Lesson 1 - Templates
- Robert Alexander Marshall
Overview
Before we can do anything, we need somewhere to build our workflow – a workflow template. That's the dashed box in the diagram above – it will contain our simple content production process.
All workflows are stored in workflow templates, and a workflow template can only contain one workflow. Because of this, we generally refer to a "workflow template" as just a "workflow".
Create a page
Go to your personal space (or some other space where you can create content), and Create a blank page.
It doesn't matter what you call the page, or what's in it. It's just somewhere for us to build our workflow.
Space vs. Page mode
Before we continue, you need to know about the two modes the Comala Document Management app provides at the space level.
One of them is called Page Mode
page mode allows every page in the space to have it's own unique workflow
it's great for developing workflows, but it makes managing workflows harder because every page has a separate copy of the workflow
The other mode is called Space Mode
space mode allows you to apply centrally managed workflows to the entire space – all pages and blog posts – although you can filter the workflow application by content label or content type (page or blog post) if required
If you want to see a side-by-side comparison, see: Page vs. Space Mode
For now, we'll use Page Mode, as it's a bit easier to get started that way.
Add workflow
In Page Mode, the process of creating a workflow is to simply add one to a page. Here's how...
From the Page Tools Menu, choose Add Workflow...
Note: If you don't see that option, make sure that the space is running in page mode and that there are no active space workflows.
You'll now see the Add Workflow dialog, like this.
This is the workflow picker dialog box.
You'll see a scrollable list of existing workflows that you can apply - if you were to choose one of those (don't, as we're going to do something else) it would make a completely new copy of that workflow on your page. If the original workflow was changed, it wouldn't affect the copy of it on your page.
Custom states workflow
There's a special workflow in that list called Workflow with custom states.
if required scroll right to the bottom of the list and choose this workflow
This is where most workflows are born.
When you choose the Workflow with custom states, a text box appears with some default states.
Let's use these default states for the moment, we can change them later.
choose the Apply & Customize button
This opens the workflow builder visual editor.
The custom states workflow is displayed
as a flow chart in the right-hand panel
graphically on the left-hand panel
How does this workflow appear and work on our content?
choose Exit to view the content with the workflow applied
Workflow added to the content
The content will have two breadcrumbs added to the page
Workflow icon
The workflow icon is a link to a simple workflow inspector.
Workflow state breadcrumb
The state breadcrumb and status indicator circle is a link to open the workflow popup.
Test it
Head over to the User Guide and familiarise yourself with the following:
After you've done that, we'll continue with the second lesson.