Building a Flow

A Flow is a training path: a set of courses your volunteers take in order. You assign the Flow once, and each person works through it at their own pace. When they finish, EquipEngine can issue a certificate and let their ministry lead know.

Use a Flow for anything with more than one step, such as new volunteer onboarding, a serve-team certification, or a leadership track.

Create a Flow

1. Go to Flows in the sidebar and click New Flow.
2. Give it a name (for example, "New Volunteer Onboarding") and click Create Flow.
3. You'll land on the Flow's Outline tab, where you build it.

Canvas or List

The Outline has two views. Switch between them with the List / Canvas toggle at the top. EquipEngine remembers your choice.

• Canvas shows your Flow as a map, from Start to Complete. Click any box to edit it in the panel on the right. This is the default on a computer.
• List shows the same steps as a simple list. It's the default on a phone or tablet.

Both views edit the same Flow, so use whichever you prefer.

Add courses

• To add a course at the end: type its name in the Search courses… box at the top, pick it, and click Add course.
• To add a course in a specific spot (Canvas): click the small + on the line between two steps, pick a course, and click Add course.

Courses come from your course library, so create the course first under Courses if it isn't there yet.

Change the order

• Drag a step by the dotted handle on its left edge.
• Or click the step and use Move up / Move down in the panel.

By default, a course unlocks once the required courses before it are finished.

Edit a step

Click a course to open its settings:

• Display name: what volunteers see in this Flow. Leave it blank to use the course's own title.
• Required / Optional: only required courses count toward finishing the Flow.
• Unlocks when learner finishes…: choose which earlier step has to be done first, or let it unlock right away.
• Due: how many days after someone is assigned the Flow this course is due. Leave it blank for no due date.
• Reminders: email reminders sent before the due date.
• Notify ministry lead: email a leader when someone finishes this step.

There's no Save button. Changes save automatically. To remove a step, click the trash icon at the top of its panel. The course itself stays in your library.

Start and Complete

The first and last boxes on the Canvas hold Flow-wide settings.

• Start (Auto-enroll): add Planning Center teams, lists, or groups. Anyone in them is enrolled automatically, including people who join later.
• Complete: what happens when someone finishes:
  • Certificate: set the certificate's title and who it's signed by.
  • Notify ministry lead: email a leader every time someone finishes the Flow.
  • Renewal cycle: turn on Re-assign every … months for training that must be repeated, like a yearly safety refresher. Choose how often, and when to send reminder emails before it's due again.

In List view, these same settings are below the steps.

Publish and assign

1. Click Preview to see the Flow the way a volunteer will.
2. Click Publish. Volunteers can only see published Flows.
3. Click Assign to send it to a person, a role, a Planning Center group, or a cohort.

Follow everyone's progress on the Progress tab.

Getting around the Canvas

• Move around: drag an empty part of the canvas, or scroll.
• Zoom: use the − and + buttons in the corner. On a trackpad, pinch. With a mouse, hold Ctrl (or ⌘ on a Mac) and scroll.
• Reset the view: click the recenter button next to the zoom buttons.
• Close the panel: click an empty part of the canvas, or press Esc.

Want different volunteers to take different courses? See Branches & Tracks.