New features of SharePoint Designer 2010

Read this article, to know the Basics of Workflow in SharePoint.

Read this article, to know about Implementing Designer workflow in SharePoint using SharePoint designer 2007.

In this article, we will come to know about the new features added in the SharePoint designer 2010 for the workflow.

What is new in workflows in SharePoint Designer 2010?

In the SharePoint 2010 designer you will see a ‘ Work flows’ tab in the ribbon on the top. Now you can create three types of workflow in SharePoint 2010 using designer 2010:

Ø  List Workflow – This is associated with a specific list or libraries in SharePoint.

Ø  Reusable Workflow – This type of workflow can be associated with multiple lists or content types. It is more flexible than the List workflow type. Later this content type can be used with a list. One more advantage of this type of work flow is you can import it to Visual Studio and we can write code to enhance this type of workflow.

Ø  Site Workflow – This workflow is not associated with any lists or site content types and can be started from All Site content in the page i.e., it operates on the site level.

When you create a workflow, you will see the following new options in the ribbon which makes the user to create and trouble shoot the workflow in SharePoint very easily.

Now let us know about the new options for implementing the workflow in SP 2010 designer. Particularly in the ribbon interface.

1. Save button – Now you can save the workflow. This option was not available in SharePoint Designer 2007.
2. Publish button – By clicking the publish button, you can publish the workflow to the SharePoint site.
3. Condition – Here you can implement the conditions for the workflow.
4. Action – Here you can add multiple actions when a specific condition occurs in the workflow.
5. Export to Visio – Using this option, you can convert a workflow and show it in a diagrammatic representation to the user which gives clear understanding, actions, process, people involved and status of the workflow.
6. Initiation Form Parameters – you can define the starting parameters for the workflow.
7. Local Variables – Here you can define the internal variables of the workflow using this option.