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How to: send a task back to an earlier phase
- 1Open the task you want to send back from — in the case view or under “My tasks”. This works as long as it is open, even if nothing has been entered in it yet.
- 2Choose “Send back to …” at the bottom next to the main action (or in the phase’s ⋮ menu). The command names the target and shows the round.
- 3Enter the reason — it cannot be done without one.
- 4The target phase opens right away in a new round, prefilled with the answers so far. The phases in between wait until it is completed again.
- 5Your task stays open; above its form it says “Sent back to …”. Complete it only once the target is done again.
The flow inside the case
Via the “List / Diagram” toggle in the top right you view the same flow from two angles, each with the live state: you see at a glance what is done, what is in progress and what is still waiting. The list view is the working view, where you work on tasks. The diagram view focuses entirely on the flow.
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Drag on empty space | pans the picture |
| Mouse wheel, two fingers | zoom |
| Double-click empty space | zooms in |
| −, + in the zoom bar | zooms out or in |
| “Fit to view” | shows the whole picture, never larger than 100 % |
| “100 %” | shows the picture at its original size |
| Double-click a task (or ↗ in the bar of the selected step) | opens it in the sheet next to it — the same sheet as in the list; you stay in the diagram |
| ✕ or Escape | closes the sheet |
| A phase in the diagram | takes you to the list and expands there |
You move the diagram and the BPMN view the same way. The zoom bar sits on the right of the bar above the diagram, never on top of the picture. If a diagram is larger than the area, it opens at the top left at a readable size, and “Continues below” tells you there is more underneath. Your browser remembers the section, the zoom and the chosen notation, even after a reload.
When you switch from the list to the diagram while a task is open, it jumps to that task and briefly highlights it. Files, comments and history are always reachable via the “⋮” menu, in all views.
The BPMN view
In the diagram, the “Flow / BPMN” toggle switches to BPMN notation: the same phases and tasks in the standard notation, with each step’s state as a marker on its box and a small glyph for its kind (manual, send, AI step).
On the task level a third toggle appears there: “by phase / by responsibility”. By phase, the default, keeps the tasks inside their phase frames and the phases inside their workflow frames; the frames run from left to right in the order they are executed. By responsibility puts them into lanes instead, one per role, so you see the handovers between the people involved, including those from one phase or workflow to the next.
Not both at once: one axis carries one grouping. A task without a role sits in the lane of the person it is assigned to.
The download button in the zoom bar downloads the BPMN view as a .bpmn file — on the chosen level and with every frame expanded, even if you collapsed it on screen. Each frame begins there with a start circle and ends with an end circle that names what has been achieved. The file opens in any BPMN tool.
When the flow engine halts a case
When the flow engine halts a case, that appears as a banner above the tabs — in a signal color, stating what happened and what to do next: for instance “This case is stalled” or “Dependencies run in a cycle”, together with “Next step: open the blocking phase in the workflow and check its conditions.”
| Case | What you see | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| The incident belongs to a phase | Its name is shown in the banner. | Clicking the banner jumps to that phase. |
| Several incidents are open | The most severe one is on top, with “N more incidents” underneath. | One click reveals them all. |
| You hold the “Override case” right | There is a menu on the right of the banner. | Mark the incident as resolved or ignore it; it then disappears from the banner. |
Which incidents exist is decided by the flow engine — here you only see the open ones of this case.
Back-jumps and rounds
If the template has a back-jump connection, the flow can return from a later phase to an earlier one — automatically on a rejection, or by hand. By hand, use “Send back to …” right in the opened task at the bottom next to the main action, or in the phase’s ⋮ menu.
The same applies one level up: if the workflow has a back-jump connection to an earlier workflow (say from following up back to creating the quote), its open tasks show “Send back to ‘<workflow>’” and the workflow tile’s ⋮ has the same entry. If both connections exist, both buttons appear, the phase first.
| Condition | What applies |
|---|---|
| The task is open | You can send back, even if nothing has been entered in it yet. |
| Permission and responsibility | The command only appears if you would be allowed to perform it: you hold the permission and are responsible for the case. |
| Target, round, reason | The command names the target (phase or workflow), shows the round and requires a reason. |
| Round limit reached | Every connection has a round limit. Once reached, the command stays disabled and shows the number. |
| Already sent back | Until the target is done again, the task offers no second command — after a workflow back-jump neither does the workflow tile’s ⋮. |
The task you send back from stays open: above its form it says “Sent back to …” with the round, the person, the date and the reason, and that you should complete it only once the target is done again.
