How to Create a New Automation from a Template

Get a head start on automating your business with Automation Templates! These are expertly pre-built workflows designed to help you quickly set up common automations without the hassle of starting from scratch. Each template comes loaded with predefined triggers, actions, and conditions perfectly tailored for specific business needs – whether you're looking to nurture leads, send post-purchase follow-ups, remind clients about appointments, or assign tasks automatically.

Automation Templates are perfect if you:

  • Are just diving into the world of workflow automation and want an easy entry point.

  • Want to save valuable time and skip repetitive setup tasks.

  • Would appreciate guidance based on best-practice automation designs.

  • Prefer to customize a proven, effective workflow rather than building a new one from the ground up.

By using these handy templates, you can significantly speed up the process of creating powerful automations while ensuring consistency and efficiency across all your business operations.

Please Note: To ensure the highest quality and reliability, these Automation Templates are system-defined and maintained by Smackdab. Currently, users cannot create or upload their own templates.

How to Create an Automation from a template:

  1. Click on "Templates":
    Go to the Automation module from the main menu, and select Templates.

  2. View Templates Listing: You will see a list of available automation templates, each designed for a specific use case. For each template listed, the following details are displayed:

    • Template Name

    • Brief Description

    • Type of Template (e.g., Marketing, Sales, Support, etc.)

    • Preview Button to explore the template in more detail

  3. Use the Search Bar to quickly find specific templates, or apply filters to narrow down results by template type.

Previewing a Template

  1. Click "Preview" button:
    Click the Preview button next to a template to see a detailed overview.

    This screen provides:
    - A comprehensive description of the template’s purpose.
    - A visual overview of the workflow (including trigger and actions).

Using a Template to Create an Automation

  1. Click "Use Template":
    Upon clicking Use Template, you will be redirected to the Create Automation page. The selected template’s configuration (such as name, trigger, and actions) will be automatically populated in the workflow designer.

    From here, you have full control to customize the automation to fit your unique requirements.

  1. Edit basic details:
    You can update any of the configured details of an Automation from the Edit screen:

    • Automation Name: Rename the automation to better reflect its purpose.

    • Tags: Add or remove the assigned tags to keep your automations organized.

  2. Workflow Designer:
    The Workflow Designer remains fully accessible and editable. You can:

    • Modify existing elements such as triggers, actions, and conditions.

    • Add new elements such as actions or conditions.

    • Rearrange or delete workflow components.

    • Switch between horizontal and vertical layouts.

    • Use Zoom In/Out, Undo, Redo, and Fit to Screen controls to customize your view and workflow layout.

    • Note: Users can edit any element by simply clicking on it.

  3. Edit an Automation Trigger:
    You can update the trigger, the event that initiates the workflow. Triggers determine when the automation starts based on system activity, user behavior, or scheduled timing. You may change the existing trigger type or reconfigure its settings. 

    Updating the automation trigger (by changing its type or configurations) will remove all associated actions from the workflow.

    After updating the trigger, you will need to reconfigure the automation actions from scratch.

    Below are the available trigger types you can update or switch to:

  • Custom Event: Update the automation trigger to respond to different actions related to Entities like Company, Contact, Deal, Activity, or any Custom Entity.

    You can modify the trigger conditions based on:

    1. Creation, update, or deletion of records

    2. Creation, update, or deletion of entity notes

    3. Sending or receiving emails

    4. Switch to a different entity or event type if needed

  • Schedule Event: Adjust the recurring schedule parameters:

    1. Change the frequency (daily, weekly, monthly)

    2. Modify start time

    3. Update timezone settings to reflect business hours or new requirements

  • Marketing: Edit marketing activity triggers, such as:

    1. Change targeted forms for submissions (all or specific forms)

    2. Update list additions (all or selected lists)

    3. Modify email engagement triggers (clicks, opens, unsubscribes)

  • Appointment Booking: Update booking-related triggers:

    1. Switch between all, multiple, or specific booking types

    2. Adjust trigger settings as per the new automation goals

  • Manual Execution:

    1. Retain or change manual execution as the trigger if automation is to be run on demand. No further configurations are needed for this type.

