Configure legacy Workflows

Legacy Workflows in Benchling provide a structured approach to managing experimental processes, enabling teams to track samples, register entities, and manage transfers seamlessly. While Benchling has introduced updated workflow features, many organizations continue to utilize Legacy Workflows for their established protocols.

This guide offers detailed instructions on configuring Legacy Workflows, if you are looking for information on Workflows, see the linked article. 

Configure a legacy Workflow template

In order for your team to be able to execute any legacy Workflows, a template must be configured with the appropriate permissions for the users. During template configuration you will be creating stages that map to the steps of your scientific processes. By adding and configuring stages, you define the sequence of operations your team will follow. 

Each stage requires an entry template, which defines the layout and content of the notebook entry that your team will complete that stage. 

1. In the legacy Workflows application, navigate to the Templates tab
2. Click + New Template
3. This will open a modal requiring you to fill out attributes including a template name, owner, prefix, and permissions. Once you have filled out all the information, click Create workflow template
4. Click the + icon next to Stage to add a new stage
5. This will open a modal requiring you to provide a stage name before you can click Create stage
   • You can optionally provide experimental conditions during template configuration, but if they are subject to change with each Workflow executed, your team can define them each time they create a legacy Workflow
6. In the Entry Template column, click on the name of the stage that you just created to open it and edit it
7. Fill out the Entry with the instructions and structured tables that your team needs to complete this stage, then click Save
8. Repeat this process for each stage that you wish to add
9. When you are ready for your users to be able to access the template click Publish  

When configuring an Entry template, add Registration tables to capture anything that is made during that stage, Inventory tables to capture anything that needs to be stored, and Results tables to capture any data that was collected. For more information about structured tables and inserting them into various entries, see our help article on structured tables. 

Edit published legacy Workflow templates

Once you click Publish, your legacy Workflow template goes from draft mode to a mode that is available for your team to use. If you need to make any changes to the template, the edit functionality allows you to create an updated version of the template.

1. Click Edit on the right hand side of the screen
2. Make any changes to the template, this might include adding or deleting a stage or editing the Entry template
3. When finished with any changes, click Publish 

Your users will now have the option to create a legacy Workflow from either version of the template. Generally, the team should always use the newest version, but if you expect some members to still use a previous version, be sure to communicate expectations with them. 

If you would like to duplicate a version of a template for any reason, click the Save as… button on the right hand side of the screen. This will allow you to update the name and permissions of an existing template. Once you click Publish this will become version 1 of the duplicate version of the template, regardless of what version you used when you saved it as a new template. 

Permissions and access

Organization admins have the ability to create legacy Workflows templates. During the creation process, they define that users, teams, and organizations have the ability to view and create legacy Workflows. Below is a list of the actions users with each set of permissions can take: 

• Admin: admins can view, create, and edit legacy Workflows templates and can also start a legacy Workflow along with editing the Workflow entries and stages
• Write: users with write access can view legacy Workflow templates and can create and start a new legacy Workflow along with editing the Workflow entries and stages
• Read: users with read access can view legacy Workflow templates and legacy Workflow entries, they cannot edit entries or stages
• None: users with no access cannot view legacy Workflows templates nor can they create or view legacy Workflow entries 

The table below provides an additional summary of the actions that users with different permissions can take with legacy Workflows.