Adding approvers

When you add approvers to a folder or content, that action creates a basic workflow.

Prerequisite 

Only users and user groups with read-only or higher permissions to the folder may be added as approvers. See Adding a user or user group to the permissions screen for more information.

Best Practice 

Assign user groups (not individual users) to a basic workflow. In this way, if someone is out of the office, any group member can approve content.

1. From the Manage Approvals screen, click Add. The Add Approvals screen appears.
2. Click the user or user group to add to the basic workflow.
3. Click OK.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until all approvers are chosen.

Deleting approvers

You can delete approvers at any time, including while content is in an approval process. If you do, the users or groups are eliminated from the basic workflow. If a removed user was the current approver, approval moves to the next user or group in the basic workflow.

WARNING! If a user is deleted from a folder or content Permissions screen, the user is deleted from the basic workflow. If all approvers are deleted from a Permissions screen, the basic workflow is removed.

1. From the Manage Approvals screen, click Delete (). The Remove Approval screen appears.
2. Click a user or group to remove from the basic workflow.
3. Click OK.

NOTE: If you delete all approvers from a basic workflow, it is removed.

Editing the approval order

After assigning approvers to a folder or content, you can adjust the approval order. Place the user or group with final approval at the end of the workflow (that is, assign the highest number). For example, if a department head must approve edits, and a Webmaster has final review of content, the approval order is:

• Department Head—1
• Webmaster—2

To edit approval order:

1. From the Manage Approvals screen, click Reorder Items (). The Edit Approval Order screen appears.
2. Click the user or group whose approval order you want to change.
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3. Click Up () or Down () to move users and groups to the desired order.
4. Click Update.

Setting the approval method

The approval method determines if content must be approved by all users in the workflow, or only users higher up the workflow than the user submitting the content. The approval method affects the approval process only if the person submitting content is a member of the basic workflow.

There are 2 approval methods.

• Force All Approvers. All users in the basic workflow must approve the content, beginning with the first.
• Do Not Force All Approvers. Only approvers after the user submitting content in the basic workflow must approve the content.

The Approval Method applies to all content in a folder, regardless of its language. For example, assume a basic workflow consists of

1. Content contributor
2. Department head
3. Webmaster

If the approval method is Force All Approvers, and the department head submits content, the content must be approved by the content contributor, department head, then Webmaster before it is published.

If the approval method is Do Not Force All Approvers, and the department head submits content, the content must only be approved the Webmaster before it is published.

Changing the approval method

Changing the approval method

Prerequisites

• If basic workflow is inherited, the approval method is also inherited from the parent folder. Before you can change an inherited approval method, you must break inheritance.

By default, the approval method is set to Do Not Force All Approvers. To change the approval method for a content folder or item:

1. Go to the folder to which you want to assign a basic workflow.
2. Choose View > Language and select the workflow's language.
3. Choose View > Properties.
4. Click Manage Approvals ().
5. Click Edit Approval Method (). The Edit Approval Method screen appears.
6. Click the applicable radio button.
7. Click Update.

First approver

After the Sports Writer submits content, the first user in the basic workflow, the Sports Editor, receives an email stating that content needs approval. The Sports Editor can modify and approve the content or decline it.

1. The Sports Editor logs into Ektron, goes to the desktop, and sees the Content Awaiting Approval widget.
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2. The Sports Editor clicks the View All link and sees content awaiting approval. The screen displays information such as title, who submitted it, publication date, and so on. The Sports Editor clicks the Submitted content.
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   On the Approve screen, the Sports Editor has these options.

   • Approve. Send content to next approver in basic workflow.
   • Decline.
     • Send email to creator, notifying him/her that content was declined.
     • Remove content from basic workflow.
   • Edit. Invokes the editor. From here, the approver can change the content.
3. The Sports Editor chooses Approve.

Second approver

After the content is approved, the Editor-in-Chief is the next approver in the basic workflow who is notified by email that content is ready for approval.

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1. The Editor-in-Chief logs in to Ektron and accesses the Workarea. The Workarea has an Approvals report with the content awaiting approval.
2. The Editor-in-Chief reviews the Approvals report and finds the content Red Sox win World Series.
3. From this window, the Editor-in-Chief views information about the content, including title, publication date, the user who created it, and so on.
4. The Editor-in-Chief clicks the content to be approved. This screen is similar to the previous approver’s but includes a Publish button, because Editor-in-Chief is the last approver in the basic workflow.

   Like the Sports Editor, the Editor-in-Chief has these options:

   • Publish. Publish the content.
   • Decline.
     • Sends an email to the creator, notifying him/her that content was declined.
     • Removes content from the basic workflow.
   • Edit. Invokes the editor. The approver changes the content.
5. After reviewing the content, the Editor-in-Chief decides to publish it. The content is published on the website.
6. The basic workflow is complete and the user who created the content receives email notification that it was published.

—Image—

Content Escalated For Your Approval

The following content has been escalated for your approval: Blog Post at: Blog Check/
originally submitted to:adam by James Smith on 12/24/2013 2:15:55 PM
To approve or decline this content,log in to your Ektron workarea, select the content 
and click on the Approve or Decline icon or link.

