Checklists

​

Overview

A checklist is a structured list of items that someone must complete, such as an onboarding procedure, a safety walkthrough, an equipment handover, or a quality inspection. Administrators build checklists in Library > Checklists, then assign them to people. Each assigned person gets their own copy, called an assignment, which tracks every item that has been checked, who checked it, and when. Checklists support far more than simple tick boxes. Each item can be required or optional, can have its own due date, and can be blocked until other items are done. You decide who is allowed to check each item: the assigned person, their manager, specific people, anyone holding a career, or anyone at an access level. When the checklist is finished, it can be submitted automatically, submitted by the assigned person, or signed with an e-signature, and it can require one or more reviewers to sign it off. Checklists are versioned. You edit a draft, then publish it as a numbered version. New assignments receive the latest published version, while open assignments stay on the version they started with, so a published checklist never changes underneath someone who is working through it. Building and assigning checklists is limited to administrators. The people who work on an assignment — the assigned person, the people allowed to check items, and the reviewers who sign off — reach it from their Inbox, from a person’s Checklists tab, or from a link, without needing access to the library. Checklists also connect to journeys: a journey can include a Checklist step that assigns a checklist automatically as part of a larger process, such as a promotion.

​

Prerequisites

Before you use the Checklists library, you need:

• Permission level: Administrator role. Managers and employees cannot open Library > Checklists.
• Setup requirement: The Checklists library must be turned on in Company > Settings > Hide Library Sections, and Checklists must be available for your organization.
• Access requirement: Library > Checklists in the left sidebar

To turn the library on or off, navigate to Company > Settings, select Configure on the Hide Library Sections row, and switch Checklists in the Manage Library Visibility dialog. The row is labeled “Visible to admins only.” When the library is off, direct assignments and library pages are unavailable, but people can keep working on checklists that a journey step assigned to them.

​

Creating and building a checklist

You build a checklist in the Builder view. Your changes save automatically to a draft as you work. Item settings control how each step behaves: To change several items at once, select them and use the bulk actions in the Actions menu: Make required, Make optional, Set who can check…, Set due date…, Move to section…, Duplicate, and Delete.

​

Choosing who can check items

The Who can check setting decides which people may check an item. Choose Custom for this item to pick one or more of these sources:

• The assigned person — the person the checklist is assigned to
• The assigned person’s manager
• People — specific named people
• Careers — anyone holding the chosen careers
• Access levels — anyone at the chosen access levels

Then choose how many of them must check the item: Any one, or At least… a number you set. For example, an equipment check can require at least two people from a Safety Officer career. If no one on an item’s rule can act on a particular person’s copy — for example, because the named checker has been deactivated — the assigned person’s active manager steps in. If there is no active manager either, an administrator can complete the item by override.

​

Configuring checklist settings

Open the Settings view of a checklist to control how it is completed, when it is due, and whether it repeats. Per-item completion. Record type is Checkbox, where each item is ticked off when it’s done, or Signature, where each item is signed and the finished checklist is sealed with a certificate. A Signature checklist uses a Signing statement that each signer confirms. The default is I verify that {person} has completed this step., where {person} is replaced with the assigned person’s name. Show item numbers numbers the items; signed items are always numbered. Checklist completion. Submission type decides how the finished checklist is submitted: Require sign-off can be Off, Simple, or E-signature. When sign-off is on, reviewers confirm the finished checklist, and you choose Who signs off with the same sources as Who can check. The assigned person can never sign off their own checklist. Timeline. Due sets the checklist’s due date. After the due date, the assignment shows Past Due, and whoever it is waiting on gets a daily reminder. Repeats controls recurring assignments, described in the next section. Linked records. References are shown at the top of each assignment. A referenced skill’s page lists the checklists that reference it.

​

Making a checklist repeat

Recurring checklists suit inspections, audits, and refreshers that must be done regularly. Set Repeats in the Settings view to one of these options: For repeating checklists you can also set Assign early, the number of days before each date that the new assignment arrives, and If the last is open, which decides what happens when the previous assignment is still unfinished: Wait until it’s done, Skip that date, or Cancel and assign new. Ends can be Never, After a number of assignments, or On a date.

​

Publishing a checklist

A checklist must be published before it can be assigned. Publishing turns the current draft into a numbered version. A published version cannot be changed. To make changes later, edit the checklist again, which starts a new draft, then publish the next version. The publish dialog lists the items that were Added, Changed, and Removed since the current version. New assignments get the new version, while open assignments stay on their version unless you move them. To throw away unpublished changes, select Discard draft; the published version stays exactly as it is. The Versions view lists every published version. From it you can Open a version, Compare two versions, or Start draft from this version.

​

Assigning a checklist

Once a checklist is published, you can assign it to individual people or to everyone holding a career. Each person receives their own assignment of the latest published version. People who already have an open assignment of the same checklist are skipped, and the dialog lists them by name. Adding a career assigns only the people who hold it today; people who join the career later are not added automatically. To assign a checklist automatically as part of a process, add a Checklist step to a journey instead. You cannot assign a checklist that has never been published or that is archived.

​

Working on an assignment

People who are part of an assignment find it in their Inbox. The Inbox shows rows such as “Waiting on you” when you are allowed to check items, “Ready to submit” when all required items are done, and “Sign-off needed” when you are a reviewer. A person’s profile also shows a Checklists tab when they have an assignment the viewer can open. On the assignment, check each item you are allowed to check. The header shows the status, the due date, and progress as the number of required items done. Assignments move through these statuses: When the submission type is Simple or E-signature, the assigned person selects Submit your checklist and can add an optional comment. A reviewer then selects Sign off to make the checklist final, or Send back to return it. When sending back, the reviewer picks the items that need redoing and writes a note answering “What needs to change?”. Those items are unchecked, and the assigned person sees the note. For a Signature checklist, a Certificate of completion is issued when every step is signed; the certificate is shareable and verifiable by its code.

​

Tracking assignments and activity

The Assignments view of a checklist lists every assignment with its Status, Person, Progress, Due date, Assigned date, Version, and Repeats setting. Filter by Not started, In progress, Past due, Completed, or Canceled. From the Actions menu, administrators can Nudge all open assignments, Export the list, or select assignments to Nudge or Cancel assignment…. On a single assignment, the Actions menu also offers Copy link and Move to the latest version. The Activity view records every check, submission, and sign-off, and can be exported with Export under Export in the Actions menu.

​

Managing the library

The library table shows Checklist Name, Status, Version, Items (#), Open assignments (#), and Last updated. A checklist’s status is Draft until it is first published, then Published. A published checklist with edits that are not yet published also shows Unpublished changes. Use the view menu to switch between Active, Archived, and All checklists. From the Actions menu you can select Export under Export, and with rows selected you can Open, Duplicate, Archive, Restore, or Delete. Importing checklists from a spreadsheet or file isn’t available yet.

• Archive — An archived checklist can’t be assigned, but open assignments continue. You can restore it at any time. Drafts that were never published can’t be archived; delete them instead.
• Delete — Only drafts that have never been published can be deleted. Published checklists can’t be deleted, so archive them instead.

​

Common Questions

​

Related Articles

​

Need More Help?

If you need additional assistance:

• Email support@skillsdb.com
• Use the in-app help chat
• Schedule a training session with your account manager