Summary
Creating an Automation:
Automations are built and stored on the Operations module > Automate page.
You will need permission to access the Operations module and to create automations. If you don't have those permissions, please discuss that with a user that has administrator access.
We have a range of templated automations that can be used to get you up and running in a very short amount of time. If there isn't a templated automation for your specific use case then a custom automation can be built.
Accessing Logs:
Troubleshoot your automations by reviewing the execution and Logs Explorer logs.
Organising Your Automations:
Use filters and folders to organise your automations.
The Grouped View is an additional layer of freely-applicable (rather than rules-based) structure which applies to all your Filters. It allows you to separate your automations into groups like "Workflow Alerts".
Who is this article for?
All Planhat users.
Anyone who has an interest in automating one or multiple processes.
Series
Creating Your First Automation ⬅️ You are here
Article contents
Introduction
The Operations module is Planhat's automations hub. It's where you discover, manage and build new automated workflows. For example, when a new company is created, assign it to the "Prospect" phase, or when a company's health score drops below 5, notify its owner.
Planhat's automations are incredibly powerful, allowing you to completely customise how Planhat interacts with you and your data. No matter what you need, it all starts with the Operations module. Let's take a look... 👀
Navigating to the Operations Module
The Operations module is located at the bottom of the list of icons in Planhat's left navigation panel. Simply click on the Operations module icon from anywhere in Planhat, to get to the Operations module.
Creating an Automation
To create an automation, start by clicking the "+" icon in the top left corner of the Operations module.
This opens the Automation Template Library, where you'll find a plethora of curated and categorized automations for you to quickly configure and add.
Once you have found the template that you would like to use, simply click on the template, populate any sections that are greyed out and then click on the "Add Automation" button. If you would like to learn more about template automations, please check out this article.
If you cannot find the automation you need, you can always create a Custom Automation, rather than adding an automation from a template. These are designed to enable more sophisticated automations, either involving multiple steps, or steps involving connections to external services, webhooks, or JavaScript function executions. If you would like to learn more about custom automations, please check out this article.
Accessing Logs
Automations have two associated logs: the logs associated with how they are executed (Execution Log), and the logs associated with how they are managed and maintained, which is a part of the Logs Explorer.
Execution Log
Execution logs are a part of every Automation, Templated Automations and Custom Automations alike, they can be accessed by switching from the default "General" tab, which is where the automation itself is configured, to the "Logs" tab.
Templated Automation
Custom Automation
Both of these examples have never fired, since they have nothing to display in their logs. Take a look at this article for a crash course on how to make the most out of automation execution logs.
Logs Explorer
The Logs Explorer relates not to executions, but rather to events affecting the automation itself, for example, updates to any of its steps or properties, and the filters it was added to/removed from. When it is available, you'll be able to access these logs from the ellipsis (aka "Kebab" menu) in the top right.
Organising Your Automations
The Operations module is where all your automations live once you've added them to your environment. Since you're likely to have quite a lot of them, the view is optimised for searchability and organisation. The simplest way to find an automation is via the search: simply type the title (or even just a keyword in the title), press enter, and the data table will filter out to show matching results. To make your Automations even easier to maintain and navigate, you can also organise them using 1) Filters & Folders and 2) Groups.
1) Filters & Folders, on the left menu...
Just like any other data table in Planhat, Filters & Folders live in the left-hand sidebar, with rules-based filters living within drag-and-drop folders.
Create a filter with the "Add New Filter" button (in the top left-hand corner):
Create a folder with the "Add New Folder" button (in the top left-hand corner):
Drag filters into folders freely within the left menu:
2) Groups, in the main table view...
The Operations module uses Grouped View as an additional layer of freely-applicable (rather than rules-based) structure which applies to all your Filters. It allows you to separate your automations into groups like "Workflow Alerts", while for example filtering by the creator, total runs, or any other system or custom field.
Create a new group by going into an automation (clicking the "View Details" aka "Hamburger" menu on the left side of the row), and then selecting "Add New Group":
Templated Automation
Custom Automation
Edit or delete an existing group by selecting the "Pen" or "Trash Can" icon when you hover over the specific group name:
Templated Automation
Custom Automation
Now that you're comfortable with how to create and organise your automations within the Operations module, it's time to get automating! Head over to the Operations module and configure some templates - whether it's a simple churn risk notification, a time-saver like setting the phase when a company is created, or even a customer email campaign.