Workflows

Configuring workflows

Creating a workflow

You can create different workflows for different content types. For example, the workflow for an article can include first draft, final draft, and publication. The workflow for an image can include initial upload, cropping, and adding metadata.

To create a workflow:

1. Click > Admin > Workflows.

2. In the Name field, type a name for the workflow.

3. In the Sites field, add sites to which the workflow applies (or leave blank to apply the workflow to all sites).

4. In the Content Types field, select the content types to which this workflow applies.

5. Toggle on Comment Required if you would like to require users to enter an explanatory comment when transitioning an asset to a new status in the workflow.

6. In the Actions field, do the following:

   1. Click Add Status.
   2. Click on the color box to select a color for this workflow status.
   3. Type the name of the status (for example, Editorial review).
   4. Drag and drop the status in the workflow visualizer as needed.
   5. In the New status, click Add Transition.
   6. Type the name of the transition (for example, Submit for editorial review).
   7. Repeat these steps to add additional statuses and transitions. Ensure you have a transition to the status Published.

7. Click Save.

The following illustration is an example of a simple workflow for an article.

Referring to the previous illlustration—

• After creating a new article, the editor must send it to the Editing status.
• After editing an article, the editor can send it to the Revise article status or to the Final Approval status.
• After revising an article, the editor must send it back to Editing status.
• After final approval, the editor must click Publish to publish the article.

After you save a workflow—

• Brightspot lists the workflow in the Workflows list.
• Each time you create a new asset for the workflow's content type, the editorial toolbar displays the workflow status and a Workflow button instead of a Publish button.
• Brightspot saves a draft for each status in the workflow. You can retrieve those drafts from the Version History widget.
• The asset's current status appears in the Recent Activity and Unpublished Drafts widgets (see Standard dashboard and widgets).
• Assets created before a workflow was created automatically enter the workflow—unless they are published. For example, if a workflow is created for blogs on your site, all of the blogs that have not been published will have the Workflow button instead of the Publish button present on their content edit forms.

Once colors have been added to the statuses in a workflow, they are visible throughout Brightspot.

• At the top of the content edit page for the asset:

  

• On the search panel:

  

• In the Recent Activity widget:

  

Customizing transition order

The Workflow widget lists all the available transitions from the asset's current status. Some workflows have statuses with multiple transitions. In the following example, the status Content edit has two possible transitions: Send to archive and Send to proofread.

The Workflow widget lists the available transitions in alphanumeric order. Referring to the previous example, the Workflow widget lists the two transitions as follows.

If most assets advance to the Proofread status instead of the Archive status, editors may expect that the Send to proofread transition appear first in this list. To achieve that effect, label the transitions with a numerical prefix, such as 01 and 02.

With numerical prefixes, the Workflow widget displays the available transitions in an intuitive order.

Modifying a workflow

To modify a workflow:

1. Click > Admin > Workflows.

2. Select the workflow you want to modify from the Workflows widget.

3. Use the field descriptions above to make the changes needed to the workflow.

   Note

   Brightspot displays a warning if you attempt to remove a workflow status that has assets assigned to it. If you continue and remove the status, all assets in the status that was removed revert to the previous status in the workflow. For example, if your workflow is New -> Review -> Revise -> Publish, and you decide to remove the Revise status, all assets in that status are placed back in the Review status.

4. Click Save.

Archiving a workflow

Archiving a workflow allows you to deactivate a workflow without completely deleting it. Archived workflows can be restored for later use.

To archive a workflow:

1. Click > Admin > Workflows.

2. Select the workflow you want to archive.

3. Click Archive in the lower-right corner of the page.

   

4. Click OK on the confirmation message that appears.

   Once archived, the workflow is still visible in the Workflows list but has Archived in front of its name.

   

See Restoring a workflow for information on restoring an archived workflow.

Restoring a workflow

Archived workflows are deactivated, but still available within Brightspot. To reactivate an archived workflow so that it can be used again, you must restore it.

To restore a workflow:

1. Click > Admin > Workflows.

2. Select the workflow you want to restore.

3. Click Restore in the upper-right corner of the page.

   The workflow is restored and available for use.

See Archiving a workflow for more information on archiving workflows.

Deleting a workflow

If you know you will no longer need a workflow in the future, and want to permanently remove it from the Workflows list, you can delete the workflow.

Caution

Deleting a workflow is permanent. Once deleted, it cannot be recovered.

