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The WorkPlan Editing page allows you to manage the contents of a WorkPlan so that it can be inserted into your cases. Before creating a WorkPlan, it is recommended that you take time, outside of the SmartAdvocate system, to map out the set of tasks and other events that you want to consistently enforce with a WorkPlan. You should particularly consider how deadlines should be set for each item, and whether there are any sequences of events in which a later item should not be completed or considered until the prior item is first completed. Once you have planned out the intended structure of the WorkPlan, use the WorkPlan Editing page to implement that structure.
The WorkPlan Editing page and the WorkPlans case page have very similar structures and interfaces; however, because the WorkPlan Editing page is for creating the WorkPlan prior to inserting it into a particular case, there is no way to mark an item complete, no distinction between inactive and active items, and no unintended effects when items are added, moved, edited, or deleted. In general, editing WorkPlans on this page prior to inserting them in a case, rather than making changes on the WorkPlans case page after they have been inserted, is considered better practice.
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WorkPlan Structure
WorkPlan items are the building blocks of WorkPlans. They represent tasks that must be completed, appointments that must be scheduled, critical deadlines, or decision branches that allow you to determine which of multiple possible sections of a WorkPlan should be implemented given the particular situation of the case. In general, the best way of creating and managing items is through the Item Templates administrative page. Items created on that page can be quickly and easily added to WorkPlans on this page. However, it is also possible to edit an item directly on this page; once you have edited an item on this page, you can even save it as an item template if you wish.
Items that have been added to WorkPlans are arranged in a hierarchical system, like an organization chart or a computer file structure. Every item has at least one parent item, except for the top-level item, representing the WorkPlan itself and indicated by a WorkPlan icon ( ). Items with at least one child have a small plus/minus icon next to them; clicking this icon will switch between displaying the item's children and hiding them. When the WorkPlan is inserted in the case, the child items will remain inactive until the parent item has been completed. This means that the task will not be assigned, the appointment will not be scheduled, or the critical deadline will not be set, until the parent item is complete. (Decision items are a partial exception to this rule; see Decisions.) For this reason, the organization of the items in a WorkPlan is essential to properly managing the process the plan represents. It would be possible to put every item in a WorkPlan on the same level, with only the top-level item as a parent, but this would simply cause every item to activate as soon as the WorkPlan was inserted, which would likely be overwhelming to your staff and would eliminate the value of structuring your work process in advance.
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The WorkPlan Item Template Administration table contains the following columns:
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Name: The name of the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Type: The type of event represented and created by the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Category: The type of the item, within the event type (e.g.: the appointment type or the critical deadline type), pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Priority: The priority level of the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Description: The description of the item, pulled from the Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel.
Action: Edit and Delete icons.
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The Add/Edit WorkPlan Item Template Panel allows you to fill in the details of an item template. The information in this panel is divided into four tabs: General Information, Scheduling Settings, Contacts information, and WorkPlan Item Actions. The headings of the tabs are always visible at the top of the panel, but only one tab's contents are visible at a time; click the heading of the tab you wish to access to bring up that tab's information. See Add/Edit Panels for general information about panel structure and usage.
The General Information tab contains the following fields:
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Name: The name of the item.
Type: A Dropdown, listing the type of event represented and created by the item. The available options are Appointment, Critical Deadline, Decision, and Task.
Category: A Dropdown, listing the type of the item within the event type (e.g.: the appointment type or critical deadline type). The Dropdown is empty if Type contains Decision; the Category will be recorded as "No category".
Priority: A Dropdown, listing the priority level of the item. It cannot be left blank. The available options are Critical, High, Normal, or Low.
Description: A description of the item.
Special Instructions: Any special instructions for the item.
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Prompt user to enter the due date [...]: Checkbox which, if selected, causes the item to have no due date when first activated; users who visit the WorkPlans page in the case containing the item will be prompted to set the due date manually. If this field is selected, all other fields in the Scheduling Settings tab are ignored.
Set the Due Date [...] [Direction]: Dropdown requiring a selection of whether to set the items due date before, equal to, or after the triggering date. One of the choices must be selected.
Set the Due Date [...] [Date]: Dropdown requiring a selection of the trigger date to set the items due date relative to. The available options are Item Entered Date, Case Created Date, incident Date (DOI), or WorkPlan Item's Parent. One of the choices must be selected.
date when parent's item: Dropdown permitting a selection of the date, relative to the item's parent, to which to set the item's date
[By] Days [Number]: The number of days added to or subtracted from the significant date as part of the date calculation. This field does not appear if Set the Due Date is set to "Equal to".
[By] Days [Type]: Dropdown requiring a selection of whether the days added or subtracted in [By] days [Number] are simply calendar days or exclude federal or state holidays and weekends in the calculation. The available options are Calendar, Federal, or State. This field does not appear if Set the Due Date is set to "Equal to".
[By] Months: The number of months added to or subtracted from the significant date as part of the due date calculation.
[By] Years: The number of years added to or subtracted from the significant date as part of the due date calculation.
[Additional] Days [Number]: The number of days added to the significant date as part of the due date calculation.
[Additional] Days [Type]: Dropdown requiring a selection of whether the days added in [Additional] Days [Number] are simply calendar days or exclude federal or state holidays and weekends in the calculation. The available options are Calendar, Federal, or State.
