Understand how to use Screens in ProcessMaker Platform.
In ProcessMaker Platform, a Screen presents information for a person to interact with or view. An interactive form is an example of a Screen. Any Screen can be re-used since many Processes require the same type of information be gathered, such as a person's name, email address, and other business information. In other words, "design once, use anywhere."
Screens also allow people to interact with Request information. Below are a few ways Request participants can interact with Screens:
Enter Request data.
Review information and then approve or reject a Request.
Display information from Script output.
Acquire a digital signature, and then display that digital signature in another Screen.
Designers can design Screens that only display information in useful ways:
Use Saved Search charts to display key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor your business goals.
Display commonly used information and downloadable files for your employees. For example, create a dashboard that serves as a portal for all your employees to read special announcements, download the employee handbook, and display relevant Collection record information.
There are many ways to design Screens to digitize your business needs across your business solutions and reuse them across multiple Processes.
ProcessMaker Platform provides the following Screen types:
This is the most commonly used screen type. Use the Form-type Screen to design interactive and complex multi-page forms. Below are a few ways that Request participants might interact with a digital form:
Enter information, such as name and email address, to apply for a loan.
Approve the department budget.
Following screen controls are available for designing the Form-type Screen:
Use the Display-type Screen to display read-only information or allow Request participants to download files. The Display type has limited functionality compared to the Form type, but dashboards and Request participant Welcome Screens use Display-type Screens to display key performance indicators (KPIs) and commonly used information for specific business stakeholders in your organization.
The Display type provides the following controls in Screen Builder:
Use the Email-type Screen to compose the email body for email messages to be used with the Send Email connector. The Email type provides the following controls in Screen Builder:
Content fields
Rich Text control
Record List control
The Send Email connector can reference only Email-type screens.
Use the Conversational-type Screen to design functional rule-based modern chat style experiences. When a Conversational-type Screen renders, that Screen displays as a streaming interactive chat box from which the Request participant interacts with the automated chat. See What is a Conversational Screen? for more information regarding how Conversational-type Screens function.
The Conversational type provides the following controls in Screen Builder:
Input fields
Line Input control
Select List control
Content fields
Rich Text control
ProcessMaker Platform displays all Screens in one location that accessible to all process designers with permissions to view these Screens.
Follow these steps to view all Screens in your organization:
​Log on to ProcessMaker Platform.
Click the Designer option from the top menu to view the Designer Welcome Screen.
Do one of the following:
The Screens page displays the following information in tabular format about Screens:
Name: The Name column displays the name of the Screen. Click the name to edit the Screen in Screen Builder.
Description: The Description column displays the description of the Screen. See Manage Screens for more information.
Category: The Category column displays a Screen Category to which the Screen is assigned.
Type: The Type column displays the type of the Screen. See Screen Types.
Modified: The Modified column displays the date and time the Screen was last modified.
Created: The Created column displays the date and time the Screen was created. Note: All time zone settings are according to the ProcessMaker Platform instance or the Time zone setting your user profile.
Follow these steps to edit a Screen:
The Screen will display in the Screen Builder ready for your changes.
Follow instructions in the Screen Builder section to edit the Screen.
Use the Search function to filter all Screens from the Screens page based on your entered text.
Follow these steps to search for a Screen:
View your Screens. The Screens page displays.
Enter in the Search setting the text to filter Screens using any of the following criteria:
Name: Filter by the Screen name that displays in the Name column.
Category: Filter by the Screen Category name that displays in the Category column.
Description: Filter by the Screen description that displays in the Description column.
As you enter text into the Search setting, Screens display that match your entered text.
If there are no search results, the following message displays: No Results.
From the Assets pane, hover over the Screens icon, and then select View All Screens.
Click the Screens icon from the left sidebar to view a list of Screens.
Hover over a row in the list of screens, click on the menu and select the Edit Screen option.
Create a new Screen that can be re-used in any Process.
Follow these steps to create a new Screen:
View your Screens. The Screens page displays.
Click the +Screen button. The New Screen screen displays.
Choose one of the following options to create a blank screen or create a screen using a template.
From the Screen Type drop-down menu in the first section, select one of the following Screen types:
Conversational: Use the Conversational type to design functional rule-based modern chat style experiences. For more information, see Conversational Screen-type.
