Statuses and transitions

Administration → Statuses and transitions is where you decide what each status means to the product, which statuses a record may start in, and which moves between them are allowed. Every other settings screen edits rows; this one edits what the product does with them.

The statuses screen for the work order register, with the lifecycle section and the diagram of the model

Who can use this screen

Permission (as shown on the Access screen)	What it lets you do	Default roles
Configure statuses and transitions	Change every lifecycle, including the default one, at every site or business unit	System Administrator, Maintenance Administrator
Configure statuses and transitions at the sites you look after	Change lifecycles whose every site you look after, and assign a lifecycle to one of your own sites. You cannot change the default lifecycle or assign at business-unit level	System Administrator, Maintenance Administrator

Without either permission the screen shows Statuses are configured by an administrator instead of the editor, because changing what a status means changes what every report counts. See roles.

Element	What it shows or does
statuses	How many statuses the lifecycle on screen offers. Statuses that are no longer offered and hold no records are not counted
moves	How many allowed moves (transitions) connect the offered statuses
records	How many records currently sit in any status of this lifecycle
Register picker	Which register you are configuring. Every register with a state model is listed — see the table below
Lifecycle picker	Appears only when the register runs more than one lifecycle. The default is marked (default)
Add a status	Opens the A new status form below the diagram

Registers that have a state model

Each register has its own statuses and moves, and the screen describes every option in that register’s own words. Only the options that drive something in that register are shown.

Register	Options it offers
Work order	All nineteen options (see what a status does)
Work request	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as active, Files may be attached, Available offline, Nothing follows, Offered
Asset	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as in service, Counts as downtime, Counts as disposed, Required custodian, Files may be attached, Available offline, Nothing follows, Offered
Vendor	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as approved for use, Files may be attached, Nothing follows, Offered
Contract	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as in force, Files may be attached, Nothing follows, Offered
Maintenance plan	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as running, Files may be attached, Nothing follows, Offered
Maintenance occurrence	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as active, Files may be attached, Nothing follows, Offered
Inspection	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as active, Inspector may edit, Labour may be logged, Files may be attached, Available offline, Nothing follows, Offered
Purchase requisition	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as active, Files may be attached, Nothing follows, Offered
Purchase order	New records may start here, Counts as open, Counts as live with the supplier, Files may be attached, Nothing follows, Offered. Listed only where your organisation places purchase orders

The status names a fresh organisation starts with — Open, Assigned, Accepted, In Progress, On Hold, Completed, Closed and Deleted for work orders, for example — are defaults. Rename them, add your own and remove the ones you do not use.

The one rule

A name, a colour and the options can change at any time. What a status means — its category — can only change while nothing is in it.

The screen says this in the What can be changed, and what cannot panel at the top. Every report and dashboard counts records by category rather than by name, so changing the category of a status that holds records would change the answer for months already closed. That is why each status shows how many records it holds, and why the Means box is locked — with the note locked while N records are here — until the status is empty. To change a category anyway, move the records out first. Moves between statuses only govern what happens next, so they can always be changed.

Lifecycles

A register can run more than one lifecycle — for example a separate, shorter process at one site, or for one type of job. The Lifecycle section manages them for every register in the table above.

Control	What it does
Lifecycle name with default	The default lifecycle runs wherever no other lifecycle is assigned. Only an administrator with the full permission can change it — the screen says Every site without a lifecycle of its own runs this one, so an administrator changes it. To change the process at your sites, copy it and assign the copy to them.
made at a site	Marks a lifecycle created by a site manager rather than an administrator
Rename	Changes the lifecycle’s name (Lifecycle name, then Save or Cancel)
Copy into a new lifecycle	Asks for Name of the new lifecycle and Copy. The copy starts with every status, option and move of the original and applies nowhere until you assign it
Remove	Removes a lifecycle that is not the default

Where new records start in a lifecycle

Under Where new jobs start in this lifecycle (or Where new records start in this lifecycle for other registers) you assign the lifecycle to places and types. A lifecycle with no assignment says Nowhere yet. Until it is assigned, no job starts in it. Each picker takes several choices at once, so one press can say “these sites run this lifecycle for these kinds of job”.