  • Sales: Modify triggers based on sales-related events like:

    1. Creation, update, or deletion of Invoices and Quotes

    2. Update event type (e.g., switching from "Invoice Creation" to "Quote Update")

    3. Adjust conditions such as quote conversion or invoice due date triggers

  • Checkout Form: Update automation triggers linked to checkout form submissions:

    1. Select different forms (all, selected, or specific forms)

  1. Edit an Automation Action: You can also modify the actions, the tasks performed when the workflow is executed. You can edit existing actions, remove them, or add new actions to reflect changes in your logic or workflow structure.

    Key Points: You can edit actions that have already been configured (e.g., Instant Condition, Wait for Condition, Loop, etc.).

    • For example, if an Instant Condition was added during setup, you can modify its rules and logic.

      However, you cannot change an action’s type once it has been added.

      For instance:

      • An Instant Condition cannot be converted into a Wait for Condition, Loop, Sequence, or any other action type.

      • Similarly, a Loop cannot be changed to a Sequence or another action type.

    • You can delete existing actions from the workflow at any time.

    • You can also add new actions of any available type to the workflow whenever needed.

      The following action types are available for editing:

  • Instant Condition: Update existing conditional logic that evaluates immediately after the workflow is triggered.
    - Modify condition rules based on trigger data.
    - Adjust AND/OR logic combinations.
    - Redefine "conditions met" and "conditions not met" branches to update workflow paths.

  • Wait for Condition: Edit delayed condition checks for waiting on specific changes before proceeding.

    1. Adjust waiting duration and evaluation conditions.

    2. Modify branches based on updated logic needs.

  • Loop: Update iterations over multiple values in a field (e.g., multiple emails for a contact).

    1. Change the target field to loop through.

    2. Modify or replace actions performed within each loop cycle.

  • Sequence: Attach a different existing sequence or update the steps of the current sequence linked to the workflow.

  • Action: Edit direct actions to be performed when the automation is triggered. Available updates include:

    1. Platform Entities:

      1. Modify actions such as creating, updating, deleting, or adding notes for Companies.

      2. Update configurations for creating other entities (Contacts, Deals, Custom Entities).

      3. Adjust dynamic field mappings (e.g., using trigger data to populate name fields).

    2. Emails: Edit email content, recipients, subject lines, and dynamic placeholders.

    3. Sales: Update actions related to invoices.

      1. Modify invoice details, products, discounts, recipients, and linked data.

    4. Celebration: Change the type of visual celebration

    5. Entity Record Filter: Update filtering criteria for entity records. 

      1. Modify the loop actions that are applied to the filtered records.

    6. Broadcast: Edit inline or pop-up message content.

      1. Update targeted user groups for displaying the broadcast.

    7. Make HTTP Request: Adjust the HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD).

      1. Update endpoint URLs, headers, and payload configurations.

    8. Marketing List: Modify settings to create or update lists.

      1. Change the criteria for adding entities to the list.

    9. Double Opt-In:

      1. Update confirmation email

  • Delay:

    1. Edit the pause duration before the next action.

    2. Adjust timing configurations, such as setting a specific time or applying a relative delay.

Additional Features of the Automation Module:

You can adjust the automation, including its management and configuration features to give you full control over each workflow:

  • Enable / Disable Workflow:

    1. Enable or disable any workflow anytime.

    2. Disabled workflows will not execute.

  • Delete Workflow:

    1. Permanently remove workflows no longer in use.

  • Share Workflow:

    1. Share with all or selected organization users.

    2. Shared users can run the automation but cannot edit it.

  • Execution History:

    1. View execution logs with timestamps, completed steps, status, and failure reasons.

  • Revision Logs:

    1. Track all changes made to the workflow, including creation and updates. All changes are timestamped.

Workflow Settings

The Settings section allows further customization of workflow behavior and notifications:

  • General: Set one or more pause dates when the workflow should not run. Useful for holidays, maintenance windows, or blackout periods.

  • Notification: Choose specific users or teams to receive a notification whenever the workflow is executed.

  • Stop Condition: Define a condition to automatically stop the workflow if met during execution. 

    1. You can create single or multiple conditions. 

    2. Combine them using AND (all must be true) or OR (any one must be true). 

    3. For example, you can stop the workflow if the contact’s status becomes “Inactive” or if no email is available.

  • Limit Setting: Control how often a workflow can run using execution limits: Limit by Day, Week, or Month. Example: Run this automation a maximum of 10 times per day.

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