Overview
Workflows are used to manage and regulate content submitted by content editors to make sure that content is approved before it is published. Knowing how to manage workflows and being aware of the settings and limitations can help you answer questions regarding DNN workflows.
Prerequisites:
- Installation of a DNN test site.
- A user with SuperUser Access.
Introduction
What is a workflow?
Workflows consist of two components — the Workflow itself and the Workflow States.
A workflow is a process that content goes through in its lifetime, specifically during its creation. The workflow provides a structure for different roles to provide feedback regarding the content at various times in the process.
The Workflow States are the steps within a Workflow that a piece of content has to pass through to be published eventually. If a page is stuck and has trouble publishing, then most likely there is an issue with the Workflow State.
Users utilize workflows extensively to regulate and audit the content that is being created to make sure that each team is involved in the content curation process.
What is versioning?
Versioning is a way for users to view and restore a previous version of a published piece of content. This feature is used to manage revisions and rollback content changes that have been published in case there was a mistake that was passed in the final review. Versioning exists for Pages and files.
History of DNN workflows
Before Evoq 8.3, Workflows were managed on the module level. This meant that each module had its own separate workflow and could have set more than two separate running workflows on the page. This gave workflow management a more granular control over the content that was being curated across the page.
After Evoq 8.3, Workflows were moved to the page level and each page had one running workflow at a time. This meant that any content that was made on the page would signal the workflow that a change has been made and would traverse the workflow path after the user published the content. This is how content is now managed today.
Description
How does DNN handle Workflows?
DNN Workflows can be accessed as an Administrator or SuperUser by going into the Persona Bar (Settings > Workflows).
The default workflows that are included with DNN are:
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Direct Publish
- Direct Publish is the default workflow that is used for fresh installations of DNN. This workflow only has one workflow state, the content is automatically published once the user clicks publish.
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Save Draft
- Save Draft is a workflow with 2 workflow states which provide users with a draft state that can be reviewed before being published.
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Content Approval
- The Content Approval workflow with 3 workflow states which contains a Draft, Ready for Review, and Published state. This workflow provides users with an additional review state after the draft has been submitted.
How do I add and edit workflows and their states?
Follow the Solution KB articles here on how to add and edit workflows:
How do I configure Versioning?
Follow the Solution KB article here on how to configure Versioning for files and pages:
Related articles
This issue appears very often where users cannot progress to the next step of the workflow and are stuck in draft mode.
Priyanka Bhotika
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