Workflows in Aha! Ideas define how ideas move from submission to decision. Configure custom statuses, transitions, and optional approval gates so the process matches how your team works. Set the workflow at the account level, define its statuses, then apply it to the workspaces that need it. Statuses control visibility and actions at each stage — for example, whether an idea's status displays in the portal and whether people can edit, comment, or vote. Status categories control how information displays and syncs with promoted records.
You will need to be an administrator with customization permissions to create and edit workflows at the account level. But any user with workspace owner permissions can apply created workflows to their workspace.
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Add a workflow
Administrators with customization permissions can create and edit workflows.
Navigate to User menu -> Settings → Account → Statuses and workflows.
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Click the Add workflow button to create a new workflow. The Create workflow builder will guide you through the process:
Select Simple example if you want to create a custom workflow from scratch.
Select Example product idea workflow if you want to use a prebuilt example.
Click Create workflow.
Update the Name of the workflow and add an optional Description.
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Select whether your workflow will be flexible or fixed.
Flexible workflows allow users to skip steps in the workflow and do not support approval gates. They are best suited for ideas workflows that do not follow the same steps in the same order every time.
Fixed workflows do not allow users to skip workflow steps and support approval gates. They are best suited for ideas workflows that need to be consistent.
If you choose to create a fixed workflow, you will also see the option to Restrict approval changes. When selected, only administrators with customization permissions will be allowed to edit or delete approval to-dos created by the workflow.
Add statuses
Create clear statuses that reflect how your team evaluates and progresses ideas.
Navigate to User menu -> Settings → Account → Statuses and workflows. Hover your cursor over the workflow you want to customize and click Edit.
Click Add status.
Name the status and choose a color for it. The color helps you identify an idea’s status at a glance.
Add an optional Description for the status.
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Configure what people can do with an idea in this status:
View status: Enable to display the status in your ideas portal. Disable to hide the status from your ideas portal.
Edit idea: Enabled by default. Allows users to edit their own ideas in this status. With the Aha! Ideas Advanced plan, you can disable this option to block edits to the idea with the Aha! Ideas Advanced plan.
Add and edit comments: Enabled by default. Allows users to add new comments or edit their own comments to an idea in this status. With the Aha! Ideas Advanced plan, you can disable this option to block adding and editing comments.
Add and edit votes: Enabled by default. Allows users to add new votes to or remove their own votes from the idea. With the Aha! Ideas Advanced plan, you can disable this option to block changes to votes.
Choose a Status category (optional).
Click Create status to save it.
Use status categories
Status categories in Aha! Ideas help you automate certain displays and actions. When you add a new status or edit an existing status, you can choose the status category that best matches. Multiple custom statuses can have the same status category. For example, Review and Discussion statuses might both be part of the In progress status category for an idea.
Status categories are optional. If a status does not match one of the category options, leave it blank.
There are some considerations when choosing status categories for ideas:
When a user adds a new idea, the idea defaults to the first status listed in your workflow. These appear in order from top to bottom — you can drag statuses to reorder.
Status categories will impact the syncing between a promoted record and the idea. If a status category is removed, automatic status transitions will be broken.
Set transition buttons
Transition buttons help Aha! Ideas users follow a predefined workflow. To add transitions between two statuses, click the + icon in the Transition buttons column beneath the first status. Then you can choose how the statuses should flow and add a name for the transition button.
If you want to add approval gates to your transitions — so that a record will need formal approval before it can move to the next status — you will want to read more about workflow approvals.
The name of the transition appears on the button for moving between states, so choose an action phrase, such as "Start review." It is also helpful to acknowledge the completion of a step in your flow, such as "Review complete."
Apply a workflow to your workspace
Workspace owners can apply workflows to their workspace.
Navigate to User menu -> Settings -> Workspace -> Ideas -> Configure.
Click Change workflow and select the new workflow you would like to apply from the dropdown.
Map statuses in your workspace's current workflow to the statuses set in the new workflow. This will update the statuses on existing ideas in your workspace.
Click Update idea statuses to save your changes.
Add an idea template
Create an idea description template to gather consistent details with every submission. It appears wherever ideas are created — your ideas portal, inside Aha! Ideas, and in integrated Salesforce accounts.
Capture key information when portal users submit ideas by using dynamic forms. Dynamic forms are available on the Ideas Advanced plan.
To create a template:
Navigate to User menu -> Settings -> Account -> Statuses and workflows.
Select Edit next to the ideas workflow you want to add the template to.
Navigate to Idea template at the bottom of the screen and click Add template.
Type in the default description you want to display when new ideas are created.
Click Save.
If you want the description template to show in your ideas portal, check the box next to Show in ideas portal. If you do not check the box, your description template will appear for users who create ideas from within Aha! Ideas, but not for ideas that are created from your ideas portal.
After completing these steps, the template will appear in the description field for all ideas in any workspace that uses this workflow.
If you use an idea description template, you will no longer need to use the Description placeholder field in your ideas layout. The ideas description template will replace it.