Category: Excel

Creating And Using Approvals In Flow

Ulrich Fisher

With the use of Microsoft Flow, you can now fully manage your list of approved processes or even documents across a series of available services. These include, WordPress, Zendesk, SharePoint, Salesforce, Dynamics 365 and even OneDrive. Read on as we dive in to using approvals in flow.

In order to create your approval workflow, you’ll simply need to add the approvals, start the process and approve the action of flow. After you’ve done this, you can then go on to approve and manage both processes and documents like we’ve mentioned before. Additionally, your approvers can quickly give a response to requests straight from their inbox or even the MS Flow App in addition to directly from the site.

The following is an illustration of the steps that are performed by a flow:

  • Someone goes on to create a request in their SharePoint online list.
  • They add the request to the relevant approval center and then forward an email for it to be approved.
  • The approver then responds with their decision.
  • The SharePoint list is then updated with comments based on the approver’s decision.

Additionally, the user will need the following pre-requisites in order to complete the walkthrough:

  • Requires Office 365 Outlook along with user accounts.
  • Relevant SharePoint list.
  • Microsoft Flow

However, other services such as Gmail, Salesforce and even Zendesk can be used in place of SharePoint or Office 365. Flows can also be created from a completely blank template. This is achieved with the following steps:

  • You will need to firstly need to login to Microsoft Flow.
  • Then you’ll need to select the My Flows tab.
  • Next you’ll need to click on Create from blank.

And if you’re interested in adding a trigger, you’ll need to follow the steps below:

  • In the search box, type in SharePoint.
  • Next you’ll need to select the option “SharePoint-When an item is created trigger”.
  • Then you’ll need to select the SharePoint List name and the Site Address used by your flow to monitor newly added items.

Adding A Profile Action
The following steps can be used to add in a new profile section:

  • You’ll need to select New step followed by Add an action.
  • Then you’ll need to enter the profile into the “choose an action search box”.
  • You can now select the “Office 365 Users-get my profile action”
  • At this point you’ll need to input your flow name and also select create in order to save what you’ve done.

Adding Your Approval Action
If you’re interested in adding your desired approval action, you’ll need to do the following:

  • Firstly, you’ll need to select new step followed by the add action tab.
  • Then you’ll need to type approval in the action box.
  • Next you’ll be able to select “approval – Start an approval action”.
  • After you gotten to this point, you’ll be able to configure the approval card to suite your needs.

As we conclude, we’ve just looked at using approvals in flow. We have also taken you through the flow process. And we have also given you the relevant steps in order for you to add a trigger, a profile action and even your desired approval action!

Learning How to Query SharePoint From Excel

Ulrich Fisher
office

Excel is a versatile program that can be used in many different ways. Even if you use Excel on a regular basis, there is probably a lot about it that you don’t know. If you take the time to learn more about Excel functions, you’ll be able to get much more out of Excel. If you’re interested in learning how to query SharePoint from Excel, you should familiarize yourself with Power Query.

Power Query, also known as Get & Transform in Excel 2016, is an add-in tool that allows connections to additional data sources.

Read Tutorials

There are step-by-step tutorials that will explain exactly how to carry out tasks like this in Excel. These tutorials can be very in-depth, and a lot of these tutorials break things down in an efficient way. You can learn a great deal when you go through these tutorials and follow each step as it’s described.

You can definitely find tutorials that are focused on querying SharePoint, and there are other tutorials that you’ll want to check out as well. If you look for tutorials every once in a while, you’ll be able to master Excel functions that you never used before. Microsoft also has a Getting Started Guide that shows this function in action.

Look For Video Guides

Sometimes, it’s easier to figure out how to do things when you can see someone else do it. You should try to find video guides that will show people carrying out tasks like this in Excel. Most of the best guides out there won’t rush through the steps; the videos will go over things slowly so that you’ll have time to learn.

Not everyone learns in the same way, and it’s important to recognize which learning methods look best for you. If you think that you learn more effectively when you see something in a video, then you’re going to want to look for videos that will teach you the things that you want to know.

Take an Excel Class

If you want to learn a great deal about Excel, the best thing you can do is sign up for some sort of Excel course. There are a lot of different courses out there, and you will definitely be able to find a course that will be able to teach you about Excel and Sharepoint.

There are numerous benefits to signing up for some sort of Excel course. Taking a course like this will allow you to learn from a qualified instructor. You’ll have the chance to ask questions and clarify anything that you don’t understand. In many cases, you can receive certifications after completing these classes, which can help you to get ahead in your career.

If you feel like you don’t have the time for a class, you should know that there are actually tons of options out there. There are short-term classes and longer classes. You can take a class online or in an actual classroom. You should be able to find a learning method that works well for you.

Experiment And See What You Can Figure Out

Sometimes, experimenting with Excel can lead to new discoveries. While you shouldn’t experiment too much when you’re working on important projects, you should spend some time looking at Excel’s features to see what you can learn.

Hands-on experience is a fantastic way to learn. If you try to do new things in Excel, you’ll be able to learn quite a bit. You might make some mistakes, but you’ll also make some discoveries.

If you’d like to learn how to query SharePoint from Excel, you will definitely want to try out some of these tips. There’s a lot to learn about Excel. If you take the time to master Excel, you’ll be able to get everything you can out of this program.