When a publication has entered a workflow, it will exist in a state during each stage. At each stage, a different group of users or groups are assigned a task for the publication. Typical states may be ready for review, copy fit, or placed. For example, if an article element has entered the first draft state, it will usually be assigned to an author to complete the first draft of the article. When the author has finished the first draft, the article can then proceed on to the next state, a first review state, where it may be reviewed by a copy editor.

States are defined at the system level so they can be referenced in workflow templates. These system defaults can be overridden at the publication level.

Each state may be assigned a different color to easily identify the current state of each element of a publication. As well, you may choose to produce a PDF rendition of an element during each state. This may be helpful when an element enters a review stage and the reviewer may not have the native application used to create the element (for example, Adobe InDesign).

When creating a workflow state for use in editorial publishing, you may define the default access permissions for content in a state.

Selecting Show Permissions displays the permissions table for content in the state. The permissions table defines the level of access that should be granted to users (based on their performer type) for content when in this state.

When selecting the appropriate permission level for each performer type, if you want the system to retain any existing permissions for a performer when it enters the new state, choose Default as the permission in the permissions table. When Default is selected, the existing access permissions for the user will be kept as the content moves into the new state.