Field	What it means	Notes
Where	One or more of your sites. Left empty, it means At every site	A site manager must choose at least one of their own sites, and the empty box reads Choose one or more of your sites. Not offered for vendors, which are not held at a site
Business units	One or more business units. A unit covers each of its sites	Only for administrators with the full permission, and only where your organisation has business units. Empty means None
Type of job / Category / Type of inspection / Type of contract / Category of asset / Type of vendor	One or more types or categories, each covering every type filed under it	Not offered for maintenance plans, occurrences, purchase requisitions or purchase orders
Assign / Make N assignments	Saves one assignment for every pairing of a place and a type you chose — two sites and three types make six	Needs at least a place or a type. More than 500 pairings is refused: “Choose a business unit instead of each of its sites, or a parent type instead of each type under it.”

The most specific assignment wins: a site and a type, then the site, then its business unit, then the type alone. Records already open keep the lifecycle they started in. When a new assignment takes over from another lifecycle, the screen says so. Assignments made together are listed together, as one line such as “At Columbus, Dayton, for Breakdown, Corrective, and every type under each”. The bin at the end of the line removes the whole group; the arrow before it shows each assignment, each with its own Remove this assignment.

Moving open records into a lifecycle

Move open jobs here (or Move open records here) moves records that are still open from another lifecycle into this one, for example after you have changed a site’s process.

Field	What it means	Notes
From	The lifecycle the records are in now	Required
Where	Limit the move to every site, a site or a business unit
Type	Limit the move to one type or category	Where the register has types
Moves to	For each status in the old lifecycle that holds open records, the status in this lifecycle they go to	Each row shows the status name and how many records it holds. Below the list the screen spells out what changes — for example the SLA clock pauses or its category changes from open to active
Why are they moving?	Your reason	Required. Recorded in each record’s history

Each record is put straight into its new status. No move is made, so nothing a move checks or triggers happens and nobody is notified. Finished records stay where they are. The button reads Move N open jobs, and progress appears in the bulk jobs tray.

The shape of the model

The diagram draws every offered status as a box and every allowed move as an arrow, so you can see whether the model has a dead end, whether anything comes back from a closed status, and how many steps lie between open and closed.

Action	Result
Drag a box	Rearranges the diagram
Drag from the dot on a box’s right edge to another status	Allows that move (saved immediately). A move out of a final status that is not completed or closed is refused with … is final. A record that reaches it stays in it.
Click an arrow, or a row in the list below	Selects that move and opens its settings below the list
Double-click a status	Scrolls to that status’s card and opens it

Below the diagram, a table lists every move:

Column	What it shows
Move	From and to, for example Open → Assigned. A move switched off says turned off
Who may make it	The roles allowed to make the move, or Anyone who may edit the record
And also	What the move asks for when it is made, for example Asks for Give it to

What stands on a move

The settings of the Open to Assigned move, below the list of moves

Selecting a move opens its panel. Every change saves as you make it — there is no Save button, and the panel shows Saving… then Saved.

Setting	What it means	Notes
Who may make this move — Role(s)	The roles allowed to make this move	Empty means anyone who may edit the record may make this move. Select all ticks every role. A move set up before roles existed may say it is still behind a named permission until you choose roles
And also — This move is offered	Whether the move is available at all	Off keeps the move in the model but stops anyone making it
What this move asks for	Fields the move’s button asks for in a dialog, written as part of the move	Also ask for offers three groups: This register’s own fields, Your own fields (from Form studio) and Questions that are not fields. Each chosen field shows as a chip, marked optional where it may be left blank, with Stop asking for this. Nothing. This move goes straight through. means the move asks for nothing

The panel’s last box, The rest of what a move can carry, points to the two other places a move is controlled:

What has to be true before a move, and what happens after it are rules asked at Before a status change and After a status change. Open Rules takes you there.
What has to be filled in is Insist on it when on the field itself in Form studio. A condition naming the status refuses the move. Open the Form Studio takes you there.

