Workflow Customization

Workflows in easyDITA are highly configurable and you can modify them to meet your organization's needs.

In easyDITA, workflows are used to manage assignments. As users complete a series of steps, the assignment moves through the workflow to completion. Workflow names and steps can be configured to better align with your organization's content development process.

Workflow steps can also be configured to trigger other actions. For example, when the last step of a workflow is completed, this can trigger a publish or a file status change on all assignment resources.

Here are some examples of customized workflows:

Note: Contact your easyDITA representative to customize or configure your easyDITA instance to align with your content development structure and process.

Designing a Workflow

You can design custom workflows to use when assigning work in easyDITA This guide will help you define workflows that align with your content development process.Once you've defined your workflows, your CSM can get the workflow configured for you, so it displays as an option in the Assignments Interface.

Workflow Design Considerations

When you begin designing a workflow, you should think about what your content development process looks like. Keep in mind that you can design multiple workflows if different publications or types of assignments follow different processes.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What different deliverables does my organization produce?

• Who writes the content?

• Who reviews the content?

• Who contributes to the content?

• What approvals are required and who can approve the content?

• Are there any limitations that should be in place for accessing the content?

• Are there any processes that should be automated?

Workflow Components

Once you have a general idea of your workflow requirements, you can begin defining your workflows. There are three components to a workflow you must define:

• Steps

• Multiple Assignees

• Triggers

Workflow Steps

Define the workflow steps an assignment should follow. Assignment steps should align with your content development process.

All assignments follow a workflow with defined steps that must be completed by the assigned user(s). For example, in this workflow, one person is assigned to review the content and another to revise it:

1. Review

2. Revise

There is no limit to how many steps you can have in a workflow and you can name the steps whatever you want.

When designing a workflow you should think about both your content development process and who completes the work at each step. For example, consider if multiple reviews are necessary or if you require approvals for any publications.

Multiple Assignees

Workflows are configured to include behaviors for how assignments will handle multiple assignees. If you assign any step to more than one person, you must determine whether you want all people assigned to complete the step or whether one person should claim the step and complete the work.

There are two behaviors available when you assign a workflow step to more than one person:

All Must Complete

All users assigned must complete the workflow step. For example, if you have multiple reviewers or contributors that must review the content, you can assign a step to all of them and require everyone assigned to complete the review step.

Claim

Only one user must claim and complete the workflow step. For example, if you have a pool of reviewers, you can assign a step to all of them and the first available person can claim and complete the review step. Once a user claims a workflow step, the assignment will no longer display for the others assigned.

Triggers

Triggers are automatic actions performed when a workflow step is completed in easyDITA. You can specify triggers for actions that you want to happen as a workflow progresses through each step.

If you integrate triggers into your workflows, keep in mind that these are automated events that will happen every time the specified step is completed. While automation can improve your content development process, you also lose some control over that process so it's important to carefully consider triggers.

There are three workflow triggers available in easyDITA:

Publish

A publishing event is automatically triggered when a workflow step is completed. For example, in the "Author, Review, Verify" workflow, the assigned resource(s) automatically publishes once the Verify step is completed.

Review-Only Mode

The assigned resource is put in Review-Only Mode when a workflow step is completed, which prevents you from editing the document directly, but you can suggest changes or deletions and add comments. For example, in a workflow with the steps "Author, Review, Verify," you can add a trigger to put the document in Review-Only Mode when the Review step is active so the reviewer can add suggestions, but not edit the document.

Status Change

The status of the assigned resources changes when a workflow step is completed. For example, in a workflow with the steps "Author, Review, Verify", you can add a trigger to change the status of the assigned resource(s) to "Approved" when the Verify step is completed.

Tip: If there's another action that you'd like to create a trigger for, please contact your easyDITA representative to see if it can be done. 

Workflow Customization Worksheet

Complete the workflow table for each workflow you want customized:

Workflow Item	Display Name	Multiple Assignees	Triggers
Workflow Name:		-	-
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:

Display Name

The name displayed for each step and in the Workflow drop-down menu.

Triggers

If specified, this step will trigger an action, such as a status change or publishing action.

Multiple Assignees

If multiple users are assigned to a step, specify Claim or All Must Complete. If you specify Claim, then one user must claim and complete the step. If you specify All Must Complete, then all users assigned must to complete the step.

Example of Completed Workflow Configuration Worksheet

Workflow Item	Display Name	Multiple Assignees	Triggers
Workflow Name:	Demo Workflow	-	-
Step 1:	Review	All Must Complete	"Review" Status Review-Only Mode
Step 2:	Revise	Claim	"In Progress" Status
Step 3:	Verify	All Must Complete	"Approved" Status & Publish