How to Create a Test Flow

If you’re just getting started with Unito, you might want to test your first flow away from your most important work. Here’s how.

Table of contents:

Step 1: Create a test block of work

Before you can create your test flow, you need a block of work (e.g. a Trello board, an Asana project) to use it with. You’ll want to keep it close to the projects you’ll actually be using in your flows. That means organizing it in a similar way and creating a few example tasks. If your Trello board uses To Do, Doing, and Done lists, replicate them in your test project.

Some tools allow you to create and use templates. Turning the project you eventually want to sync into a template is a quick way to start your test project without much manual work.

Of course, if you’re using a flow to connect two different tools, you’ll want to do this for both tools.

Step 2: Create test work items

Populate your block of work with work items that are close to the items you’ll eventually be syncing. Do you use tasks with a complex subtask hierarchy? Re-create this in your test tasks so you can see how Unito handles subtasks for your tool. Have labels and custom fields? Make sure they’re represented in the work items you’ll be testing with.

It’s a good idea to have a variety of work items in your block of work. Some tools — like Jira — have a range of work items, like issues, bugs, and tasks. Make sure you create a few of each, so you can see how they’re synced between tools.

Step 3: Build your flow

After you’ve set up your test block and filled it with work items, it’s time to build your flow. As you go through the flow creation process, keep your desired outcome in mind. Where do you want a new work item to end up in each tool? Make sure you map your tool’s lists and sections accordingly.

As you build your flow, check in on your block of work frequently. This way, you’ll know what you need to build as you work.

Step 4: Launch your flow

When you’re done building, it’s time to launch your flow!

Note that Auto sync is turned on by default. For your test flow, you should turn this off. That way, you can trigger your flow manually. This means you can move work items around in your block of work, create new ones, and make other changes without worrying about them being synced over. Then, when you want to see the impact these changes will have in your tools, you can go to your flow and click Sync now to trigger it.

This gives you the ability to monitor your flow’s behavior closely. You can pick up on potential issues and unexpected changes, so you can alter your flow accordingly.

Creation date rule

All new Unito flows automatically have this rule added to them.

The date will match the day on which you're creating your flow. If you want to make sure only new work items are affected by your Unito flow, leave this rule as is. But if you want all work items in your block of work to be part of your flow, delete this rule.

Step 5: Experiment!

Since you’re not affecting anyone’s work, this is the time to try things out. What happens if you set up a flow without any rules? How many rules can you build to let just a few work items through? Take this opportunity to get familiar with Unito’s features, optimize your block of work, and get the most out of your Unito flow as you can.

Make changes, tinker with your flow, and soon you’ll be ready to try it out with your real projects.

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