IWWCM v6 Workflows, stages and actions

Workflows, stages and actions

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Workflows

In an IWWCM solution, a workflow controls the access to an item, its verification and eventual approval. A workflow comprises one or more stages. Before an item can appear on the web site, it must pass through a series of stages.
Only if an item is accepted at all stages prior to entering a stage with a publish action can it be published. If the item is rejected at any stage, someone with edit access needs to correct or amend the item and resubmit it into the selected workflow (for approval). All items that are rejected (regardless of the stage they are at in the approval process) are sent back to the first (creation) stage of the workflow.
Workflows must have a minimum of one stage. Only linear workflows are allowed. A reject stage may be specified, which is a stage that is executed (i.e. entered then exited to execute its actions) when a document is declined, before moving it to the first stage of the workflow. We can also specify that a comment must be entered on every move a document makes in the workflow or only on specific Stages. This comment is added to the document's history section.

Workflow stages

Workflow stages are the building blocks of a workflow. You need to create at least one stage before we can create a workflow. Stages determine:

What actions to execute when entering or exiting a workflow stage

The access levels of users or groups within that stage.

The access settings that are defined in the properties section of the workflow stage form are the security settings applied to items during a workflow, not the Security section of a workflow stage. The Security section only defines who has access to the workflow stage item itself.
Only e-mail actions can be selected to execute on exiting a workflow stage. If you have not created any e-mail actions, there will not be any actions available to select.

Reject stages

In addition to the workflow stages that make up a workflow, there are also workflow stages that are used as part of rejecting an item. When an item is rejected, a reject stage can be triggered that executes pre-defined actions. Once the actions have been executed, the item is returned to the first stage of the workflow.

Workflow stage actions

Each stage contains sets of actions; those that are executing when entering the stage and those executed when exiting the stage. The exit actions are restricted to non-scheduled actions, since they must be executed immediately.

Publish Changes an item's Status from Draft to Published. I.e., the item is available on the rendered site.
An item will only be published once it has entered a workflow stage containing a publish action, and when the selected published date and time has been reached.
Expire Changes an item's Status from Published to Expired. This means the document is no longer available on the site.
An item will only be expired once it has entered a workflow stage containing an expire action, and when the selected expired date and time has been reached.
E-mail This sends e-mails when executed. We can create new e-mail actions and specify who the recipients will be. We can select to e-mail approvers, authors and owners. We can also create a list of other users or groups to e-mail.
A link to the Item to be reviewed is included in the e-mail.
Scheduled Move Performs a scheduled move to the next stage on a specified date. A list-box will allow us to select one of four date types that are entered on each individual document (i.e. the date will come from the document itself, not the action), or you specify a static date.

E-mail settings

To be able to send users an e-mail notification during a workflow have:

A valid e-mail address in the default.system-email property in the WCMConfigService.properties file. This is used as the From address when sending e-mail. This would normally be the e-mail address of a site administrator or workflow manager.

The Member Manager user must have a valid e-mail address.

Parent Topic
Develop a workflow strategy

Publish	Changes an item's Status from Draft to Published. I.e., the item is available on the rendered site. An item will only be published once it has entered a workflow stage containing a publish action, and when the selected published date and time has been reached.
Expire	Changes an item's Status from Published to Expired. This means the document is no longer available on the site. An item will only be expired once it has entered a workflow stage containing an expire action, and when the selected expired date and time has been reached.
E-mail	This sends e-mails when executed. We can create new e-mail actions and specify who the recipients will be. We can select to e-mail approvers, authors and owners. We can also create a list of other users or groups to e-mail. A link to the Item to be reviewed is included in the e-mail.
Scheduled Move	Performs a scheduled move to the next stage on a specified date. A list-box will allow us to select one of four date types that are entered on each individual document (i.e. the date will come from the document itself, not the action), or you specify a static date.