1. Switching to the visual designer
To
switch to the visual designer, you first need to open a workflow within
SharePoint Designer 2013. After you have made the switch to the visual
designer, SharePoint Designer will remember your preference for the
rest of your session.
Switch to the visual designer
-
From an open workflow in SharePoint Designer 2013, on the ribbon,
click the Workflows tab. Then, in the Manage group, click the drop-down
arrow at the bottom of the Views button.
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On the menu that appears, select the Visual Designer option.
Tip
The visual designer requires that you have locally installed Visio
2013 Professional. An error message appears if you do not have the
proper version installed.
Tip
You must be working with a SharePoint 2013 workflow to
enable the visual designer. If you are unable to switch to visual
designer on an existing workflow, it might be based upon the SharePoint
2010 workflow framework. Try creating a brand new 2013 workflow and
switch to visual designer.
2. Creating workflows in Visio 2013
Another option for
creating complex workflows is to first draft the workflow completely in
Visio 2013, which scan be used to flesh out the outline of a workflow
without requiring connectivity to SharePoint 2013. This can also be
used to document a high-level process prior to importing the workflow
into SharePoint.
Create a workflow in Visio 2013
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Open Visio 2013 and then, in the templates search box, type SharePoint 2013.
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Click the Search button (the magnifying-glass icon).
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Double click the Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Workflow template to create a new file from this template.
Tip
Plotting out workflows first in Visio 2013 can be useful if you need
to document and obtain approval for workflows that are a critical part
of your company’s operating processes. Visio documents can be more
readily exchanged and reviewed without requiring each user to have
SharePoint Designer installed on their computer.
