So I am at a hurdle I have not yet been able to overcome. I have a cyber beer waiting for anybody that can help me solve this. I am using a repeating group to map out a process such as Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, etc. The part I am struggling with are alternative chains. For example if I wanted to have a variation of step 3 that had an independent process called step 3b. I am using a dropdown within the repeating group to allow for these variations. However I cannot figure out how to make the repeating group change part of itself to reflect the other options if selected.
So the main process is “which is visible when you first load the repeating group” is
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3 “with a dropdown option for 3B”
Step 4
Step 5
However if I use the variation for step 3 it should reflect the following in the repeating group.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3B
Step 4B
Step 5B
How can I get the repeating group to behave like this? To keep the original order up until the variation and then allow the repeating group to use different data for the remaining blocks. Extra credit goes to anybody who can suggest a way to allow variations on the variations. As true process maps are able to do.
I have experimented with conditions, with parent-children relationships, etc. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.
I’m not sure this is the best way to do what you’re hoping to do, but if you have a small amount of steps, maybe this will be practical! I tried this for your example of 8 different steps and it seems to function correctly:
*Edit:
The left repeating group is changed based on making changes to a logged in user, and the right repeating group is changed based on using custom states:
This was perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. I guess I don’t understand the make changes to a list of things fully yet. I will study yours and learn some more. Thanks so much.
Ok I spoke too soon. It seems that this changes the parent process for the remaining items. It does not allow branching which is what I am after, where the change in one dropdown can lead to a list of items while leaving the original one intact.
So
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Which has an alternative of
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3B
Step 4B
Step 5B
When I drop down for 3 B I want Step 1 and Step 2 to be the same as the original, but Step 3B, 4B, and 5B need to be independent of the original Step 3, 4, and 5.
I like @fayewatson’s approach if using repeating groups. Though I might suggest coming at it from a different angle. When I’ve encountered this situation in the past, I’ve used tabs (with previous and next buttons) to create the step-by-step process, not repeating groups.
If I understand your intent correctly, if the process is defined, my feeling is that tabs would be better for multiple reasons:
You can define the content of each step exactly as you intend for it to appear.
Your content on one tab can reference (or impact the state of) the content on the next tab.
You can set conditional buttons (ex. if box is checked, display “Next” button that set state as Tab Y instead of Tab X)
Depending on what the workflow does, I may do one of two things:
Have the “Next” button simply advance from Tab 1 to Tab 2 (and subsequent tabs). Then record all elements of the workflow on a final “submit” button. (The data is not lost when you advance from one tab to the next…it just isn’t visible. Bubble will still pick up on it if you reference it for a workflow).
Have “Next” button on Tab 1 create a thing and “Next” button on Tab 2 (and subsequent tabs) make changes to a thing. (The pro is that your final workflow is not as complex/having to reference many different fields. However, you’re having multiple workflows to reach the final state. As well, if a user toggles to prior tabs and changes data, you need to be sure you update it)*.
*A sub-solution to the toggling between prior tabs and revising data is that you could enable auto-binding inputs for those fields. So, I envision that Step 1 creates a workflow thing and then subsequent fields are auto-binding, then a final workflow to wrap up any other actions - ex. trigger another thing like an email. Though I haven’t used auto-binding in this way enough yet to have a strong opinion.
