Hello again!
This article is the final episode of the three-part series, “Creating a Seminar Reception System with No Code”.
In the first episode we published a seminar application form and created a function that sends an acceptance email to applicants when they sign up through the form.
Then in the second episode we added a function that automatically sends a reminder email to applicants three days before the seminar date.
In the third and final episode we will add a function that will send an e-mail to seminar participants requesting that they answer a questionnaire, and allow seminar participants to answer the questionnaire.
This means that the seminar reception system will finally be complete. With all these features you can reduce the hassle of sending out questionnaires, prevent people from forgetting to send them out, and also keep track of the status of responses and non-responses.
We will start by organizing the Processing Flow and Data Items as in the first and second episodes.
Organize the Processing Flow and Data Items
This time, we will add the following Processes after the seminar.
- Accept applications for seminar participation.
- A member of the seminar team will review the information received and accept the application if it is not inappropriate (a competitor, anti-social, etc.).
- An acceptance email will be sent to the applicant.
- A reminder email will be sent to the applicant (when the seminar date is approaching).
- After the seminar a member of the seminar team will check the participation rate.
- An email will be sent to seminar participants requesting them to complete a survey.
- Seminar participants answer the questionnaire.
You have already created 1, 2, and 3 in episode 1, and 4 in episode 2. This time we will add the processes for 5, 6, and 7.
Let’s also set up the necessary Data Items.
- Name
- Company name / Affiliation
- Email address
- Phone number
- Questions
- Internal communication memo
- Seminar date
- Seminar attendance record
- Survey form key
- Question 1 – Question 4
Data items 1 through 7 have already been created in Episode 1 and Episode 2. This time we will add data items 8, 9, and 10.
Add a seminar participation record where the applicant’s participation in the seminar (Process 5) or absence from the seminar (Process 6) can be entered so that participation can be checked afterwards.
We will continue by adding Data Items related to the survey form. We don’t want the URL of the survey form to be easily guessed (*), so we will add a Data Item called “Survey Form Key” to make it hard to guess. We will also add the four survey questions.
※ You don’t want non-participants to be able to guess the survey URL and answer the survey.
After organizing up to this point, all you have to do is set it up.
Add a Function to Send an Email Requesting a Survey Response
Application for Questetra BPM Suite Free Version
For codeless development we will use Questetra BPM Suite, a platform for building systems by drawing workflow diagrams. If you would like to build a seminar reception system as described in this article, please apply for the 60-day free Trial. You only need your email address to apply.
Click here to apply for Questetra BPM Suite Free Trial. (Note: please apply for either Professional or Advanced.)
The seminar reception system introduced in this article can be easily run on the Questetra BPM Suite platform you are using. All you have to do is to import the file that can be downloaded from the following page.
If you want to check it right away, please consider using this service.
Seminar Registration 3
Modify the Workflow Diagram and Add Data Items
Log-in to Questetra BPM Suite as a user with App Creator Authorization and proceed with the system development using the App Settings function.
For the workflow diagram, place the items related to the survey response in the workflow diagram created in Episode 2, as per the process flow organized in the section “Organize the Processing Flow and Data Items”.
Add the area surrounded by the red dotted line in the workflow diagram. The roles of the items to be added are as follows
- The blue square “Seminar Attendance Record” is where the seminar team members will enter whether each applicant actually attended the seminar or not.
- The round icon “Send Survey Request Email” will automatically send out a survey request email.
- The gray square “Seminar Survey Form” is the process where seminar attendees can fill out the survey; clicking on the URL in the email sent in step 2 will open the seminar survey form screen.
We will continue by adding the Data Items. As mentioned earlier, the Data Items to be added are “Seminar Attendance Record”, “Survey Form Key”, and four survey questions.
Seminar Attendance Record will be added as a Select-type Data Item so that members of the seminar team can enter whether the applicant was present or absent.
The Survey Form Key is used as part of the URL which displays the survey form and is added as a String-type item. The role of the Survey Form Key is to prevent people from easily guessing the survey form URL, so we’ll configure it so that a random character is automatically entered as the initial value. If we assume that there are 12 characters to be entered, we can enter the following formula in the initial value field.
#{#randomString(12)}
The last step is to add the survey questions. We’ll add Select-types to allow people to choose from a selection, and a String-type to allow people to answer freely. In this case, we will have three Select-type and one String-type.
Set up the Seminar Attendance Record Process.
In the blue square “Seminar Attendance Record” Process in the workflow diagram, members of the seminar team enter whether the applicant attended the seminar or not. When the value of the Seminar Attendance Record Data Item is entered as “Present” an email will be sent to the applicant requesting a survey response.
