The "Recurring Archive Cards" Rule

In this article:
1. How to Create the Rule?
2. How to Set Up and Enable the Rule?
    2.1. WHEN
    2.2. AND
    2.3. THEN

With the "Recurring Archive Cards" rule, you can automate the process of archiving cards at a specified time interval. For example, you can configure the rule to scan multiple boards and archive all the cards from the 'Done' section of all Cards/Initiatives workflows on those boards every Friday at 8 p.m.

Note: For the time being, the "Recurring Archive Cards" rule cannot be used to archive Timeline initiatives (from a Timeline workflow).

The rule can be further customized by excluding a particular workflow from the configuration, excluding a particular custom column of the 'Done' section, or by setting up additional filters (e.g. color=Green or tag='discarded'), so the rule only triggers on cards that have those properties.

1. How to Create the Rule?

Only users with "Account Owners" or "Manage Business Rules" privileges can create business rules. Go to your Administration panel at the top right of your screen → open the Business Rules tab → select the 'Recurring archive cards' rule.

Note: If there is a set of defined rules for your account → use the Add New Rule button on the upper right side of the panel.

2. How to Set Up and Enable the Rule?

Please check out the following short video on how to set up the rule or follow the instructions below:

The "Recurring archive cards" configuration panel has the following fields and properties:

In the Name and Description fields, you can change the name of the rule and describe the scenario you will achieve with it. In this way, other users will know what is the purpose of the rule and it would be easier for administration and maintenance.

You can share the rule with other users (e.g. Workspace Managers), if appropriate. In this case, they will be able to edit/disable/enable the rule. Business Rules are a sort of "point-and-click" programming language with which you can automate any process. Each Business Rule has three main properties: When; And; Then.

WHEN

Here you define a schedule for the automatic card update.

You have several options:

• Advanced schedule*
• Every day — this is selected by default for all new rules. The rule will be executed every day in the hour you specify (from the Execute at field)
• Every month — the rule will be executed every month on the day you specify.
• Every week — the rule will be executed on the weekday you select.
• Every workday — the rule will be executed every workday (Mon - Fri).
• Predefined interval — set a time interval for the execution of the rule, e.g. every 21 days.

Click on “Every day” to open the menu options.

*Working with the Advanced Schedule

When you select “Advanced schedule,” click on "Not set" to customize when your rule will trigger. This opens a panel with a standard cron generator (1) and a menu where you can build your custom cron expression (2). 

The custom cron expression menu covers all options from the cron generator and a range of other scheduling scenarios. There are essentially three fields you can customize:

• Day of the month/Day of the week — you can either select a day of the month or a day of the week in your schedule. The unused field must contain a “?” symbol.
• Month — For example, “*” means the rule will trigger every month, while “1/3” means it will execute every three months, starting in January.
• Year — For example, “2024/2” means the rule will trigger every 2 years starting in 2024.

Clicking on either field will load a list of available values you can use with examples available on hover. Learn more about the advanced schedule in Businessmap.

AND

Here you define the filters that specify the conditions under which the actions should be triggered.

• When users create a new rule, the Board filter will be applied by default. This means that the rule will be executed only for the boards you specify in the filter. If you remove the board property and enable the rule, it will be executed for the entire account. You can use "or" to add extra boards and optimize the scope of the rule. Use the delete icon to remove the board from the configuration.
• The 'Section is Done' property in this rule is mandatory and immutable.
• The 'Ready to Archive' section of each Cards/Initiatives workflow has a built-in automatic archivation functionality → you can learn more about archiving and unarchiving cards here.
• Click on the Add new property button to add extra filters, if necessary. Select a Regular field or/and a Custom field and click on Add.

For all time-related fields, you can select the following units: Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds.

When you have added the filter, set it up by clicking on Not set or entering a value.

Note: You can add as many filters as you wish by clicking on Add new property and repeating the steps.

THEN

Execute At: Click on the time and select an hour between 00:00 and 23:00. The time zone set for your user account is displayed by default. Note: It is important for the execution of the rule to set up your correct time zone in My Account.

Remember: To enable the rule, press the Save button at the bottom right corner of the configuration panel.