Hi there

I'm assessing the advancedworkflow module for the first time, in a fresh 3.1.5 installation.

Initially, I tried setting up a custom workflow but struggled to get it working, so I decided to start with the single-action 'Publish' workflow, and then incrementally enhance and test the workflow until it matched the intended target, but have quickly hit a point of confusion.

Attached is the still-quite-simple configuration, which doesn't even reassign to another user group action, so the sequence for the initiator should (?) just be:

1. Approve Publication
2. Publish

However, when, after making the initial change and clicking 'Approve Publication', the page remains in a draft state but there is no second step to actually 'Publish' the page. (In a later refinement of the workflow, this is intended to be done by a different user group, and so separated by an 'Assign to users' action.)

Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance...

UPDATE: to confirm - it is v 3.0.2 of advancedworkflow in question.

Might pay to have a read over the AWF setup guide at http://userhelp.silverstripe.org/framework/en/for-website-administrators/setting-up-advancedworkflow

Hey camfindlay

Thanks for the quick response. I should have made clear that I have indeed followed the setup guide (and had no issue with the example given! - worked fine) - but just when I went to implement a slightly different workflow it wasn't working for me. I then tried to build / test the workflow 'from the ground up' and got stuck as described above.

One technique I have found that is useful is to flow chart out the workflow on paper/digital first (see the example in the setup guide link).

Can you perhaps do that and attach as an attachment to reply so I can see the flow you are attempting to setup.

Sorry for the delay in replying. I've spent a bit more time and went back to my reproduction of the example workflow detailed in the guide (http://userhelp.silverstripe.org/framework/en/for-website-administrators/setting-up-advancedworkflow) - and I think I have a more fundamental question which underlies my confusion when setting up my own workflow.

So, I reproduced the example from above (SS 3.1.5, AWF 3.0.1) and tested. When the Content Author modifies a page, he can click the 'Apply for Approval' button, so far so good. So my understanding from this is that the buttons that display are labeled with the *next* action available, based on the transitions. Since 'Apply for Approval' is the first / entry point to the workflow, this is the option presented to the Content Author. On clicking this, I expect that the page will transition through the 'Notify Publishers' action to the 'Approval' action. [Aside: I have to confess I find the terminology slightly confusing, as a workflow is essentially a state machine - what are called 'Actions' in AWF I would be more inclined to call 'states', and 'actions' are associated with 'transitions', but no matter...]

However, when logging in as a Content Publisher and viewing the same page, there is only a button for 'Approval', whereas from the above reasoning and the configuration of the workflow, I would have expected instead to see two buttons: 'Publish' and 'Reject Changes', as these are the two possible destination actions from the current 'approval' action, given the transitions. Here is my confusion. Also - on clicking the 'Approval' button, the new content is published. There was never an option to reject the changes?

I've double-checked the configuration of the transitions from 'Approval' etc. and am fairly sure they match the instructions... Am I missing something obvious?

Thanks again in advance!

When you are logged in as the publisher you should click the "Workflow Actions" tab and set to either "Accept" or "Reject" and you have the option to provide comments. Then click the final approval button to lock in that state/action. Agreed this is slightly counter intuitive. See screenshot.

That's exactly it - excellent. I guess I should have looked around the page a bit harder for the second step!

That also resolves my initial query. Many thanks for your help! Appreciated.