear on the right side of the screen. Here you will be able to customize the properties of the review task by defining assignees, followers, title, and description of the task, due date, and any additional alerts: 

The first detail in the action step of the automation configuration is the Document ID of the template which will be used to execute the automation. It will be automatically fetched and available under the respective required field under the Ask for review window:

The next configuration steps allow you to customize the entire task in depth by writing a title and description for its execution, by combining text input and data points from the shared template.

For the example we are showcasing in the article, we have configured the following review task to be applied to each "Website Design Proposal" drafted from the shared template with the same name:

In the next configuration step, you will have the ability to invite assignees and followers by email:

Or by searching for a variable from the shared template, associated with them, for our example:

Note: You can invite multiple Assignees and Followers:

How do I use Party or Signee variables in my automation?

Note: You can always utilize the use of any Party or Signee variable when adding variables to the title, description, assignees, or followers of your new review task. This can deliver important details to the task's stakeholders fetched directly from the associated with any Signee information.

Next in the next block of the task configuration window, you can set a due date for its completion. There are two available options for the date type in the drop-down menu:

In the example we are configuring, we will use the first option of a date type: manual or based on automation variable. The chosen variable will be the creation date of the draft.

After the date type, you will be able to configure the due date of the task by choosing to use the date defined in the previous step or to apply offset (before or after). 
For the purposes of the example, we will choose to use an offset of one week after the draft has been created:

The last task property you will be allowed to configure will be the alerts reminding you of the due date.

The date type can be once again based either on a due date or on an automation variable. You can set as many alerts as needed.

All of the attributes dictating the way the alerts are going to be run are completely customizable. In our example, we will not need an alert.

Once you have everything done, click on Save to confirm the configuration of the approval task and then Publish in the upper right-hand corner.

How can I delete action in the Automation Builder?

At the very bottom of each action configuration window, you have the option to delete only this specific action and not the complete automation:

How can I rename the automation?

You can always rename the automation as you find fit by clicking on the small pen icon next to the generic title in the upper left-hand corner. In the example we are working with, we will call it "Review automation - Website Design Proposal":

How can I make changes to published automation?

Note: If at one point you need to make any changes to the automation flow, remember to unpublish it first, then make the needed edits and click again on Publish to put the flow into practice. You can control that by turning the Status toggle bar on or off: 

How can I use the Activity feed of my automation?

If you click on the three grey dots next to the status toggle bar, you will be able to open, rename, delete or see the activity feed of the automation. Remember that the automation must be active (published) in order for the activities to be available to you.

This option allows you full traceability of the automation's usage and flow.

How can I test Contractbook reviewal automation?

For the test to be performed, you can just save the template defined in the first step of the automation setup as a new draft.

As soon as that has been done, go to your documents overview and check the notifications under your account. The status of the automation will be listed there as either successful or failed.

Note: You can adjust the email and in-app notifications under Profile Settings for your account.

How can I fix a failed automation? 

In case the automation has failed, you can access the detailed view by clicking on the failed notification in the list under your profile notifications:

In this view, you can identify the reason for the failure by expanding the failure to run details. You can then use the information found here to change the review automation back from the configuration settings.

How can I check the automation runs successfully?

In case your reviewal automation has run successfully, you can then open the new draft created from the template you have defined in the automation flow. There should be automatically assigned in the task sidebar view review task with the exact same properties as the ones you have configured:

Using the functionalities of Contractbook task sidebar view, you are able to amend any changes to the created review task if necessary, including marking it as resolved. 

Note: you can only mark a task as completed if you are assigned to it. 

Of course, you can also find the task in the general tasks management dashboard which also gives you the possibility of adjusting the task's properties and accessing directly the document it is assigned to.

As usual, you will also be able to see that there has been a new pending task in the documents view when locating the new draft:

Now that you have tested the automation workflow, you are ready to start using it actively and save time by assigning the review tasks of all your drafts to the relevant individuals, before the contract has been sent for signatures. With our in-app automation builder, you ensure that you always meet that deadline.

Note: Automated workflows and integrations are available for the users on Foundation with any of our Add-ons.

You can find more automated workflows you can tailor to your needs with our in-app automation builder here.

If you still need additional information or assistance, reach out to us at any time via our Online Support Chat or by sending us an email.