Everything between target and source is invalidated and runs again in a new round, prefilled with the answers so far. The target phase opens right away; the phases in between wait until it is completed again and then open in their usual order.
When sending back to an earlier workflow, its first phase opens. The workflow you send back from waits until the earlier one is completed again — until then it offers no further back-jump.
What ends with the old round
| What | What applies after the back-jump |
|---|---|
| An Outlook draft from an earlier round | It counts as outdated: the send step only mentions it and offers “Send and complete” again, with the draft in the ▾. If the old draft is sent from Outlook anyway, it does not complete the task of the new round. |
| A snooze on the task | ends with the old round |
| A submission through the portal | ends with the old round: the task counts as returned to the customer, who can edit and submit it again. |
| An agent’s proposals | end with the old round |
| Guest links | are revoked — create a new one for the new round if needed |
Round 2 and “So far”
A task that runs again after a back-jump shows “Round 2” (or higher) in its row. In the opened task body — in the case view and under “My tasks” alike — “So far” sits above the form: what was entered in earlier rounds, by whom and when. The latest round is expanded, older ones you expand yourself.
“So far” is readable, not editable, and shown as in the form: Yes/No, choices by their label, amounts and dates in the usual format, a group as cards with column names, a long formatted text shortened with “more”. Tasks that never jumped back and whose phase does not repeat show nothing about rounds.
In the diagram the back-jump connection appears as an amber, dashed edge pointing against the reading direction, on every level. In the BPMN view a task’s box carries its round number from round 2 on.
The task back-jump
Within a phase there is also the task back-jump: if changes are requested on a task (or it is completed with the defined answer), only the target task opens again, and the rest follows in order.
Before rejecting, the decision bar names the consequence — “Then it goes back to “Check remaining leave” (back-jump 1 of at most 3)”, at the limit instead that no further round comes. Above the form of the target task it says “Sent back from …” with the task, the person, the date and the reason, until it is completed again.
Repeating phases
If a phase repeats (set up in the template under “Repeat when …”), it starts over after each round as long as the defined answer is selected in the triggering task — for example the answer “Partial acceptance” in “Customer feedback”. If a different answer is selected or the limit is reached, the case moves on.
| Feature | After a back-jump | In a repeating phase |
|---|---|---|
| Task row | “Round 2” (or higher) | “Round 2 of 5” (the current round and the limit) with a circular arrow |
| Form | prefilled with the answers so far | empty |
| “So far” | latest round expanded, older ones collapsed | what was entered in the previous rounds, by whom and when — the latest round expanded, under “My tasks” too |
In the new round, you see right away what the customer last asked and what you answered. If the task edits columns of cards from an earlier task (released in the template under “Also used in other tasks”, e.g. a “Status” per offer), each earlier round also shows how the cards stood at the end of that round: each card with its heading and the released columns. The new round starts from exactly that state.
If “Show in the look-back what was last sent” is switched on for the task in the template (in the task window under “Flow”), “So far” first shows the case’s last completed send before this round — its name, the date, who completed it, “via Outlook to …” or “via email to …” and the attached files; click a file to download it.
If nothing has been sent yet, it shows the last document step with the generated files instead. This entry appears from round 1 on. The history records every new round (“Phase repeated (new round) — Round 2 of at most 5”) and reaching the limit (“Round limit reached — no further round, the case moves on”).
Follow-up: a task a timer opens
If the template has a timer on a task with “Open a prepared task” (see “Creating and maintaining templates”), the prepared task only appears once the timer opens it — then in the case and for its assignees under “My work”. An example: once “Customer feedback” has been open for 7 days, the timer opens “Follow-up”. The title keeps count: “1. Follow-up”, next time “2. Follow-up” — counting the follow-ups opened, not the timer’s cycles. If a follow-up stays open across a cycle, it keeps its title.
