Copy and paste actions in the workflow builder

Announcements
1

You can now copy actions in the workflow builder and paste them into another rule.

Quite a few of you told us how annoying it was to build a second rule by hand, with the first rule open next to it and information copied back and forth. So we fixed it.

How it works

  1. Check the box next to each action you want. Selected actions turn blue. Select all at the bottom of the list picks every action in the rule.
  2. Press Ctrl+C (Cmd+C on a Mac).
  3. Open the other rule and select the action you want to stay above the pasted ones.
  4. Press Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac).

The pasted actions land right below the one you selected, with every setting intact. Then change whatever is different for the new rule.

Worth knowing

  • Check the pasted actions. Actions are copied exactly as they are. We don’t validate variable names or text expressions, so if the two rules use different variables, open each pasted action and make sure the fields look right. It gets you most of the way there without building each action by hand. For a workflow with 15 or 20 actions, that’s a lot of clicking saved.
  • It’s also a backup. You can paste copied actions into a text editor, make changes in the workflow builder, and paste them back if you don’t like the result.
  • It works everywhere you build workflows. Email processing, scheduled tasks, Forms, Workflows for your PSA, macros, and pre-submission workflows.

It’s a small change, but if you live in the workflow builder, I think you’ll use it every day.

Give it a try, and tell us what you think. If there’s anything you’d like tweaked, reply here. We’re ready to iterate on it quickly.

Travis