Workflow Automation: Using Chart Flows

Chart Flows in Workflow Automations can be used to convert any Podio App Report into a data chart. This Report must be created in the Podio App before creating a Chart Flow. These flows can be set to update a created Image widget in a Podio Workspace or an Image field on an individual App Item, with the resulting chart.

Chart Flow 1

This Chart can also be added automatically to your App Description using markdown text.Note: This text will need to be deleted from your App Description when you delete the chart.

More Advanced Charts can be used in Triggered Flows using Update or Create type actions.   These Advanced Charts are best used in PDF’s and other Reports. Use the Update Widget action to the update any Image Tile in a Podio Workspace.

Example

In this example we’ll create a Chart to display on the Main Workspace page to show us how many “New Help Ticket” App Items there currently are.

First, create a team view that will filter Tickets with the Category field status of only “New”.

Chart Flow 2

Then, create a Report and count how many App Items we have in the view created above.

Chart Flow 3

Next, create an empty image tile on the Workspace Activity page.

Chart Flow 4

Everything in Podio is now set up. Complete a Refresh from Podio in your account.

Select the New Chart flow.

Chart Flow 5

Select the App, the Report Source tile, and Chart type.

Chart Flow 6

Style how the Chart will look like with the various options.

Chart Flow 7

When labels appear too long for the chart, we can shorten the character length withsubstr($label,0,10) - with 10 being how many characters we want to display.

Last, choose the Destination tile (as created above) or the App Description. For this example, the image tile from the workspace is chosen. A hyperlink was also added to make it quicker to navigate to our app when we click on our image.

Chart Flow 8

When viewing the Workspace Activity, the chart is shown in the image tile created.

Troubleshooting

Since workspace widgets are not alterable by an app, they will be altered using the Main Account holder. This requires this user to log into Workflow Automations at least once every 30 days to keep the charts active.

Charts take up a lot of actions and can easily exceed your usage when using them on Apps that frequently update. Be sure to Deactivate your chart before completing an import or large update to the data. Once the import is complete, Activate the Chart and re-Save. This will force a refresh of the Chart data.

Workflow Automation: Using Chart Flows