Add a workflow to a single page

Overview

Any individual user with Edit permissions in a space can choose to add and apply a Comala Document Control workflow to individual blogs or pages.

Add and apply the workflow

On a page, choose Page Tools and Add Workflow... :


Ensure the Apply only to page option is highlighted and choose Next:


The dialogue box displays the available choice of installed workflow templates to add and apply to the page.

Highlight one of these workflows and choose Apply.

 

The workflow is applied to the current page.

If the workflow requires parameters to be set up, for example the Content Expiry Workflow. a dialog box may be displayed to allow the user to set an expiry period for the published content.

A screen notification confirms that the Comala Document Control workflow has been successfully applied to the content.

The page sub-title now includes the status indicator circle for the state and the state name.

The content is now considered draft content and is in the default initial workflow state - the Review state. Only users with Edit or Admin permissions are able to view the page or blog post in this draft state.

All three Comala Document Control workflows include a state defined as the final workflow state.

For each of these workflows all the other states in the workflow are defined as draft states. By default, only users with Confluence edit or admin permission can view the page or blog post currently in a workflow draft state.

A user with Confluence view-only permission is directed to the version created on the last transition to the workflow final state (if an approved version has been created).

Workflow states

The workflow added will consist of a number of different states depending on the choice of workflow template.

The three workflows available are:

Different transitions can occur between each of the three states depending on the activity. Some states in a workflow may have a content review, with different destinations for the approve and reject decisions. There are also automatic transitions on editing and updating a page or blog post.

Approve the content

In the Content Expiry Workflow there is an automatic transition from the published Approved state after a set time period (starting from the time the page transitioned to the Approved state).

By default, any user with Edit permissions can undertake any content reviews (the approval) in a workflow state to approve or reject the page or blog post. This is done through the workflow popup.


The content review (approval) is usually characterised by two buttons "Approve" and "Reject". Approving or rejecting the content will cause the page or blog post to transition (move) to another state in the workflow. The reviewer has the option to Add comment. The comment will be included with any notifications of the approval.

The workflow added above is the Content Expiry Workflow. In the Review state for this workflow:

  • an approval decision will publish the content to the Approved state, allowing users with View permissions to view the page or blog post

  • a rejection decision will move the content to another draft state, the Rejected state

The workflow progress tracker bar does not show the Rejected state except when the workflow is in the Rejected state:

Content in the Rejected state is also subject to a content review. A rejection decision does not cause a transition - although it is recorded as an event in Page Activity. If the page is edited and updated, the workflow will cause a transition from this state to the Review state.

Published content

The Approved state is the published version of the page or blog post. In the published Approved state the workflow popup displays a message confirming the content has gone through an approval process.

Once the content has been approved, the page or blog post is transitioned to the workflow final state - in the Conent Expiry workflow the published Approved state. This version can be seen by View-only users. 

If you are working on a draft, the published Approved version is still available. View-only users are not able to see any versions that are in the other states in the workflow. These are draft states , when the content in either in the Review or the Rejected state.

The popup also includes the time period for the content expiry from the time of transition to the Approved state. This is the time period set in the workflow setup, the workflow popup displays the time remaining to the due date.  It can be amended by a user using the Page Tools menu. If another version is approved and published before the due period expires this time period is reset.

Assign a reviewer

One or more users can be assigned to undertake the content review. Simply choose +Add Reviewer, search and assign a reviewer:

Once a reviewer is assigned to a content review, the approve and reject buttons in the popup for that content review will be disabled for all other users including those with Admin permissions. However, a user with Space Admin privileges can unassign the review and assign another user as a reviewer.

If specific reviewers are required for a content review they will need to be re-assigned to the content review each time the workflow state occurs.  An exception is in the Quality Management System Workflow, where the reviewers are assigned by the workflow from the values of user of group parameters defined on initial workflow setup or updated by space admins.

Each content review can have more than one assignee.

Simply choose +Add Reviewer, search and assign another reviewer.

Multiple reviewers assigned to a content review all need to agree on the review decision before a transition takes place.

The assignee's avatar is added to the workflow popup.

Allowing use of page workflows in a space

For a user to add and apply a workflow to a page in a space: