Start a workflow from an Office 2007 program

Worklows are available for documents saved in a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 library. You can start a workflow directly from a Microsoft Office Word 2007 document, a Microsoft Office Excel 2007 workbook, or a Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 presentation. The workflows available to you depend on how your company has configured Office SharePoint Server 2007.

For more information about how to start one of the predefined workflows that are included in Office SharePoint Server 2007, check the See Also section.

Notes: 

• The ability to start a workflow from the 2007 Microsoft Office system versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is available only in the Office Professional Plus 2007, Office Enterprise 2007, and Office Ultimate 2007 suites, as well as in the stand-alone 2007 Office release versions of these programs.

• You must have at least Edit Items permission to start a workflow. Some workflows might require that you also have Manage Lists permission or another specific permission.

• If you want to ensure that workflow participants receive e-mail alerts and reminders about their workflow tasks after you start a workflow, ask your server administrator to verify that e-mail is enabled for your site

1. Open the file on which you want to start a workflow.

   Note: To start a workflow, you can open the document in either Read Only or Edit mode.

   Open a server document from within an Office program

   1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Open.

   2. Under Look in, click My Network Places or My SharePoint Sites.

   3. Click the name of the SharePoint site where your file is located, and then click Open.

      Tip: Alternately, you can double-click the name of the site to open it. You can also double-click a library or file to open it.

      Note: If you don't see your server in either category, type the URL for the server in the File name box, and then click Open.

   4. Click the name of the library that contains the file, such as Shared Documents, and then click Open.

   5. Click the name of the file that you want to open, and then click Open.

2. Click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Workflows.

   Note: If your document has not yet been saved to a SharePoint library where workflows are available, you will be prompted to save it to such a location.

3. In the Workflows dialog box, locate the workflow that you want, and then click Start.

   Some workflows may start immediately, and you will not be prompted to provide additional information.

4. If you are prompted to provide additional information such as a list of participants, task instructions, or due date, enter the information in the fields provided.

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