Display: Use the Display type to display information or allow Request participants to download files. The Display type has limited functionality compared the Form type. For more information, see Display Screen-type.
Email: Use the Email type to compose the email body for email messages to be used with the Send Email connector. Note that the Send Email connector must be installed for this option to display. For more information, see Send Email Connector and Email Screen-type.
Form: Use the Form type to design interactive and complex forms. For more information, see Form Screen-type. This is the default value.
From the Styles For The Screen Type setting, select to use:
Shared Templates: Templates globally shared in your organization.
My Templates: Templates accessible and created by you.
Optionally, you can select the Set as Default Template option to designate a template as the default for the selected screen type.
In the Name setting, enter a unique name for the Screen. Screen names can only consist of alphanumeric characters, apostrophes ('), and spaces. This is a required setting.
Enter in the Description setting a description for the Screen. This is a required setting.
Click Save. Screens Builder displays the new Screen in Design mode.
To continue building your screen, see Screen Builder.
From the Screen Type drop-down menu in the first section, select one of the following Screen types:
Conversational: Use the Conversational type to design functional rule-based modern chat style experiences. For more information, see Conversational Screen-type.
Display: Use the Display type to display information or allow Request participants to download files. The Display type has limited functionality compared the Form type. For more information, see Display Screen-type.
Email: Use the Email type to compose the email body for email messages to be used with the Send Email connector. Note that the Send Email connector must be installed for this option to display. For more information, see Send Email Connector and Email Screen-type.
Form: Use the Form type to design interactive and complex forms. For more information, see Form Screen-type. This is the default value.
In the Styles For The Screen Type section, select the Blank Template tile. By default, this option is selected.
In the Name setting, enter a unique name for the Screen. Screen names can only consist of alphanumeric characters, apostrophes ('), and spaces. This is a required setting.
Enter in the Description setting a description for the Screen. This is a required setting.
Click Save. Screens Builder displays the new Screen in Design mode.
To continue building your screen, see Screen Builder.
Manage your Screen Categories.
Use Screen Categories to organize your Screens. Organizing your Screens into Categories makes it easier to search for a Screen based on its assigned Category. Assign multiple Screen Categories to a Screen if necessary. For example, assign a Screen named "Personal Information Form" to the "Banking Forms" and "Human Resources Forms" Screen Categories.
Screen Categories can be in active or inactive status. Following is a description of each status:
Active: Active Screen Categories can have Screens assigned to them.
Inactive: Inactive Screen Categories cannot have Screens assigned to them.
Follow these steps to view Screen Categories:
Log on to ProcessMaker Platform.
Click the Designer option from the top menu. The Designer Welcome Screen displays.
Click the Categories tab. The Screen Categories display.
The Categories tab displays the following information in tabular format about Screen Categories:
Name: The Name column displays the name of the Screen Category. The Screen Category named Uncategorized is the default Category.
Status: The Status column displays the status of the Screen Category. Below is a description of each status:
Active: Active Screen Categories can have Screens assigned to them. The Screen Category named Uncategorized is active by default.
Inactive: Inactive Screen Categories cannot have Screens assigned to them.
Screens: The # Screens column displays how many Screens in your organization have been assigned to that Screen Category.
Modified: The Modified column displays the date and time the Screen Category was last modified.
Created: The Created column displays the date and time the Screen Category was created. Note: All time zone settings are according to the ProcessMaker Platform instance or the Time zone setting your user profile.
If no Screen Categories exist, the following message displays: No Results.
Use the Search setting to filter Screen Categories by their names.
​Control how tabular information displays, including how to sort columns or how many items display per page.
Follow these steps to create a new Screen Category:
Click the +Category button. The Create Screen Category screen displays.
In the Category Name setting, enter the name of the new Screen Category. The Screen Category name must be unique from all other Screen Category names in your organization and can only use apostrophe characters ('
) and spaces. This is a required setting.
From the Status drop-down menu, select one of the following options for the Screen Category's status:
Active: Active Screen Categories can have Screens assigned to them.
Inactive: Inactive Screen Categories cannot have Screens assigned to them.
The Active option is selected by default. This is a required setting.
Click Save.
