ExpressionEngine Basics: Publication Workflow
This ExpressionEngine Basics post covers the fundamental steps involved in creating a publication workflow. In this quick example we’re only going to work with the default status groups and 2 member groups, but you could use information here to start building much more robust workflows.
Click on he Admin tab
Navigate to the Members and Groups section of the Control Panel
Click on the Members and Groups link in the System Administration section, then Member Groups in the Members and Groups section.
Create 2 new member groups
Click on the Create a New Member Group button to create your new member group.
Name your group
Now we are going to create 2 new member groups – Authors and Editors. In our example, Authors are allowed to create and save posts, but not publish them to the live site. Editors have full publishing privaledges.
Give your groups access to the Publish and Edit sections of the Control Panel
Make sure to give your groups the appropriate access to the Control Panel along with the ability to create and edit posts. Be very careful when assigning these privaledges – it’s also a good idea to lock this group so that only Super Admins can assign new members to these groups.
Take a look at your Custom Entry Statuses
Now we need to head back over and take a look at the default entry statuses. From the CP home screen, click on the Admin button, then choose Weblog Administration, then Custom Entry Statuses.
Click the link to edit the Default Status Group
Edit your Open status
By default, any posts with the status Open will be visible on your EE site, and any post with a status of Closed will not. So, we want to limit access to the Open status to only those members of the Edit group. That way Authors can create and save posts, but the posts will always have a status of Closed. Then an Editor or Super Admin must login and change the status group to Open in order to make the post appear on your site.
Click on the Edit link for the Open status.
Restrict status to members of the of the authors group
To make sure authors can’t publish items, click on the No radio button and then the Update button.
From here, all you need to to is assign members to each of your new groups, create your page templates, and test everything out.
Please leave a comment below if you have any questions!
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