When building or editing a workflow in Arbor Workflows, you use "tags" to pull data from previous steps (like a student’s name from a form or a comment from an approval) and insert them into later steps (like an checklist, decision, email or within an update).
If you are trying to insert a tag but cannot find the specific data field you need in the dropdown list, it is usually due to one of the following three reasons.
The data is not in a format that can be tagged
For a piece of information to appear as a tag, the question type in your form must match the field you are trying to use it in.
Recipient Bar: If you are trying to tag a recipient in the "To" field of a Send Email step, the data must have been collected using an Email question type in your trigger form. If you used a "Short Text" question type to ask for an email address, the system won't recognise it as a valid email recipient and it won't appear in the tag list for that specific field.
What to check: Go back to your Trigger Form or Form Step and ensure the Question Type matches the intended use (e.g., use "Date" types for date fields, "Email" types for recipients).
You can also tag to recipients from the roles you have set in 'Custom Roles' or as part of 'Arbor Roles'.
The data collection happens later in the workflow
Workflows function linearly. You can only "tag" data that has already been captured in a previous step.
If you are on Step 3 (e.g Send Email) and you want to tag information that is collected in a form at Step 4, that tag will not be available. The system cannot pull information that hasn't been submitted yet.
What to check: Look at your workflow order. If the information you need is collected in a later step, you will need to move that step earlier in the sequence or move your communication/action step further down.
Missing data from the Trigger Form
All workflows start with a form to capture trigger information. If you find you are missing a core piece of data throughout the entire workflow (e.g., a "Staff Absence Reason" or "Student ID"), it may be because that field wasn't included in the initial trigger, or any step types that can collect data.
What to check: Open your Trigger Form at the very start of the workflow builder. Ensure all "Must Have" data points are included as questions here so they are available as tags for every subsequent step.
Conditional logic and "Guaranteed Data"
If you are using Conditional Logic (available on the Perform tier for Schools and Plus/Advanced for MATs), some steps or questions may be skipped based on a user's previous answers.
To ensure a workflow doesn't "break" mid-run, the tag list will often only show data that is guaranteed to be collected.
If you have a Form Step that only appears if a "Decision" was marked as "No," any data collected in that specific form is not guaranteed to exist for every person going through the workflow. Therefore, the system may prevent you from tagging that data in a later "Send Email" step because, for many users, that data field will be empty.
What to check: Review your logic rules. If you need a piece of data to be "taggable" in a final step, ensure the question is part of a mandatory, non-conditional step (like the Trigger Form) rather than a conditional branch.
Tag unavailable in an Arbor Data step
Arbor Data Steps have a set of required fields that rely on information to be collected prior to the step. If the required field is not displaying any available tags when trying to add this it is likely that is a question that is required to be in the Arbor Option Sets format. These areas include:
Currently available Option Sets include:
Title: (e.g., Mr, Mrs, Miss, Dr, Mx)
Gender: (As defined by MIS standards)
Country: (A full standardised list of countries)
Job Role: (Matches the Arbor Business Roles)
Guardian Relationship Type: (e.g., Mother, Father, Foster Carer, etc.)
Postal Address Type: (e.g., Home, Work, Previous)
You will need to update the question type at the point this data is collected in order to be able to tag to it within this step.
Summary Checklist for Tagging
If a tag is missing, ask yourself:
Format: Is the question type an 'Email' type or 'Date' type?
Order: Does this step happen after the information is collected?
Presence: Is this question hidden behind Conditional Logic?
Tier: Does my current tier (Core, Comms, or Perform) support this many steps or "Send Something" actions?
Still having trouble?
If your data types match and your steps are in the correct order but tags are still missing, please check your Tier permissions:
School Users: Ensure you are on the Comms or Perform tier to access multi-step tagging and advanced "Send Something" steps.
MAT Users: Central team workflows require the Plus or Advanced tier to push workflows down and update MIS records across the trust.