To delete a workflow:

1. Click > Admin > Workflows.

2. Select the archived workflow you want to delete.

   Note

   Workflows must in an archived status in order to be deleted. See Archiving a workflow for more information.

3. Click in the upper-right corner of the page and click Delete Permanently.

4. Click OK on the confirmation message to confirm the deletion of this workflow.

   The workflow is now deleted and no longer available in Brightspot.

Using workflows

The following topics describe how to use workflows once they have been created for your site.

Moving assets through a workflow

If your site uses a workflow to publish its content, you must move your assets through the proper statuses to complete this workflow and get your asset published.

To move your asset to the next step in your site's workflow, click Workflow.

This expands the workflow menu to allow you to make the necessary selections to move your asset to the next step in the process.

In the image above, the site has a review step as its next step after creating an asset. Once you click Send to Review, editors who are subscribed to workflow notifications receive a message that the asset is ready for review. The editor either reviews the asset and rejects it (at which point it returns to you to be fixed), or passes it along to the next step.

Note

If a user's role has Publish permissions, but not all workflow transition permissions, and an asset is in a status that they do not have access to, then the next step in the workflow will be read-only, and the user must use the Publish Override button to publish the asset.

This ensures that an asset is not inadvertently published too early without going through all of the steps of a workflow. It also gives users that have roles with the Publish permission the option to skip those next steps and use the Publish Override link to publish the asset immediately if needed.

Another place you will see custom statuses is on the search page.

When the status menu is expanded, you see the standard statuses of Published, Archived, and Draft but you also see several others. The other statuses you see are related to workflows that have been set up on that site. As assets proceed through a workflow, you can search on assets in any particular status.

Moving multiple assets through a workflow

You can move multiple assets simultaneously through a workflow. The following procedure applies to assets that are already in a workflow; they cannot be in a workflow's New status.

Note

The bulk workflow function is not a means of publishing multiple assets at once. For more details about publishing multiple assets at once, see Bulk scheduling.

To move multiple assets simultaneously through a workflow:

1. Using the main search field, search for the assets you want to migrate in bulk through a workflow.
2. Select the assets you want to migrate through the workflow by clicking the checkbox next to their names.
3. Click and then click Bulk Workflow Selected.
4. From the Workflow Options page, select the next step in the workflow to which you want these assets to be moved.
5. From the Confirm Bulk Workflow page, click Confirm Bulk Send [name of workflow step].
6. You are taken back to the Workflow Options page where you can continue to migrate these assets through the workflow, or you can exit out of the workflow and continue with other work in Brightspot.

Workflow admin

The following topics cover more advanced workflow operations.

Viewing a workflow's history

As modifications are made to a workflow, a history is kept that is visible to you. This history shows who made the change and what was changed.

To view a workflow's history:

1. Click > Admin > Workflows.

2. Select the workflow whose history you would like to view.

3. Click in the upper-right corner of the page, and click History from the settings menu.

4. From the Revisions pop-up you have several options:

   • Click the date of a revision to see how that revision is configured.

   • Click to the right of a specific revision, and select from one of the following options:

     • Compare—This option compares the revision you are currently viewing with the revision from where you selected this option.
     • Compare to Live—This option compares the version from where you selected this option with the last saved version of the workflow.
     • Name Revision—This option allows you to specify a name for the revision as opposed to using the default date and time naming convention.

5. When you are done viewing the history, click to close the Revisions pop-up.

Adding published content into a workflow

When you create a workflow for a particular content type, published items of that type are exempt from the workflow. However, you may want published items to go through a workflow, such as if you added a quality control step for spelling or graphic attributions.

To add published content into a workflow:

1. Search for the published item and open it in the content edit form.

2. Do one of the following:

   • Create a new revision as described in Creating a revision.
   • Republish from a draft as described in Republishing from draft.

   In either case, the item enters the workflow associated with its type.

Limiting a role's workflow transitions

You can limit a role's access to certain workflow transitions. For example, you may want one role to do only content editing, and another role to do only proofreading.

Note

Limiting a role's access affects all users who have the role.

To limit a role's access to workflow transitions:

1. Click > Admin > Users & Roles.
2. In the Roles widget, select the role whose transitions you want to limit.
3. Under Permission Settings, under Types, select All Except.
4. Under Restricted Types, select Content Type.
5. From the Type list, select a content type.
6. From the Actions list, select All Except.
7. From the Type Actions list, select the transitions that you want to exclude from the role.
8. Repeat steps 4–7 to add additional restrictions for content type-workflow transition combinations.
9. Click Save.