If due date is a weekend [...]: Checkbox to determine whether to shift a due date if it would otherwise fall on a weekend.
work day: Dropdown to choose whether the due date should be shifted to avoid only weekends, or also federal or state holidays. The available options are Calendar, Federal, or State.
Weekend: Dropdown requiring a choice whether the due date should be shifted backward or forward. The available options are Before and After.
The Contacts information tab is used to select the staff member or members responsible for completing the item. The tab contains only a table listing relevant staff members or case roles; use the New Contact button to add staff members or case roles to specify as the contacts who are responsible for the item (or relevant in other ways). The Add/Edit panel that appears when using the New Contact button or editing a row of the table contains the following fields:
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[...] contact type: Radio button requiring a choice whether the relevant staff member is selected by their role on the case or as a specific person.
[Contact]: Dropdown requiring a choice of the role or staff member relevant to the item, depending on which type is chosen under "contact type".
Is responsible for the WorkPlan item: Checkbox that, if checked, causes the staff member or role to be listed as responsible for completing the item.Is acting as assigner of WorkPlan item
Check to notify on status changes: Checkbox that, if checkedselected, lists causes the staff member as the requestor to receive automatic notifications when the status of the item (for tasks only).changes
Check to notify on status changes: Checkbox that, if selected, causes the staff member to receive automatic notifications when the status of the item changes.
The WorkPlan Item Actions tab is used to create actions that will automatically be initiated or performed by the SmartAdvocate system either when the item becomes active or is completed. The tab contains only a table listing the actions; use the New Action button to add new actions. The Add/Edit panel that appears when using the New Action button or editing a row of the table contains two tabs, General Information and a second tab whose title and content depends on the selected action type (until an action type is selected, the second tab is not visible at all).
The General Information New Action tab contains the following fields:
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Name: The name of the action. The contents of this field are automatically entered based upon the Action Type chosen but can be edited. Because the name will change if the Action Type or other fields change, it is recommended that this field be edited last.
Action Type: Dropdown requiring that the type of action be chosen. The options are Generate Document, Generate Email, Generate Note, Case Action, Insert WorkPlan, or Send Text Message.
Priority: Dropdown requiring that the priority level of the action be chosen. The options are Critical, High, Normal, or Low.
Action is performed: Radio button, to choose whether the action is entirely performed by the SmartAdvocate system or only initiated by the system, requiring manual input to complete. The options are Automatic or Manually. This field cannot be edited if Generate Document, Case Action, or Insert WorkPlan is selected.
Action is executed: Radio button, to choose whether the action is performed/initiated when the item becomes active (i.e.: when its parent item is completed) or when the item is completed. The options are When WorkPlan items becomes active, or When WorkPlan item is completed. This field cannot be edited if Generate Document is selected.
Completes the WorkPlan Item?: Checkbox which, if selected, the completion of the action also causes the item to be marked as completed.
Description: The description of the action.
If Generate Document is selected in Action Type, the second tab is Generate Document Options, which contains the following fields:
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Please choose the document template: Dropdown allowing the choice of which document template will be used to generate a document when the action is triggered.
Please add comments to the document generation: Any comments that should be included when the document is generated.
If Generate Email is selected in Action Type, the second tab is Generate Email Options, which contains the following fields:
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A warning is provided to caution the user that merge codes in templates will not work in these "Automatic" emails.
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Template: Dropdown permitting you to choose which email template will be generated and sent when the action is triggered.
Customize: Checkbox is use to determine if the content of the email template should be edited.
Subject: The "Subject" of the email. If there is a selection in Template, and Customize is not selected, this field cannot be edited.
From: The sender of the email in the From field. Clicking the From button next to this field will bring up a panel allowing you to automatically set yourself, any staff member, any role in the case, or the user at the time the email is generated as the sender of the email.
To: The recipients of the email in the To field. Clicking the To button next to this field will bring up a panel allowing you to automatically add yourself, any staff member, any role in the case, any contact in the SmartAdvocate system, the user at the time the email is generated, the primary plaintiff, or the primary defendant to the list of recipients of the email.
Bcc: Blind copy, input email address, if necessary.
[Body]: The body of the email. If there is a selection in Template and Customize is not selected, this field cannot be edited.
If Generate Note is selected in Action Type, the second tab is Generate Note Options, which contains the following fields:
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Template: Dropdown allowing you to choose the template upon which the note will be based.
Type: Dropdown requiring you to choose the note type.
Enter the note text.
If Case Action is selected in Action Type, the second tab is Case Options, which contains the following fields:
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[Effect]: Dropdown permitting you to choose the effect of the action on the case file. The only option is Change Case Status To.
[Options]: Dropdown permitting you to choose the status to which the case will change. If additional options are added to [Effect], the contents of this dropdown may vary.
If Insert Workplan is selected in Action Type, the second tab is WorkPlan Options, which contains the following field:
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Please select WorkPlan to insert. Dropdown permitting you to choose the WorkPlan whose contents will be automatically inserted, with this item replacing the top-level parent of the WorkPlan, when the action is triggered.
If Send Text Message is selected in Action Type, the second tab is Text Message Options, which contain the following field:
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Select template or leave empty […]: Dropdown allowing you to choose the template upon which the text will be based. If no template is chosen you will be required to insert the context of the text manually.
Enter the content of the text. This field will only be editable if no text template has been chosen.
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