Workflows & automation
Wait: when the steps run
The four ways a workflow can wait before it acts — right away, delay the template by a while, until a time of day, or until a date on the order — how to repeat it while it is still true, and how quiet hours move it out of the night.
- 3 min read
- Checked against MoveBoard
- For owners & admins
On this page
Wait is the gap between the moment a workflow starts and the moment it does its steps. Open a workflow and press the second part of its sentence, or the Wait card.
The four choices
| Choice | What you set | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Right away | Nothing | "right away" |
| Delay template by | How long to wait: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, every day from 1 day to 30 days, 6 weeks, 2 months or 3 months — or Custom…, any number of minutes, hours or days (an Automation timeline row brings its own number, shown as Custom) | "delay 2 days" |
| Until a time of day | A Time of day | "wait until 9:00 AM" — the next time the clock reads 9:00 |
| Until a date on the order | A number of days, before or after one of the order's dates, at a time | "wait until 1 day before the move date at 10:00 AM" |
The dates you can wait for are the same as in When: the move date, the delivery date, the storage billing date, when the order was created, when it was booked, and its last activity.
Times are on your branch's clock.
Repeat while it's still true
Under the choices, tick Repeat while it's still true to run the workflow again and again:
- Set again every — a number and days, weeks, months or years.
- Set up to how many more times — 1 to 10 (10 is the most).
- Press Save.
The sentence then ends "… Again every 3 days while the invoice is still unpaid, up to 10 more times."
Each repeat is counted from the time the last one was due. Before each one MoveBoard checks Only if and Stop by itself again on what is true then: the first time Only if no longer holds, or it stops by itself, the repeats end — a paid invoice gets no more reminders. Each repeat shows in the Log as its own run ("repeat 2 of 10"). Switch the workflow off and the next repeat stops.
Automation timeline rows with Recurring on come in with this already set. See The Automation timeline.
Quiet hours
Under the choices, Never during the quiet hours in your company's time zone (8:00 PM – 8:00 AM). Ticked, a run that would land in the night waits until 8 AM instead. New workflows start with it ticked. See Quiet hours.
What happens while it waits
- The run shows as waiting in the workflow's Log, with the time it is due.
- Just before it acts, MoveBoard reads the order again and checks Only if and Stop by itself on what is true then. A customer who booked in the meantime doesn't get your "still thinking about it?" email.
- If you switch the workflow off while a run is waiting, the run stops and the log says the workflow was switched off.
- If the wait is measured from a date the order doesn't have (for example a delivery date on a one-day move with no date), the run is skipped and the log says which date is missing.
Good to know
- A past date is never a reason to send late: "until 2 days before the move date" on an order booked the day before the move runs right away (outside quiet hours), not never.
- A workflow with Right away and no wait drops a moment that is more than 12 hours old (its repeats are due later by design and still go), the same as MoveBoard's automatic messages — so a late or stuck moment never sends a stale message.
Related guides
- Workflows & automationWhen: the moments that start a workflowEvery way a workflow can start — something that happens (a lead comes in, an order is booked, a customer pays) or a date on the order coming round — how to pick one, and how to pick several so one workflow covers them all.
- Workflows & automationQuiet hoursWhy a workflow's message waits until morning — the 8 PM to 8 AM quiet hours, which workflows keep them, and the links that always do.
- Workflows & automationOnly if: conditionsNarrow a workflow to the orders it's meant for — status, move type, inventory, money, documents, addresses and more — with ALL or ANY, groups, and conditions that make it stop by itself.
- Workflows & automationThe run log — why something did or didn't sendEvery run of a workflow — sent, done, waiting, skipped, stopped or failed — with the reason in plain words, on the Workflows page.
Still stuck? A person will help.
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