Workflow

In this article, we're going to take a look at the Workflow page. This is where you can configure the workflow settings of a specific project.

This page is divided into two sections. The first section is the workflow settings itself and the second section is the grading criteria settings.

Workflow settings

Always remember that every project has its own workflow settings so if you've created a custom workflow status in one project, it won't appear in a different one.

By default, we have four workflow statuses: writing, editorial review, approved for publishing, and completed.

Editing a Workflow Status

You can edit a workflow status by clicking its corresponding pencil icon.

This will change the UI to enable you to make changes to a workflow status, as seen below.

You can change a status's name, description, select responsible roles, set an auto due date, or make it read-only.

Read-only Option

We've decided to give read-only option its own section as it's not as straightforward as the others here... and this is probably not what you think it is.

No, this option doesn't make the status "read-only" or in other words, no one can modify the said status's options when it's set to read-only.

What this does is it locks the content editor in read-only mode when an assignment reaches a read-only status.

For example, let's say we've activated this option on the editorial review workflow status. Once an assignment reaches this status, then no one will be able to edit its content. Not even the admin and not even the writer assigned to it. However, the user responsible for this workflow will still be able to approve or reject the assignment, sending it back to the previous status or pushing it forward to the next one.

Creating a New Workflow Status

To create a new workflow status, simply click the button that says New workflow status just below the "Completed" workflow status.

Clicking this adds a new empty field for you to add and configure your custom workflow status.

You can set (from left to right) the name, description, responsible role, auto due date, and read-only options.

Beside the status name, you'll see, by default, a grey circle. This is the color code of your workflow status. You can change this by clicking the circle and selecting a color through the color picker. Right now, you can only select from a set of predefined colors.

Additional Settings

This option only works when you've connected a WordPress site to your account.

What happens when you have a WordPress site connected is that a new button "Publish to WP" will appear in the content editor.

When you enable this setting, every time you hit the "Publish to WP" button, the assignment's workflow status will automatically be set to Completed regardless of its current status.

Grading Criteria

The grading criteria allow your reviewers to rate assignments after approving them. By default, we have three grading criteria enabled for the Editorial review workflow status.

You can drag and drop these items using the hamburger icon to rearrange them, which will change their order in the feedback dialog box:

Editing a Grading Criterion

The process of editing a grading criterion is very similar to editing a workflow status. Simply click the criterion's corresponding edit button and the UI will change to allow you to make changes.

From left to right: you can modify the criterion's name, description, and associated workflow status.

Creating a New Grading Criterion

To create a new grading criterion, simply click the New grading criterion button and a new empty field will appear to let you create your new grading criterion.

Fill out all three fields then click the Save button and your new criterion will now be active.