Edit states using workflow builder
- Robert Alexander Marshall
Overview
A workflow state is a milestone in your workflow process.
States are used to manage each step in your workflow process. Your editors manage the documentation and progress through these milestones using the workflow popup and tasks popup accessed through the state name breadcrumb and tasks breadcrumb on the page or blog post when a workflow is applied.
A state can be added, removed, and edited in a workflow using workflow builder.
A state includes
state name
state color
state description
Transitions from the state and approvals can be added to each state and are edited in the state. Tasks can also be set to be added to the workflow on the transition to the state.
The state can be added/edited with several state attributes, for example
a due date for the expiry of the content
set as the workflow final state
set as a taskable state to allow a user to manually add a task
The tasks breadcrumb is only displayed on the page when a task has been added either by the workflow, or manually by a user.
States in the workflow
The states in a workflow are listed in the workflow panel in workflow builder.
State names are case sensitive.
There are also a number of reserved characters that cannot be used in a workflow state name such as = # @ { | [.
State panel
Choosing a state displays the state panel for the state.
The following are displayed in the state panel
state name
state indicator colored circle
workflow
state attributes - displayed as a lozenge, for example, the state is taskable; the state is the final state; state is hidden from workflow popup (hide from path) progress bar; administrator can only action a transition (hide selection)
the Due Date or Due Date period for the state expiry (if present)
number of Transitions from the state
number of Approvals in the state
number of Tasks added on transition into the state
Choosing the state name opens the state editor.
The state editor can be used to set the state attribute parameters.
Inspect a state using workflow builder
Choose a state lozenge in the Navigator panel visual flowchart will display the state name and description for the chosen state in the left-hand workflow panel.
This displays (as applicable to the state):
state parameters – details of any notable parameters (if present for the state), such as
taskable,finalorhidefrompath– see: state macrostate expiry or due date for the state.
This state panel also displays the number of state approvals, transitions and tasks.
You can
choose each one to view and edit existing individual named approvals, the transitions or state tasks
create a new approval, transition or task by choosing +add (or choose the number if present)
You can also add transitions, approvals and states by choosing the appropriate button in the navigator panel
State editor
Choose the state name.
This opens the state editor.
In the state editor, you can
edit the state name (state names are case-sensitive)
edit or add a description of the state - usually the state name indicates some aspect of its use and features
customize the state color choosing from a dropdown palette or by the addition of a hexadecimal color
State content due date
A due date can be set for the state in the workflow builder state editor.
This can be a time period starting on the transition into the state or a set date and time.
Set the duration period or a fixed date for the due date using one of the dropdown options.
Period - set a value for a time period in one of the following time units - years/months/days/hours/minutes/seconds
Fixed date - specific date
ISO 8061 - time period set in a valid ISO 8061 format e.g. P1Y6M for 18 months, P1DT12H30M for 1 day, 12 hours and 30 minutes
Value reference - for example the value of a workflow parameter
A fixed date can be set using the popup calendar.
State attribute parameters
In the state editor, you can change the behavior of the state and the workflow popup on the page in the state.
Taskable - enable users to manually add tasks in the state using the page tools menu
Final - defines the current state as the final (published) state in the workflow.
Each attribute added to a state is displayed as a lozenge in the state panel.
Only one state in a workflow can be defined as the final state. Choosing Final in a state will automatically uncheck FInal in any existing states.
Further state attributes are set using options in the Advanced dropdown checkboxes.
The workflow popup behavior for the state is amended by ticking the checkboxes
Hide from path - removes the state from the workflow popup progress tracker when the content is in any other state in the workflow
Hide selection - removes all transition options from the workflow popup when content is in the current state except for admin users
Version completed - removes the Final attribute from the state and adds a K15T Scroll Versions app-compatible attribute to the state
State approvals, transitions and tasks
The state panel also includes the number of each of the following in the state
Approvals – the number of any content reviews (defined by approval macros)
Transitions – the number transitions from the selected state to another state in the workflow
Tasks - the number of tasks that will be added by the workflow on the transition into the state
Select each of these components to list the names for any existing approvals, tasks, or transitions in the current state.
Choose the component name to open the appropriate workflow builder editor panel for each individual component
Choosing +Add option, for example + Add Approval above, also opens the editor to add a new approval to the state.
Add a new workflow state
One or more states can be added by choosing +Add State.
Enter the new state name and optionally add
a state description (to help your team understand the milestone activities for the content when it is in the workflow state)
state expiry or due date and if required check the box to allow users to edit the date
state indicator color using either the color palette menu or a hexadecimal color
Changes made to the order of the states are reflected in the visual workflow diagram in workflow builder and markup notation in the markup editor but do not change any state transitions.
For any changes, once completed, ensure that you
choose Apply in the state editor to confirm the changes for the state
choose Save in the navigator panel to add these changes to the workflow
select Exit in the Navigator panel to add the updated workflow to the content
Ensure that your state name does not include any prohibited characters.
Related Pages
Edit states using workflow builder