Getting started

On this page you build your first automation and get to know the editor, the screen where you draw flows. You need the Manage automations permission, or All permissions. See the Overview for the background.

The overviewCopy link to this section

Go to Admin > Automations. You see a list with one row per automation:

• the name and a label such as 2 issues if something is still wrong with the flow (see Problems and enabling)
• the description
• the chosen trigger, the number of steps and who made the automation (by)
• a series of small bars with the latest runs, with next to it the time of the last run or Has not run yet. A red bar is a failed run
• a switch to turn the automation on or off, and a menu with three dots

At the top of the list you filter with All, Enabled and Paused. If an automation has issues, an Issues filter is added as well. With Search automations you search by name or description.

Click the name to open the editor. With the switch you turn an automation on or off. You cannot turn it on while there are issues. The Automation actions menu has two choices:

Runs that are waiting in a delay at that moment stop when you delete the automation.

Creating a new automationCopy link to this section

Click New automation. A gallery with six starting points opens. You can adjust every step afterwards.

As soon as you choose, Tillor creates the automation and opens the editor. The automation is paused until you enable it.

The editorCopy link to this section

The editor fills the whole screen and has three parts: the step list on the left, the canvas in the middle and the panel on the right. The name of the automation is at the top in the breadcrumb and you can change it there directly.

Hover over the ℹ markers for a short explanation of each part.

Step list (left). Find a step with Search steps. At the top is the Tools group with Note and Container (see Notes and containers). Below that are the steps in six groups, with Documents in between:

• Logic: the trigger When this happens and conditions, waiting, looking up and looping, such as If / else, Switch, Delay, Open now?, Look up a record, For each and Ask for a decision. See Conditions, switches and delays
• Tasks: creating, finding and updating tasks
• Documents: finding and updating documents
• Guests and messages: messages to guests and colleagues, comments, the inbox, customers and reservations
• Invoices and payments: invoices, payment links, mandates and consumption
• Access and devices: access methods, barriers, power, NFC tags and tablets
• Integrations: Send webhook and API request

What each action does is described under Actions. At the bottom is Request a step for when you are missing one.

Canvas (middle). Here you see the flow. At the top is the trigger, below it the steps with lines between them. At the bottom left you zoom in and out.

Panel (right). At the top are the Active switch, a button such as 1 issue when there are issues, a Tidy up button that lines the steps up neatly under each other (notes stay where they are) and a Hide panel button. If you hide the panel, Show panel brings it back. Below that you pick a tab:

If you have made changes, Unsaved changes appears at the bottom of the panel with the buttons Revert and Save. Revert puts the flow back to the last saved version. If the panel is hidden, those buttons are at the top right of the canvas.

As long as you have no step selected, the description is followed by who made the automation. Failed runs are emailed to that person, at most once an hour per automation.

On a phone the panel is hidden at first, so the canvas gets the whole screen. Tap a step or Show panel to open it.

Adding and connecting stepsCopy link to this section

There are four ways to add a step:

• Click a step in the list on the left. It appears in the middle of the canvas
• Drag a step from the list onto the canvas
• Click the plus under an exit that does not lead anywhere yet (Add a step after "[exit]") and choose a step. The new step is connected straight away
• Drag a step onto a line. It then ends up between the two steps (Insert a step here)

To connect steps to each other, drag from the exit under a step to another step. The following applies:

• Each exit leads to one step. If you connect an exit again, the new line replaces the old one
• A line that would make a loop is refused. If there is a loop after all, you cannot enable the automation. A run stops as soon as it would repeat a step
• A step without an incoming line is never executed. Tillor reports that as an issue (Not connected, so this step never runs.)
• You can adjust, duplicate and add extra triggers from the list on the left. You cannot delete the last trigger. A trigger does not belong on a line: it starts a run of its own

Give a step a name of its own in the Step name field. That helps as your flow grows. With the Duplicate step and Delete step buttons at the top of the panel you copy or delete the selected step.

Notes and containersCopy link to this section

With a note you explain on the canvas what part of the flow does, for example why a condition is there. A Container is a dotted line with a name that you put around a group of steps.

• In the Tools group, click Note or Container and type your text
• Drag the note or container to the steps they explain. Select them to make them larger or smaller with the corner handles
• Delete a note with Delete note or a container with Delete container, or select them and press Delete
• Notes and containers are never executed and do not count towards issues. You can place at most 50 of them together. They are kept with Save, just like the steps, and Ctrl/Cmd + Z undoes a change

Earlier versionsCopy link to this section

Every time you save a change, Tillor keeps the previous version. On the History tab you see the versions with what changed, for example 1 step added or Layout or connections changed, and by whom or what the change came (for example Via the API). With Restore you put a version on the canvas. That counts as an unsaved change: save to keep the version, or undo.

Keyboard shortcutsCopy link to this section

Saving and enablingCopy link to this section

Tillor does not save automatically. Click Save (or press Ctrl/Cmd + S) to keep your changes. The button is active as soon as something has changed and the name is not empty.

With the Active switch you turn the automation on. That also saves the flow straight away. The switch does not work while there are issues, with the explanation Fix the open issues first. After that, the automation starts on every matching event. It can take half a minute before a change takes effect everywhere.

If you later change an enabled flow, those changes only apply to new runs. Runs that are already in progress or waiting in a delay finish with the flow as it was when they started.

Your first automation: a task after departureCopy link to this section

This example creates a task when an occupation ends.

1. Click New automation and choose Check terrain after departure
2. Click the trigger. Under Event it says occupation:ended
3. Click the Create task step. Adjust the Title, the Description and the Priority, or choose a board and a Column under Add to board
4. Open the Test run tab and click Run test. You see which steps the flow would go through
5. Click Save and turn Active on
6. End an occupation and look at the Runs tab to see what happened

Requesting a step or eventCopy link to this section

Missing a trigger, condition or action? Click Request a step under the step list. In the trigger's list of events there is also a link Missing an event? Request it.

1. Under What do you need? choose one of A trigger or event, A condition or filter, An action or Something else
2. Under What should it do? describe what you want to automate. Write at least 10 characters, at most 1000
3. Click Send request

Your request goes to the Tillor team, together with your name and the name of your organisation. You get a notification that the request has been sent.

What happens next?Copy link to this section

• A new automation is paused. Nothing happens until you turn Active on.
• After enabling, the automation starts on every matching event. It can take half a minute before a change takes effect everywhere.
• Every start is a run. You see them on the Runs tab, with the status Completed, Waiting, Failed or Canceled.
• If a run fails, whoever made the automation gets an email, at most one per hour per automation.
• If you change a running flow, the changes only apply to new runs. What is already in progress or waiting finishes with the old flow.
• Tasks and comments that the automation creates are in the name of Workflow. See Who runs an automation?.

Problems?Copy link to this section

Next stepsCopy link to this section