Automate hiding or showing tasks

Visibility actions explained

Visibility actions in Tallyfy automatically Show or Hide specific steps based on conditions in your process. This ensures that every step is considered each time a process runs, so nothing is missed. By intelligently showing only relevant steps when needed, you prevent problems later while maintaining complete process integrity.

Examples of visibility actions

Example 1: Show an extra approval step for large amounts to ensure nothing is missed

IF (Purchase Amount field) is ">$10,000"
THEN SHOW step "Approval by CFO"

Result: CFO approval step appears for purchases over $10k, ensuring critical oversight isn’t missed which could cause problems later.

Example 2: Hide steps not relevant to certain customers while ensuring all necessary steps are considered

IF (Customer Type field) is "Small Business"
THEN HIDE step "Enterprise Security Review"

Result: Enterprise review step gets hidden for small business customers who don’t need it, but the process still ensures every required step for that customer type is considered.

Example 3: Show different steps based on user input to modify the flow intelligently

IF (Application Type field) is "Mortgage"
THEN SHOW steps "Credit Check", "Property Valuation", and "Underwriting"

Result: Smart processes ask for user input (application type) and modify the flow to show mortgage-specific steps, ensuring nothing is missed.

Let’s look at another example:

This example shows a rule where completing one step triggers step 2 to become visible.

How visibility works

• Steps are visible by default unless you hide them.
• You can hide a step initially when building the template (using its settings).
• You can use a Hide visibility action in an automation rule to hide a step based on a condition.
• You can use a Show visibility action in an automation rule to make a hidden step appear when a condition is met.

This smart approach ensures every step is considered for each process run - either by showing it when relevant or deliberately hiding it when not needed. Nothing is missed, preventing problems later.

Steps and parallel execution

All steps always show and are available to work on in parallel by default, unless they are hidden by default using an automation.

If you want a step to be hidden by default, you need to create an automation that shows that step - this approach ensures the step is considered by the smart process and shown only when the automation condition is met.

Hiding tasks by default in a template

When designing a procedure template, tasks are visible by default when processes launch. To control visibility through automations, you need to hide the task by default first.

1. Open your procedure template in the editor.
2. Click on the specific step (task) you want to hide initially.
3. In the step’s configuration panel (usually on the right), look for an option like Hidden by default or Hide this step when the process starts and enable it.
4. Save the changes to your step.

Hidden steps stay invisible until a Show automation rule makes them appear.

Enforcing sequential task order

By default, launching a process makes all visible tasks available immediately. People can work on them in any order - essentially parallel execution.

To ensure every step is considered in the proper order (preventing problems from missed dependencies), you can enforce a specific sequence for tasks. For example, ensuring Task B can only be started after Task A is completed, and Task C only after Task B. Use a combination of hiding tasks by default and Show visibility actions in your automations.

Here’s how to set up a simple sequence:

1. Task A: This is your first task in the sequence. Leave it visible by default.
2. Task B: In the template editor, set Task B to be hidden by default.
3. Task C: In the template editor, set Task C to be hidden by default.
4. Create Automation Rule 1 (Show Task B):
   • IF (Step Status) for Task A is Completed
   • THEN (Visibility) SHOW Task B
5. Create Automation Rule 2 (Show Task C):
   • IF (Step Status) for Task B is Completed
   • THEN (Visibility) SHOW Task C

With this setup:

• When the process starts, only Task A is visible.
• Once Task A is completed, Task B becomes visible.
• Once Task B is completed, Task C becomes visible.

This method ensures every step is considered in the right order, preventing problems that could occur if steps were done out of sequence. You can extend this pattern for as many sequential tasks as needed to maintain process integrity.

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