BlueHill Automations: user guide

What an automation is

An automation is a rule with four parts. When something happens (the trigger), if certain conditions hold, then do one or more actions, with timing that says whether to run right away, wait a while, or stay inside business hours.

Rules live in one of four places: the whole organization, a board template, a single board or a form. A template rule applies to every board built from that template; an organization rule applies to every board, and can also react to new customers, accepted quotes and form submissions. Every time a rule fires, BlueHill records a run that shows what each action did or why it was skipped.

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Automation / rule	One when → if → then rule with a name and an On switch. The words are used interchangeably in the app.
Trigger	The event that starts a rule, such as An item enters a status or A board is created. Some triggers run on a schedule instead, such as due-date checks and digests.
Condition	An optional test the rule checks before it runs, such as the item's priority or the board's template. Conditions in a group must all match; separate OR groups let any group match.
Action	What the rule does: email the customer, notify the team, update the board, open a ticket, send a webhook and more. A rule can have up to ten actions, run in order.
Scope	Where a rule lives: the organization, a template, one board or a form.
Inherited rule	A template or organization rule as seen from a board. Boards can pause inherited rules with Run on this board.
Run	One firing of a rule. Runs appear in the Run log with a status such as Done, Scheduled or Skipped.
Run once per item	A timing option that stops a rule firing twice for the same item, board, customer or deal.
Recipe	A ready-made set of rules for a common workflow. Recipes are added switched off so you can review them first.
Merge field	A placeholder such as {{customer_name}} that is filled in when an email, notification or note is sent.
Digest	A scheduled email that lists overdue items for your team or reports a board's progress to the customer.
Webhook	A signed JSON message BlueHill posts to a URL you set up, so other tools can react to board events.
Business hours profile	A set of working hours from Support settings → SLA that rules can wait for.

Where to find Automations

• Operations → Automations opens the organization's Automations page, with tabs for rules, the run log, webhooks, recipes and defaults.
• A board's rules are under ⋮ → Automations in the board header, or the Automations tab of the Edit Board panel.
• A template's rules are on Operations → Board Templates → template → Automations.
• A form's rules are on the Workflow tab of the form.
• The Automated emails switch for one customer is in the Info popover on the customer page.
• The BlueHill mobile app has Automations under Settings, and an Automations row on each board, template and form.

Guides

1. The Automations page at a glance. The five tabs, the rules list and how to read a rule row.
2. Where rules live. Organization, template, board and form rules, and how boards inherit and pause them.
3. Create and manage a rule. The rule editor from name to Create automation, plus editing, duplicating, pausing and deleting.
4. Triggers. Every event that can start a rule, with its settings.
5. Conditions. Narrow a rule with and rows and OR groups; every condition field.
6. Actions. Every action a rule can take and the settings each one asks for.
7. Email the customer. Write the email, insert merge fields, preview it, send a test, and see why an email is skipped.
8. Timing, business hours and digests. Delays, business hours, weekdays, run-once, scheduled digests and the Defaults tab.
9. Check the run log. Every run, its status, what each action did, and how to cancel or retry.
10. Start from a recipe. Ready-made rule sets and how they map to your statuses and categories.
11. Webhooks. Endpoints, signing secrets, test events and deliveries.
12. FAQ and troubleshooting. Why a rule did not fire, why an email was skipped, and other common questions.

How these guides are written

• Bold text is a label you will see on screen, such as a button, a tab or a field.
• A path with arrows, such as Operations → Automations, means open the first item, then the next.
• Italic text is a value you might pick, such as a trigger or status name.
• Screenshots were taken in a demo workspace called Acme Inc. Your boards, customers, statuses and team members will differ.