Above the form a note says what the timer does next, such as “The timer checks in again on 2 November 2026 if this follow-up is still open then. On 21 November 2026, Bricksta closes “Customer feedback” with “No answer”.” If a cycle comes while the follow-up is still open, it stays the same task with the same due date, and the note turns into a message such as “Cycle 3 of 5 – open since 26 October, deadline overdue.”; the assignees get a reminder, and the note says who was reminded when.
At the last cycle it reads “Last follow-up – no more after this one.” Below, under “So far”, you see what was entered in the earlier follow-ups, by whom and when, and which cycle stayed unworked, such as “Cycle 3 · … stayed unworked – “2. Follow-up” was still open”.
At the end of the form the task asks how to continue, such as “What next?”. Both reasons appear in the history.
| Answer | Effect |
|---|---|
| “Keep following up” (preset) | The cycles continue. At the last cycle this answer reads “Wait for the reply”, because no further cycle comes. |
| “Revise offer” | Jumps back to an earlier workflow and requires a reason; below it says which back-jump this is and who is notified, such as “Jump back 1 of 3 · Anna Berger (owner) will be notified”. Locked, with a sentence saying why: if you are neither assigned to the follow-up nor responsible for the case, or if all back-jumps are used up. |
| “Stop following up” | Requires a reason and ends the cycles until “Customer feedback” starts again; “Ends after …” keeps running, and “Customer feedback” then shows who stopped it, when and why. |
| Button at the bottom | Effect |
|---|---|
| “Complete task” | Completes the follow-up; “Customer feedback” stays open, and the timer checks in again at the next cycle. |
| “Enter reply” | For when the customer’s answer came in during the follow-up: saves your entries, completes the follow-up and opens “Customer feedback”. If required fields are still missing, the follow-up stays open as a draft, and you land on the feedback anyway. You only see the button if you may also work on “Customer feedback” — and not while “Revise offer” is selected. |
An open follow-up is dropped as soon as it is no longer needed: when “Customer feedback” is completed, when it ends through “Ends after …”, or on the jump back through “Revise offer”. It is then called “dropped”, disappears from “My work” and does not count towards progress; whatever was already entered stays readable. That is why a follow-up may only be visible briefly: if the timer opens it in the morning and the feedback is completed shortly after, it is dropped again right away — the history shows both entries.
The history records every step with its source:
| Source in the history | Entries |
|---|---|
| “Timer” — what the timer does | “Task opened” with “2. Follow-up (cycle 2 of 5)” and “Reminder (follow-up still open)” |
| “Bricksta” — the consequences Bricksta draws itself | “Task no longer needed”, “Follow-up timers ended” (after a back-jump, until the new round of “Customer feedback” starts) and “Task waits for the jump back” |
| Your name | “Task done” with the chosen answer, “Follow-ups stopped” with the reason, “Back-jump executed” with the reason and “Jump back n of 3”, and “Draft saved” |
Workflows ended early
If a workflow ends early because a task in another workflow was completed (set up in the template under “Ends when …”), the case calls it “ended early” — with its own sign (a square in a circle) and the reason, for example “ended because “Sponsor's response” was completed”. This shows on its workflow card, as a notice above its phases, in the history (“Workflow ended early”) and in the diagram.
| Case | What happens |
|---|---|
| The workflow ends early | Its open tasks are called “dropped” and no longer appear under “My work”; completed ones stay completed. |
| The workflow was cancelled by hand | It is still called “cancelled”. |
| The setting has a condition (for example “only if Response ≠ No answer”) and it does not hold when the task is completed | The workflow keeps running; the history says: “the condition was not met”. |
| The value for the condition is missing | The workflow keeps running; the history says: “the value for the condition was missing”. |
| The task is reopened and completed again with a different value | The new answer counts. |
| Someone else completes the triggering task while you have the case open | The case shows the new state without reloading — even after a briefly interrupted connection. |
In the diagram the line “ends” runs from the task to the workflow: muted while the event has not fired, highlighted afterwards; the box then shows “ended early” instead of “Ends when …”. In the BPMN view the same applies to the boundary event on the frame. The legend in the help window [?] explains lines and states.