Setting up a branch
Set up the workflow so that if the Seminar Attendance Record is set to “Present” it will go to the Process of sending an email requesting a survey response, and if it is set to “Absent” it will skip the survey request and go to the end.
This setting is made in the Split tab in the Seminar Attendance Record Process settings screen. Here, you can specify the destination and the conditions for proceeding to that destination. If you select the button “The token moves to a Destination according to the satisfied condition. (Only one “Finish Task” button is displayed.)”, three items will be displayed.
Click on the pencil symbol to the left of the line that says “Send Survey Request Email” to open the condition settings screen. Enter “Present” as the name of the condition and turn on the “Move if conditions are met” button to open the condition text settings. Click on the left dropdown (labeled “Title”) to see the list of Data Items you can set, and select Seminar Attendance Record. Click on the middle dropdown (marked “has been entered”) and select the value “is equal to”, and then you will be able to select Present/Absent in the next dropdown to the right. In this case select “Present” and your settings are complete.
Next, make the same settings for the row that has no name in the “Destination” field. In this case, specify the condition name as “Absent” and the selections should be the same except for “Absent” on the right dropdown.
The line with “Default Flow” displayed in the condition name will be used if none of the other conditions are met. In this example, if the Seminar Attendance Record has not been entered. If you do not want to request a questionnaire if you do not know whether the requester was present or absent, specify the condition with the blank name as the destination.
Setting up the Seminar Survey Form Process
Configure the grey square “Seminar Survey Form” process. Set it up so that the seminar participants can enter information into the Data Items related to the questions.
Open the Seminar Survey Form Process Settings screen, click on the General tab and select Survey Form Key in the API Key section.
The URL to access the survey form screen defined in this Step can be found in the Properties screen that you can access by clicking on the gear icon that appears when the Step is highlighted. The URL shown in the (not editable) URL field is used to access this form. (The blue-colored part is different depending on the version of Questetra BPM Suite you are using.)
https://example-example-000.questetra.net/System/ReceiveTask/Form/123/99/(Process ID)/(API Key)/view
Inserting this URL into the survey response request email will allow email recipients to respond to the survey. But what about the Process ID and API Key? We will explain the specific settings for these in the next section.
Setting up an Email Request for Survey Responses
We will set it up in the same way as the function to send an email that was added in episodes 1 and 2. In this email we will make sure that the URL to view the survey form is inserted into the body of the email.
As explained in the previous section, the URL to display the survey form will be as follows. (The blue-colored part is different depending on the version of Questetra BPM Suite you are using.)
https://example-example-000.questetra.net/System/ReceiveTask/Form/123/99/(Process ID)/(API Key)/view
You can write this in the body of the email, but the (process ID) and (API key) should be as follows.
In both cases, click on Insert Reference and replace the Process ID (#{processInstanceId} will be inserted) in the (Process ID) section, and in the (API Key) section select the Survey Form Key (a character indicating the field name will be inserted) and replace it with the characters to be inserted.
If the field name of the Survey Form Key is q_Survey_Form_Key, the URL will be as follows. (The blue-colored part is different depending on the version of Questetra BPM Suite you are using.
https://example-example-000.questetra.net/System/ReceiveTask/Form/123/99/#{processInstanceId}/#{#q_Survey_Form_Key}/view
Operation Check
When you have finished setting up the system this far, you can release it to the public.
It is the same as the second episode until the reminder email is sent. After the reminder email is sent, the seminar team members will be able to enter whether the applicant attended the seminar or not. If the applicant enters that they attended the seminar, an email will be automatically sent to them asking them to answer the questionnaire.
As shown in the figure above, the number of cases remaining in the seminar questionnaire form is displayed. Click here to see a list of people who haven’t responded to the survey, making it easier to take actions such as contacting them.
Summary
This time, we added a function to conduct a questionnaire for those who attended the seminar. With the gradual addition of functions from the first and second episodes, it has become a respectable seminar reception system in its own right.
- The seminar application form is now available.
- An acceptance email will be automatically sent to the applicant.
- A reminder email is automatically sent when the seminar date approaches.
- After the seminar, a survey response request email will be automatically sent to participants.
- Published questionnaire response form
We have introduced how to build a system with such functions using no code in Questetra BPM Suite.
This system can be further developed to automatically escalate to the sales department if a seminar attendee selects “I have a question I want to discuss” in the questionnaire, which will allow for a more detailed response.
The seminar reception system introduced here, which allows participants to answer questionnaires, can be imported into the Questetra BPM Suite platform you are using, and you can start using it immediately. All you have to do is to import the file that can be downloaded in the next page. If you want to try it immediately and arrange it for your own use, please use this.
Seminar Registration 3
That’s it for this time!
