Workflow stages
Workflow stages are the building blocks of a workflow. Create at least one stage before we can create a workflow.
Workflow stages
Stages determine:
- What actions to execute when entering or exiting a workflow stage
- The access levels of users or groups within that stage.
In most cases, actions are run when entering a stage. For example, we add a scheduled move action to run on entering a stage so that it is enabled as soon as an item enters that stage. However, if you set a scheduled move action to run on leaving a stage, it will never run. The most common type of actions to run on leaving a stage are email actions, when to notify users that an item has exited a workflow stage, or custom workflow actions that have been designed to run a task when an item leaves a stage.
Some actions need to be run in a specific order. For example:
- A scheduled move action must always be the final action in a workflow stage, because any actions scheduled after a scheduled move action will not be run.
- We cannot run a version action before a publish action because we cannot save versions of draft items.
- If using a custom action, you may want to run the custom action before executing an email action so that the draft content item is in a state ready to be reviewed by an approver.
The access settings 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.
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.
Parent: Workflow stages and actionsRelated: