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Expiring Soon: Time-outs Before They Happen

Expiring Soon lists every request that a stage time-out will act on within the next few days, so somebody can chase the approver or the requester before the request is declined or moved automatically. It is the same rule the time-out task uses, asked earlier, so it never disagrees with what will actually happen.

Where to find it

Admin Panel → Processes:

  • Expiring Soon — requests about to time out, with Open and Pause

Architect Panel → Configuration:

  • Site Settings — Days ahead to warn about time-outs, in the Stage Time-outs group

The tile is visible to nobody until you grant it to a security group, because it lists named applicants. See Admin Panel.

Reading the screen

A banner at the top says what the time-out task is doing:

  • No scheduled task for stage time-outs: nothing listed will ever time out.
  • Switched off: nothing will time out until the task is enabled.
  • Live: everything listed will be actioned automatically when it falls due.

Below it, Showing requests timing out within 7, 14, 30, 60 or 90 days; the default comes from the Site Settings value (14 unless changed). Each request shows:

  • Ref and Form.
  • Waiting At: the stage.
  • Waiting For: Approver, or Applicant (more information) when the requester has been asked something.
  • Waiting Since, Times Out and Days Left, with due today in red.
  • Actions: Open goes to the request's progress page; Pause stops the clock.

You only see requests on forms whose datastore you can read, and Pause only appears where you hold Edit Existing.

Pausing a time-out

  1. Press Pause on the request.
  2. Enter the number of days, between 1 and 365 (14 is suggested).
  3. The request drops off the list. It is not declined, moved or changed: it simply is not counted until the date passes, by the time-out or by approver reminders. It then reappears if it is still waiting.

What is and is not listed

  • Listed: requests on stages with a time-out set, falling due within the window.
  • Not listed: anything already overdue. It has timed out, or will at the next task run, and shows under Timed Out Requests once it has.
  • Not listed: requests whose stage is still holding back a delayed approver e-mail, and requests already paused.
  • Not listed: requests on stages with no time-out. Nothing will act on them.

Using it as a routine

  1. Grant the tile to the group that runs the process.
  2. Set Days ahead to warn about time-outs to suit your stages: a little longer than your shortest time-out is a good start.
  3. Check the screen daily or weekly. Chase approvers by phone or by re-sending their e-mail from the progress page.
  4. Pause only for a known reason, such as a supervisor on leave, and for no longer than needed.

Worked example

A co-ordinator runs 300 applications with a ten-day supervisor time-out. They set the warning window to 14 days and are granted Expiring Soon, which also adds a Timing Out Soon tab to their applications list. On Monday the screen shows six requests, two of them Applicant (more information). They chase the four supervisors and e-mail the two students. One supervisor is away for a fortnight, so they pause that request for 14 days rather than let it time out.

Recommendations

  • Check the banner first. A list beside a switched-off task is a forecast that will not come true.
  • Use it as the dry run before switching the time-out task on.
  • Pause sparingly, with a reason you could explain later.
  • Grant it narrowly. It shows named applicants.