A status card

Every status has a card below the diagram. A closed card shows its name, its category, records start here or may start here, not offered if it is switched off, how many records it holds, unsaved if you have unsaved changes, and a summary such as 6 of 19 options on · 4 moves out. Click the card to open it — one card is open at a time, and a closed card keeps your unsaved changes.

The Open status card, opened, with its name, category and options

Field	What it means	Notes
Name	What people see on chips, columns, buttons and notifications	Required. Always safe to change: reports count the category, not the name
Means	The category: what the status counts as in every report	Locked while records are in the status. The sentence under the box explains the category in this register’s words
Start new records here	Makes this the status new records start in by default	Not offered on the current default or on a final status. Unavailable while the card has unsaved changes
Remove	Deletes the status	Refused while records are in it, or while it is the default start. Unavailable while the card has unsaved changes
Save / Cancel	Writes or discards the name, category and options	Nothing above is written until you save. The moves below save as you make them.
Where a record can go from here	The moves out of this status, as chips	Each chip has a Disallow … button. Nowhere. A record that reaches this status stays in it. means there are none. The move a Deny makes is not listed here, because it is set under Accept and Deny. On an asset status, a move a booking makes is marked on checkout or on return
Allow a move to	Adds a move from this status to another	Not offered from a final status unless it is a completed or closed one

Category	Meaning (work order wording)
draft	Not yet real work — on no board, in no queue, in no count. Not offered for work orders, because a job is raised once somebody has decided it should happen
open	Outstanding and waiting for somebody
active	Being worked on right now
on hold	Stopped for a reason outside the job — parts, a vendor, an approval
completed	The work is done; the paperwork may not be
closed	Finished and settled. Nothing further happens
cancelled	Abandoned. It never became work
rejected	Refused by somebody with the authority to refuse it

What a status does

The options are grouped on the card under Where records start, What it counts as, What may be done here, The SLA clock, On arrival and The status itself. Where two options cannot both be on, the card shows a three-way choice instead of two checkboxes.

Option	What it does (work order wording unless noted)
New records may start here	A record may be created straight into this status. The default start always has it. On assets several statuses usually have it, so an asset that has been running for years can be entered In Service
Counts as open	Included in “open work” everywhere — the planner board, the site queue, the asset’s count of outstanding jobs and the open-job count beside each technician when a job is assigned. Turned off automatically, and locked, when Nothing follows is on, or when the status means closed: “This status means closed, so a record in it is not open”
Counts as active	Somebody is working on the job now. Drives technician utilisation and the current job on a handset. Shown as Counts as in service for assets, Counts as approved for use for vendors, Counts as in force for contracts, Counts as running for maintenance plans and Counts as live with the supplier for purchase orders
Counts as downtime	Assets only. The asset is unavailable while it sits here; availability, MTBF and a floor plan’s “down” count are measured from it
Counts as assigned	Somebody has been given the job. Putting a name on a job moves it to whichever of these statuses it can reach
Counts as accepted	The assignee has taken the job on. Arriving here stamps the assignment
Counts as disposed	Assets only. The asset has left the register for good; Dispose takes an asset here
Required custodian	Assets only. The asset cannot be saved while it is here unless somebody is named as holding it — on every edit, not only on the move
Technician may edit	Tasks, readings and notes can be changed while the job is here. Shown as Inspector may edit for inspections
Parts may be issued	Stock can be issued against the job. Off means the storekeeper is refused
Labour may be logged	Hours can be booked to the job (and to an inspection)
Edit only after check-in	The job’s own form — its title, description, asset and the rest — cannot be edited while it is here until somebody has checked in to it. Checking out does not lock it again. Tasks, readings, parts, labour and moving the job on are not affected. On the job, Edit is shown but unavailable, saying “Check in to edit this job”. Nobody can check in where labour may not be logged, so tick Labour may be logged too unless the job is checked in somewhere earlier
Files may be attached	Photographs and documents can be added while the record is here
Dates may be moved	The planned start and due date can be changed. Off refuses a reschedule outright, including from a bulk move
More time may be asked for	Ask for more time is offered on a job here, to somebody who may move a promise. Off on every status until you tick one
The SLA clock — Keeps running / Pauses / Stops	Pauses holds the response or resolution clock while the job is here and adds the waiting minutes back to the due date when it leaves. Stops ends the clock here
The time clock — Is left alone / Clocks the assignee on / Clocks whoever is on it off	Arriving here checks the assignee in, or checks out whoever is checked in, as if they had pressed Check In or Check Out
Available offline	A handset may move a record into this status without a connection
Nothing follows	The end of the road: a record here goes nowhere else
Offered	Turning this off keeps every historical record readable and stops the status being used for anything new

