Getting started with Workflows in SharePoint 2010

Question

I'm a starting sharepoint developer asked to implement the following scenario in sharepoint 2010. We're a bit lost on the best approach to get started.. I'm really struggling to find the best practise solution.

This is the requested flow:

• A user can make a request with a title and a description.
• A mail gets sent to the representative with a link to a form.
• A representative can approve or reject the request.
  • If approved: A mail gets sent to Board with a link to form
  • If rejected: A mail gets sent to the user with the message that it has been rejected.
• when the request was approved by the representative, the board can approve or reject the request.
• A mail gets sent to the user and the representative with the descision of the board.

So the list has the following fields:

• Request title
• Request description
• Representative approval
• Representative description
• Board approval
• Board description

The user should see the following form:

• Request title (editable)
• Request description (editable)

The representative should see the following form:

• Request title (read-only)
• Request description (read-only)
• Representative approval (editable)
• Representative description (editable)

The Board should see the following form:

• Request title (read-only)
• Request description (read-only)
• Representative approval (read-only)
• Representative description (read-only)
• Board approval (editable)
• Board description (editable)

My questions:

• What tool is most appropriate for making the forms? Infopath? SPD? VS2010? How do I handle rights to make sure only the board can access the board edit form?
• What kind of workflow do I use? When do I start the workflow(s)? What do I use to develop the workflow(s)?
• How do I handle rights when showing the listview with all requests?
• How can I build the links in the mails sent to the different groups.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Answer 1

With regards to the Workflow part, the good news is that with 2010 you have more flexibility. It might be a good idea to prototype the workflow in SharePoint Designer 2010 and then later if you need to do a more robust workflow you can import it into VS 2010. Just be aware, once it goes into VS, there is no option to export it and bring it back to SharePoint Designer. The workflow can set the specific permissions needed at each step so that only the appropriate people can read or edit the document based on its status.

For the forms part, I think more people will look closer at InfoPath than they did in 2007. They are fairly easy to develop, and there is a lot you can do. There are limitations though so I still lean more towards VS. If the data collected is simple enough, you may just be able to use a regular SharePoint list to collect the data without needing to develop an actual form.

For the emails, there i a property in the list or library and it can be added to the emails.

Answer 2

The first thing that you must check is which version of SharePoint 2010 it will run on and which version of office your users have. It may be that InfoPath is not an option.