Editorial workflow

An editorial workflow is the route content takes from first draft to published page: who writes it, who reviews it and who may publish it. In Drupal, the core Workflows and Content Moderation modules turn that route into states, such as Draft and Published, and into transitions between them that you can restrict by role.

How an editorial workflow works in Drupal 11

Two core modules do the work. Workflows provides the interface for creating workflows with states and transitions. Content Moderation depends on it and attaches a workflow to content. The Drupal User Guide says both modules work with content items and custom blocks. The Standard installation profile does not install either one, so you enable them first.

A workflow has three building blocks:

• States such as Draft or Published. In Content Moderation, each state is flagged as published or unpublished, and as a default revision or not. Draft and Published are required.
• Transitions that say which state content may move to from which other states.
• Permissions. The module help states that each transition is exposed as a permission. Its machine name is use [workflow] transition [transition], and the permission controls who can make that move.

You manage workflows under Configuration › Workflow › Workflows. In the workflow's settings, the section This workflow applies to: lets you choose the content types, or other content entities, that use it. On the edit form, an editor then sees the current state and a Change to list of the allowed next states; a new item shows Save as instead. The help text describes the effect on revisions: a published version stays live while a separate working copy is under review.

Example

The Standard profile ships an optional workflow called Editorial. Drupal creates it when you enable Content Moderation on a site installed with that profile. Its states are Draft, Published and Archived. Its transitions are:

• Create New Draft: from Draft or Published to Draft.
• Publish: from Draft or Published to Published.
• Archive: from Published to Archived.
• Restore to Draft: from Archived to Draft.
• Restore: from Archived to Published.

New content starts in Draft. The shipped file lists no content types, so you still have to tick the ones that should use it. One way to use it: give the writers' role the Create New Draft permission and the reviewers' role the Publish permission.

Common mistakes

• Giving every role every transition. Then anyone can publish, and the workflow enforces nothing.
• Expecting tasks and deadlines. Core Workflows and Content Moderation handle states, transitions and transition permissions. They have no settings for assigning work or due dates.
• Deleting a state in use. Drupal refuses: the form says you cannot remove the state until you have removed all content using it.
• Forgetting to attach the workflow. A workflow with no content types selected changes nothing on the edit form.

For marketing and content teams

Decide the steps before you ask for the setup: who drafts, who approves, whether old pages get archived. Then ask your developer to map each step to a role. Writers save as Draft; reviewers use the Moderated content page to find items waiting for them. Because the published version stays live while a draft is open, you can revise a live page without taking it offline.

With DXPR

The DXPR Builder page states that editors can change the moderation state beside the revision log on the editing screen, and that every save is kept as a Drupal revision.

Sources

• Drupal User Guide: Concept: Editorial workflow
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Content Moderation help text (ContentModerationHooks.php)
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Content Moderation permissions (Permissions.php)
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Content Moderation workflow type plugin (ContentModeration.php)
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Standard profile Editorial workflow
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Workflows module (Workflow entity and menu link)
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Workflows menu links
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Moderated content view
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Workflow state delete form
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Optional configuration install (ConfigInstaller.php)
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Standard profile Administrator role
• Drupal core 11.4.8: Standard profile install list