Activity Types

When you define activity types, you create the templates with which users create the activities. In an activity type, you specify which attributes must be filled in for an activity and whether a workflow is associated with it.

If similar processes are carried out repeatedly in your company, involving colleagues from different departments, you can map these processes in so-called workflows. Maybe the processes are related to your activities. Examples are the creation of assets (e.g. ads for a digital campaign) or the approval process of a campaign planning. Within Uptempo, workflows are managed in the Job module.

If this is the case for your activities, you can directly link the corresponding activity type to a workflow type. The workflow and the activity that are linked in this way can exchange data. The workflow type represents the standardized process and its data and is—like an activity type—a template.
Each workflow type contains so-called variables, which offer different editing options for the job. For example, a variable can allow assets to be attached to the job or data to be entered.

To associate an activity type with a workflow type, you must consider the following points:

  • Before you can link the activity type to a workflow type, the workflow type must have been created. How to create a workflow, you learn in Job Manager Administration Manual.

  • Each variable included in a workflow has a technical name. To link the workflow type to an activity type you need the technical names of the variables that should be linked to attributes. See How to Find Out Technical Name of a Variable.

  • You need to create a clear concept of where data is collected and where it can only be displayed. Data can be entered only on one side and displayed to the other side only synchronized. When creating the link between activity type and workflow type, you must specify whether the data will be entered in the activity or in the workflow.

Activities that are not meant for demand generation or in other words do not fill in the top of the marketing funnel do not need impact modeling. To reduce number of clicks when creating or viewing activities you as an administrator can hide the Impact tab for the activity types that don't need impact modeling. By default, impact modeling is activated for an activity type.

You switch impact modeling on or off when creating or editing an activity type, see Prerequisites and Editing an Activity Type

As an administrator, you have the ability to both disable and delete activity types. When should you use which function?

  • Disabling activity type: Disable an activity type if user shouldn't use the type anymore. If you disable an activity type, users cannot create activities basing on the type.

  • Deleting activity type: An activity type can be deleted only if no activity exists that bases on the type. If deleting an activity type cannot be avoided, all existing activities basing on the type must first be deleted. Before deleting activities, check if you might lose data that you need for reporting. If so, consider disabling the activity instead.