Follow these steps to search for Screen Categories:
Enter in the Search setting the text to filter Screen Categories by name.
As you enter text into the Search setting, Screen Categories display that match your entered text.
If there are no search results, the following message displays: No Results.
Follow these steps to edit a Screen Category:
Edit the following information about the Screen Category as necessary:
In the Category Name setting, edit the name of the Screen Category if necessary. The Screen Category name must be unique from all other Screen Category names in your organization. This is a required field.
From the Status drop-down menu, change the status of the Screen Category, if necessary, from the following options:
Active: Active Screen Categories can have Screens assigned to them.
Inactive: Inactive Screen Categories cannot have Screens assigned to them.
This is a required setting.
Click Save.
To delete a Screen Category, no Screens can be assigned to it.
Deleting a Screen Category cannot be undone.
Follow these steps to delete a Screen Category:
Click Confirm to delete the catgegory.
Import a Screen that has previously been exported.
Follow these steps to import a Screen:
Click the Import button. The Import Screen displays.
Click Browse to locate the Screen to import. Screens have the .json
file extension.
Click Import. The Import Screen screen displays to indicate that the Screen imported correctly.
Click List Screens. The Screens page displays the imported Screen with the same name as the original Screen except with a number "2" suffix.
If the original Screen cannot import successfully, the following message displays: Unable to import the screen. Ensure the following:
The exported Screen has the .json
file extension.
Follow these steps to export a Screen:
Click Download, and then browse for the location on your local computer to save the exported Screen.
By default, ProcessMaker Platform exports the Screen using the original Screen name except spaces in the name are replaced with underscores (_
). The file has the file extension .json
. Rename the default file name if necessary, though do not change the file extension. As a best practice, specify in the file name that this is an exported Screen to distinguish it from other exported assets.
Specify a directory location to save the file. ProcessMaker Platform exports the .json
file to your local computer. The following message displays when the Screen exports successfully: The screen was exported.
Manage information about a Screen.
Follow these steps to configure a Screen:
Edit the following information about the Screen as necessary:
In the Name setting, edit the unique name of the Screen. This is a required field.
In the Description setting, edit the description of the Screen. This is a required setting.
Click Save.
A version is a set of changes made to a Screen at a particular time by a Process designer. Versioning maintains a record of all named and unnamed changes to that Screen. Any of these versions may be viewed or retrieved, if needed. The Version History page displays all saved versions of the Screen in a tabular format from where they can be edited and/or marked as the Current Version
according to your business needs. The current version of a Screen is used in all new Requests of a Process using that Screen. Version changes are not reflected in Requests which were in-progress or already completed when the version changed.
Follow these steps to view or edit the version history of your Screen:
Current Version: The most recent version of the Screen is displayed at the top and is marked as the Current Version
. This version is used in all in-progress and new Requests.
Name: The name of this version as entered by a Process designer when saving the Screen in Screen Builder.
Description: A description of the changes in this version as entered by a Process designer when saving the Screen in Screen Builder.
Saved by: The name of the Process designer who saved this version.
Toggle the Only show named versions toggle key to show only the versions with a name assigned to them.
Optionally, edit any of the following existing details about this named version:
In the Version Name setting, edit the name to this named version. If saving this named version with no name, this version does not display in the Version History page if the Only show named versions toggle key is enabled.
In the Additional Details (optional) setting, edit the details about this version. For example, describe the changes in this version for auditing, historical, or maintenance purposes.
Click Confirm and Save to save your changes. Otherwise, click Cancel.
Click Confirm and Save to set this version as the current version. Otherwise, click Cancel.
Follow these steps to edit a Screen:
Follow these steps to copy a Screen:
Edit the following information from the original Screen as necessary:
In the Name setting, edit the name of the copied Screen. After the original Screen is copied, the word Copy is suffixed to the original Screen's name. This is a required setting.
In the Description field, edit the description of the original Screen.
Click Save.
Follow these steps to add a Screen to a Project:
Optionally, select the Use a copy of this asset option to use a copy of this Screen as the Project asset instead of the original. When selecting this option, any revisions made to the original Screen do not affect yours in your Project(s), and vice versa. Consider this option a best practice to use, especially if you intend to make changes from the original Screen that may not be an asset in any Project.
