Content workflows

Updated 3 min read

An approval workflow puts changes through steps before they go live, with the platform enforcing who may move them on and who must sign off.

What a workflow gives you

Without a workflow, anyone who may publish a record can make a new version live. A workflow puts steps in between, such as Draft, Review and Approved, and controls who moves a change from one to the next. Use one where publishing has consequences (legal review, brand sign-off, regulated content) and leave it out where it would only add ceremony.

Workflows apply to pages, blog posts, global components, FAQ pages and questions, and product and category descriptions. Books and custom entity records cannot have one.

The pieces

  • A workflow: a named, ordered set of steps and the transitions between them. One workflow can be marked Default.
  • Steps, each with a name, a colour and a position. A step sets who can edit content while a change sits in it (Everyone, or chosen groups), and which groups are notified when a change arrives in it.
  • Transitions, each a move from one step to another. A transition sets who can make the move directly (Everyone, or chosen groups) and which groups must approve it first.
  • Branches: once a workflow applies, every save goes into a branch, a line of versions with the step it has reached. Reviewers' approvals and comments are recorded on the branch; comments can be threaded, marked resolved and anchored to a spot on the page.

Assigning a workflow

A workflow is assigned to one record, to one record type on one site, or to a whole record type; the most specific assignment wins. When nothing matches, the Default workflow applies, if there is one.

What changes for editors

With a workflow assigned, "Save and activate" disappears and "Create branch" appears. A version becomes active only when its branch reaches the workflow's last step. Moving a change back to an earlier step clears the approvals it had collected.

Approved is not published

Reaching the last step makes the branch's version the active one. It does not touch the publish date: a record that has never been published is still not visible. Publishing remains its own action.

Name an approval group

A transition that is not open to Everyone and names no approval groups can be made by any admin user, because no approval is required. To restrict a transition, name at least one approval group.

Notifications

When a change arrives in a step, that step's notify groups are told in the admin and, while the "Send notifications via email" setting is on (the default), by email. Notify where someone has to act, such as a change arriving for review; notifying at every step teaches people to ignore them.

Common problems

  • "I cannot move it forward." There is no transition from the current step, or you are not allowed to make it and the approvals it needs are not all in.
  • "I cannot edit it." The step it sits in limits who can edit, or the branch has reached the last step.
  • "It is approved but not on the site." Check the publish date: approving activates the version, it does not publish.

Setting a workflow up is an administrator's task. Developers: Approval workflows in the content types guide.

Was this page helpful?

Your answer goes to the docs team.