Based on the project and content type, individual creation and release processes (workflows) can be defined as checklists with tasks.

A workflow determines which status a content goes through and which tasks have to be processed within a status. The respective tasks can be linked to specific people or groups of people. It can also be determined whether a task is mandatory or whether it can be omitted.

Automatisms linked to the fulfillment of tasks help content managers in particular to ensure the progress of the content pipeline: It can be specified that content enters the next status as soon as the task list defined within the status or the last task is completed.

These two videos provide a quick overview, details can be found later in this article.

Facility:

Application:

Workflows are defined and managed under:

Administration > System > Content > Workflows

Creating a new workflow

IMPORTANT: Only one workflow can be defined per project and content type. In addition, a workflow leaves content that was created before its definition untouched.

Step 1: Details

The following entries are expected for the workflow definition:

In its most minimal configuration, a workflow only defines the states that a content of this project goes through.

Step 2: Checklists & Settings

In this step, the order of the status (drag&drop) is determined and the tasks within the status are defined. The order of the tasks can also be changed using drag & drop:

It will also be determined here whether:

a.) Automatically switch to the next status when the last or all tasks within a status have been completed.

b.) All users should be notified when the status changes.

Optional settings

As soon as a task has been created, the following options arise:

Skipping a task

The task does not have to be completed in order for the next task to be processed. The >> symbol turns green once this option has been activated.

Feedback task

This task type automatically triggers a feedback loop. Change requests are automatically created as new tasks until agreement has been reached and it is possible to switch to the next task or status.

Deleting a task from the workflow

Automate when a task is due

From the second task of a workflow, there is the option of having the due date set automatically. This is then dependent on the point in time at which the previous task was completed.

More settings:

Step 3: Assignment of users

Specific people or groups of people can then be assigned to the tasks, and only they can then mark a task as completed.

a.) Assign a task to a specific user:

b.) Assign task to a user group:

User groups are defined under:

Management > System > Administration > User Groups

IMPORTANT: This post describes how users are assigned to one or more groups.

If a task is linked to a specific person or user group, the strict mode can be used to determine whether this task can only be completed by this group or person. If this selection is not made, any user involved in the project can complete this task.

Basically, when creating content, you can decide whether the preselected workflow should be used. To do this, please scroll to the bottom of the "Create content" mask:

If the workflow is removed, all status and due dates are available again:

This option is also available when moving a content idea:

IMPORTANT: Once a workflow has been assigned, it cannot be changed afterwards, not even by changing the content type.

ATTENTION: Contents with workflows are ignored in the case of status changes via bulk action in the content pipeline!

If a workflow contains tasks, these become visible within the content by clicking on the status.

The overview provides a representation of the entire workflow, as well as information about which tasks have already been completed and by whom. By ticking the checkbox, a task is considered completed and turns green. The orange task is the current one:

In the example shown, the content is currently "In production" and an author must be assigned. The status can be changed either by completing all tasks within the status or by clicking on the next status. The latter only works if all tasks within the current status are optional and can be skipped (5.) - statuses without tasks can of course also exist! It is always possible to return to a status that has already been completed (green).

Tasks have a number of additional features:

a.) Comments

Each task can be commented on and this creates conversations among the users assigned to this task. A click on the corresponding symbol opens the comment function:

All comments are displayed in history:

All users assigned to the task receive a notification of new comments via "in app" and, depending on the setting, an e-mail notification.

Users who are not assigned to this task can be mentioned with "@" in the comments:

You will then receive a notification that your person has been mentioned and can react accordingly. As the conversation progresses, all participants in the conversation are always informed about new comments.

b.) Feedback loop

If a feedback loop is started within a corresponding task, each change request is created as a new task.

The change request can then be saved as a comment and the user assigned to the task.

A new task then appears with the change request in the comment and the task title "Feedback #". It is queued before the task where the feedback loop was started:

Once all feedback tasks have been completed, the original task can also be completed.

Feedback loops can be started on all open tasks within the active status.

c.) Due date automation

In the following example, the due date for the open task was set automatically because it was initially defined that this task is due one day after the previous task has been completed.

ATTENTION: Authors and observers can only see the tasks to which they are assigned:

Depending on the user's scope of rights, tasks can be changed, added or even deleted while the process is running. By default, this right is granted to admins and managers:

If a user has the above right, he can:

a.) Delete tasks

b.) set additional tasks

This only affects the current content, the option appears on mouseover over the current status.

Assign users to the task and set the due date:

IMPORTANT: If a task has been assigned to a user who does not yet have access to the content, this user will automatically be created as a subscriber.

c.) Mark existing tasks as optional

Especially useful when the current task is blocking progress by the user assigned to it. Is done by clicking on >> and the color changes to green:

d.) change the title of existing tasks

Clicking on the title opens the input field:

e.) change the due date of existing tasks

This is also possible if the due date was set automatically.

The following notifications are sent during operation:

It is possible to change the order of each task by drag and drop:

To do this, hold the task on the arrow icon and move the task.

Tasks can only be moved within a status. If an additional task is needed, it can easily be added via the ➕ on the task (by managers and admins).