Click Add. The Screen is added as an asset to the selected Project(s).
Deleting a Screen from the Screens page cannot be undone.
Follow these steps to delete a Screen:
Click Confirm. The following message displays: The screen was deleted.
From the Category drop-down menu, select one or more Screen Categories to associate with this Screen. To remove a currently selected Screen Category, click the icon next to the selection. This is a required setting.
From the Project drop-down menu, optionally select the Project(s) for this screen. This setting only displays Projects in which you are a member. To remove a Project that is currently selected, click the icon next to that selection..
From the Category drop-down menu, select one or more Screen Categories to associate with this Screen. To remove a currently selected Screen Category, click the icon next to the selection. This is a required setting.
From the Project drop-down menu, optionally select the Project(s) for this screen. This setting only displays Projects in which you are a member. To remove a Project that is currently selected, click the icon next to that selection.
Click the Screens icon from the left sidebar to view all Screens.
Click the menu, and then select the Edit Category option for the Screen Category to edit. The Edit Screen Category page displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Edit Category option for the Screen Category to delete. A message displays to confirm deletion of the Screen Category.
Import a Screen that has been from the same or later. The imported Screen contains the from the exported Screen. Exported Screens have the .json
file extension.
ProcessMaker Platform ignores any to which the importing Screen was assigned when it was exported.
See the permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.
The Screens page displays.
The .json
file you tried to import is a Screen and not a Process. An also uses the .json
file extension.
The exported Screen was exported from the same .
Export a Screen to your local computer. The exported Screen may then be to the same or another ProcessMaker Platform instance of the same . An exported Screen may then be shared with others so they can import your Screen for their Processes.
An exported Screen contains all the as the original at the time the original Screen was exported.
See the permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.
The Screens page displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Export option for your Screen. The following message displays: You are about to export a Screen. All the configurations of the screen will be exported.
See the permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.
The Screens page displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Configure option for your Screen. The Configuration page displays.
From the Category drop-down menu, select one or more Screen Categories to associate with this Screen. In doing so, Screen Categories may be sorted from the Screens page. To remove a Screen Category that is currently selected, click the icon for that selection or press Enter
when the drop-down is visible. This is a required setting.
From the Project drop-down menu, optionally select the that this Screen becomes an asset. This setting only displays Projects of which you are a member. To remove a Project that is currently selected, click the icon for that selection or press Enter
when the drop-down is visible.
See the and permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.
The Screens page displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Configure option for your Screen. The Configuration tab of the Edit Configuration page displays.
Click on the Version History tab. The Version History page displays. The Version History page organizes versions in a monthly format and displays the following information:
Date: The date and time of when a Process designer saved this version in the .
Click the Change Version Details iconto edit version details for this version. The Change Version Details screen displays.
Click the Copy to Latest iconto set a version as the current version. The Copy to Latest screen displays.
The screen displays the warning This version will become the active version for this asset
,
indicating that this action will set this version as the current version.
See the permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.
. The Screens page displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Edit Screen option or click the Screen name. The Screen opens in Screen Builder. See .
See the permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.
The Screens page displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Copy option for your Screen. The Copy Screen screen displays.
From the Category drop-down menu, optionally change one or more Screen Categories to associate with this Screen. In doing so, Screen Categories may be sorted from the Screens page. To remove a Screen Category that is currently selected, click theicon for that selection or press Enter
when the drop-down is visible. This is a required setting.
The Type field shows which the original Screen is. The copied Screen must be of the same Screen type as the original.
Adding a to a adds that Process as an asset to that Project. Any Project member may then use that asset toward the goals of that Project.
the View Screens permission in the category of permissions
a member of any
. The Screens tab displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Add to Project option. The Add to a Project screen displays.
From the Select Project drop-down, select to which Project(s) this Screen becomes an asset. To remove a Project that is currently selected, click theicon for that selection or press Enter
when the drop-down is visible.
See the permissions or ask your Administrator for assistance.
When a Screen is deleted, Process models that use that Screen in are not affected. However, that Screen can no longer be referenced from other Process models thereafter.
The Screens page displays.
Click the menu, and then select the Delete option for the Screen to delete. The Caution screen displays to confirm the deletion of the Screen.