Can I use 2010 Designer workflows on 2013 Sharepoint sites?

Question

Background: We are using SharePoint 2013 and the portal has very minimal workflows (if any) created so far. We are in the process of getting Nintex.

Initial Problem: My designer gives me the error:

"The option for the Sharepoint 2013 workflow platform is not available because the workflow service is not configured on the server. Please contact your system administrator. "

Steps taken so far: Reached out to our server administrators and were told "only supports SharePoint 2010 for Nintex workflows; SharePoint 2013 workflows are not available. If you are looking for additional capability beyond the 2010 style workflows, we would suggest taking a look at Nintex."

---

---

So I guess my question is:

will 2010 workflows work on SharePoint 2013 if made them in designer 2013?

Would this be affecting why a 2010 workflow would not be working in a 2013 environment? (ie not sending emails out)

Answer 1

Yes -- there are two flavors of SharePoint workflows.

SharePoint 2010 workflows -- uses Windows Workflow Foundation 3 that is built into SharePoint and is completely dependant on SharePoint.

SharePoint 2013 workflows -- uses Windows Workflow Foundation 4, called "Workflow Manager", and is independent of SharePoint.

To answer your questions: Yes you can use SharePoint 2013 Designer to create SharePoint 2010 workflows on SharePoint 2013 or SharePoint 2016. But it sounds like the SharePoint 2013 is not an option because the Workflow Manager server is not installed or configured. There could be a holdup for why they haven't configured it. As far as 2010 workflows not sending emails in SharePoint 2013, that should depend on if the outgoing mail is working properly, or is set up on the SharePoint farm, and would need more troubleshooting with logs, errors, etc.

Answer 2

From this error "The option for the Sharepoint 2013 workflow platform is not available because the workflow service is not configured on the server. Please contact your system administrator." In order to use the SharePoint 2013 Designer workflow you have to setup the Workflow Manager, without it you cant use it.

Introduction to SharePoint workflow

Install Workflow Manager 1.0 For Use In SharePoint 2013

Answer 3

Yes, you can SharePoint 2010 platform workflow on SharePoint 2013.

You can also use SharePoint 2013 platform workflow on SharePoint 2013, to use SharePoint 2013 platform workflow, you need to install and configure workflow manager for SharePoint 2013.

Install and configure workflow manager for SharePoint Server for your reference:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/governance/install-and-configure-workflow-for-sharepoint-server