Accept and Deny

Work order statuses only. Tick The assignee accepts or denies the job here on a status to give the person the job is assigned to an Accept and a Deny button while the job is in it. A Deny always asks them why. Everybody else looking at the job sees the ordinary moves.

Setting	What it means
Accept goes to	One of the moves already allowed out of this status, or Stays in this status, which records the yes and moves nothing. No Accept button leaves Deny on its own
Deny goes to	One of the moves already allowed out of this status, or any status before this one in the lifecycle. Choosing an earlier status with no move to it yet adds that move. No Deny button leaves Accept on its own
After a Deny, the job goes to	Nobody — leave it unassigned, or Whoever had it in the status the Deny goes back to

Accept and Deny are moves like any other, so the roles, questions and rules on those moves apply to the buttons too. That is also why Accept goes to only offers statuses a move already reaches: an Accept straight to Closed cannot be set up. The settings save as you change them, and unticking the box takes both buttons away. See Accepting or turning down a job.

On a booking

Asset statuses only, where your organisation has the bookings module. On a booking decides what an asset’s status becomes when a booking hands it over or takes it back.

Setting	What it means
Change it when handed over	Tick, then choose the status from the moves already allowed out of this one. At hand-over, an asset in this status starts with that status chosen
Change it when taken back	The same, for when the asset comes back

Unticked, the asset keeps its status. Whoever is at the counter can still choose another, and is refused if the move is not theirs to make. Both are unavailable until a move out of the status is allowed — “Allow a move out of this status first, and a booking can then change it.” A status that takes an asset off the register, or one where nothing follows, does not offer them. Statuses that are no longer offered and hold no records fold away under N statuses no longer offered at the bottom of the screen. Open the fold to switch one back on. A status that is not offered but still holds records stays in the main list, because those records need moving.

Adding a status

Add a status opens A new status:

Field	What it means	Notes
Name	What the status is called	Required. Example placeholder: Parked
Means	Its category	Defaults to on hold

Add creates it; Cancel closes the form. A new status is unreachable until you allow a move into it from somewhere — open a card that should lead to it and use Allow a move to, or drag an arrow on the diagram. Then open the new status’s card to set its options. A worked example — a fourth on-hold state, Waiting for Access, for jobs blocked because production will not release the machine:

Create it

Add a status, name it Waiting for Access, Means on hold, Add.

Set its options

Open its card. Set The SLA clock to Pauses and leave Technician may edit off. Save.

Allow moves in and out

From Assigned, Accepted and In Progress, Allow a move to Waiting for Access. From Waiting for Access, allow moves back to Assigned and In Progress.

Decide who may make the moves

Click each new arrow and choose Role(s) if only supervisors should park a job.

A new chip appears on the work order list and a new column on dispatch automatically.

Setting up

Configuration

Who can use this screen

Registers that have a state model

The one rule