MySource Matrix Section Name

Capabilities

The internet is a published media that the public may rely upon to make certain decisions. It is imperative that publishing controls (workflow) protect an organisation from accidentally publishing incorrect or inappropriate information.

MySource Matrix includes a fully-featured workflow management system, allowing administrators to define publishing and sign-off procedures.  Workflow ensures certain control steps are met before allowing content to change status – e.g. move from Under Construction to Live.

You can define as many workflows as you wish, and you can define a standard workflow which you can duplicate and use as a template.  A single workflow can be applied to your entire site, or you can apply different workflows to different areas of your site if appropriate.  For example, you could apply one workflow to your standard site pages, another to your media releases, and another to your images.

MySource Matrix workflows may be composed of:

• single or multi-step workflow
  
  
• serial or parallel approval
  
  
• individual or role-based approval

MySource Matrix allows for the “manual” initiation of workflow when an asset is published, amended or archived, MySource Matrix allows workflows to be “automatically” initiated when content passes a nominated review or expiry date.

This feature is provided via an intuitive user interface which like all other parts of MySource Matrix is browser based and requires no programming skill to operate.

Where Workflow Applies

If no workflows are defined for an asset they follow the standard workflow, transitioning through the different statuses, as described before.  However, you can define your own custom workflows, known as workflow schemas, to define an approval process on top of the default workflow. 

Workflow schemas apply on any transition to the Live status.  This is shown in the diagram below, with dotted red lines indicating the transitions where workflow schemas apply:
If the status of an asset is changed from Under Construction to Live, for example, the associated workflow schema is initiated and the asset must move through at least two intermediate workflow statuses Pending Approval and Approved to Go Live.

When a user initiates workflow for an asset that is from Under Construction, the asset is first given the workflow status of Pending Approval.  The asset stays with this status until all the approvals defined for the workflow schema are completed at which point the asset status is changed to Approved to Go Live.  A system administrator or a user who has administrator privileges for the asset can then change the status of the asset to Live.  Similarly, when moving between Safe Edit and Live, the workflow statuses are Safe Edit Pending Approval, and Safe Edit Approved to Go Live.

Reviewer Has the Ability to Change Status

A user who is part of the workflow can either accept or reject the changed asset.  Accepting the changes moves the asset to the next step in the workflow.  If it was the last step in the workflow, accepting the asset changes its status to Approved To Go Live.  A system administrator or a user who has administrator privileges for the asset can then change the status of the asset to Live.

Resilience Against Organisational Change

MySource Matrix allows you to define the conditions that comprise the steps in a workflow to specify which members of a user group are required to make the approvals.   When people leave or join the department, they are simply added to the appropriate User Group, and no changes are required to the workflows.

Viewing Workflow Status

Authorisation of publishing of content takes place via a simple intuitive workflow screen.  The Workflow Details screen provides information about the status of a workflow, shows the approvals and comments made to date and allows the authoriser to either approve or reject the work. 

Workflow Reports

MySource Matrix provides various tools to enable management of job allocation and workflow, including:

• Viewing each of the approvals and comments made to date for a particular asset on the Workflow Details screen
  
  
• Colour coding of different statuses of assets in the asset tree
  
  
• Viewing assets with statuses of Pending Approval, Approved To Go Live etc using the Search Folder template
  
  
• Notifications to appropriate users regarding their required involvement in the workflow via the internal messaging system and by email.

Defining a workflow

Workflow schema management is provided via an intuitive user interface, which like all other parts of MySource Matrix is browser based and requires no programming skill to operate.  A workflow schema can be made up of multiple steps.  The following example is a workflow schema with two steps:

• Step 1 – Edit Content
  
  
• Step 2 – QA Process

Each step can have several conditions that specify approval is required from users or a group of users.  The condition is made up of a user or group of users, and logic applied to those users i.e. specifying either “All” or At Least N” members of the group have to approve the change.

In our example, the Edit Content step contains two conditions requiring approval from the following users:

• At least two Content Editors, AND
  
  
• All Content Approvers

The QA step has one condition requiring approval:

• At least one QA Manager

Including Multiple/Alternative People in Workflows

Multiple people can be defined as part of a workflow by either including them individually as parallel steps, or including them in a user group that is included as part of a step in the workflow.  Including user groups in a workflow allows for alternative people to complete the workflow approval steps, and therefore provides more flexibility in the workflow approval process.

Email Notifications

When a user changes the status of an asset to Live, each of the users in the first step of the workflow is notified via the internal messaging system and by email.  As the asset passes through the steps in the workflow, the relevant users are notified.

Feedback on Approval/Rejection

Any user included in the workflow can either approve or reject the changes, and can enter a log message to provide feedback on the page requirements. You can display either all log messages or just the most recent messages.

Workflow and Mulitple Locations

If content is re-used in multiple locations, content is published to each location once the workflow is complete, if the same workflow is applied to each location.  If different workflow applies to different locations, the content is only published to each location when the appropriate workflow is complete.

Workflow Carbon Copy

When a user changes the status of an asset to Live, each of the users in the first step of the workflow is cc’d on notifications - via the internal messaging system and by email.  As the asset passes through the steps in the workflow, the relevant users are carbon copied.

Workflow Duration

MySource Matrix allows you to specify a duration for each approval step in a worfkflow.  If the approvals have not been completed by this period after the workflow has commenced, an email notification is sent to the administrator.

Emergency Override

MySource Matrix allows an administrator to override a workflow if required in an emergency, by temporarily removing the workflow and directly publishing the asset.

Workflow Administration

Appropriately authorised users can create, delete, or update a workflow, including modifying the conditions.  Updates to a workflow are applied to status changes that take place after the updates are applied.

Proxy Workflow

Workflows may be defined using roles (user groups), and user accounts may assigned and removed from these roles as required. In other words a user may act as “proxy” to someone else when required.  Further, individuals may be assigned to roles based on specific conditions. For example if a user is accessing the system from a specific IP range (or some other business rule) they may have access to additional functionality in the system.

Graphical View of Workflows

Workflows can be created in a hierarchy of folders that is presented graphically as part of the main asset tree.  Authorised users may “expand” the view to see the details of the workflow in heading form and the specific steps and rules. Each heading may then be further expanded to reveal details of the workflow configuration. 

Integration with Security Model

As for all assets in MySource Matrix, there is tight integration between the workflow and security systems. Access to workflow assets is restricted to users defined as administrator for that workflow.  Allowable actions during the approval process can be specified as part of the workflow, and workflow rules can only be overridden by a system administrator.  MySource Matrix can be configured to interface to and LDAP directory for user and role information. 

Including External Users in Workflow

MySource Matrix provides a fully devolved content creation and management via its web interface, and all external users are provided with a username and password which they can use to edit and approve assets.