Approval Has Been Escalated

The following content was not approved within x days, so the approval has been escalated: 
HTML 1 at: Content Level Test/escalated for approval to: Application Administrator on 12/24/2013 2:16:15 PM
You are no longer required to approve or decline this content.

Customizing email notification text

1. On the Ektron server, open the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools.

   NOTE: In some Windows versions, the folder is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v8.0A\Bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools.

2. Copy the resgen.exe file.
3. Paste the file in your siteroot\Workarea\resources folder.
4. Open a command window.
5. Insert this command:
   cd C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\yoursiteroot\Workarea\resources (replace yoursiteroot with your site root folder)
6. In the command window, insert resgen EKResource.en-US.resources anyfilename.txt (You can assign any name to the .txt file.)

   A .txt file of resource strings is created in the resources folder.

7. Update notification text as desired.

   IMPORTANT: Each message has a name followed by an equal sign (=). Do not change text to the left of the equal sign.
   

   The standard message text is shown in Notifying users of advanced workflow activities.

   To understand the variables within the text, see Customizing Ektron email with tokens.

8. In the command window, insert resgen anyfilename.txt EKResource.en-US.resources. This action saves your changes to the resources file.

Assigning an advanced workflow to a folder

1. Go to Workarea > Content.
2. Select an existing folder or create a new folder.

   NOTE: If you create a new folder, its workflow initially matches the parent folder's workflow.

3. Choose View > Language and select the language of the workflow you want to add.
4. Choose View > Properties.
5. Click Manage Approvals (). Several things can happen:
   • If no workflow is assigned to the folder, a screen prompts you to assign a basic or advanced workflow. Choose Advanced. The Manage Approvals screen appears. Continue to the next step.
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   • If basic workflow is assigned to the folder (as shown in the following image), see Switching from basic workflow to advanced workflow. Then, continue to the next step.
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   • If any content in the folder is in Submitted status, a message appears: The workflow for this folder cannot be changed because some content is currently in an approval process
     If you still want to edit the workflow, your options are as follows:
     • cancel the approval process all content in Submitted status. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
     • force publish all content in Submitted status. See also: Forcing the publication of content.
     • get all approvers to approve Submitted content, so its status changes to Published.

     Then, continue to the next step.

   • If a folder inherits workflow from its parent folder, you are informed of that. To break inheritance, go to the folder's Permissions screen and uncheck Allow this object to inherit permissions. Then, continue to the next step.
6. From the Select Workflow Type drop-down, select a workflow to assign to this folder. See also: Standard vs. custom workflow
7. Assign a user or group to each approver. If you assign a group, any group member can approve or decline the content.

   Prerequisite 

   Only users or groups who have read-only or greater permissions for the folder are available.

   Best Practice 

   Assign user groups (not individual users) to a workflow. In this way, if someone is out of the office, any other group member can approve content.

8. For each approver, you can assign an escalation time period and user or group in the Escalation column. For example, after 3 days, if an approver has not acted on the approval request, it is assigned to the administrators group. See also: How escalation affects the approval process
9. Click Save.

Viewing an advanced workflow for a folder

To view a folder's workflow, click View > Properties > Manage Approvals (). If any content in the folder is in Submitted status, the following message appears instead of its workflow: The workflow for this folder cannot be changed because some content is currently in an approval process.

You can only view a folder's workflow if none of its content is in Submitted status. Typically, this occurs when the content is approved, although content also can be canceled or declined, which change the content's status to Checked In.

Editing an advanced workflow for a folder

You can change the following advanced workflow information for a folder:

• workflow
• list of approvers
• for each approver
  • escalation user or group
  • escalation time period

Prerequisites

• Only administrator group members and users assigned to the Folder User Admin Role screen can edit an advanced workflow See also: Defining roles
• No content in the folder is in Submitted status. If it is, and you want to edit the workflow, your options are as follows:
  • cancel the approval process for each content item in Submitted status. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
  • force publish each content item in Submitted status. See also: Forcing the publication of content
  • get all approvers to approve Submitted content, so its status changes to Published.

To edit a folder's advanced workflow:

1. Go to the folder whose workflow you want to edit.
2. Choose View > Language and select the language of the workflow you want to edit.
3. Choose View > Properties.
4. Click Manage Approvals ().
5. From the Select Workflow Type drop-down, you can change the workflow type. See also: Standard vs. custom workflow
6. If desired, edit the user or group for each approver. If you assign a group, any member of the group can approve or decline the content.

   Prerequisite 

   Only users or groups who have read-only or greater permissions for the folder are available.

   Best Practice 

   Assign user groups (not individual users) to a workflow. In this way, if someone is out of the office, any other group member can approve content.

7. For each approver, you can assign an escalation time period and user or group. See also: How escalation affects the approval process
8. Click Save.

Removing an advanced workflow from a folder

This section explains how to remove an advanced workflow from a folder, so that it has no workflow. If you want to switch an advanced workflow to basic workflow, see Switching from advanced workflow to basic workflow.

Because workflow is language-specific, the procedure explains how to delete a workflow for one language only. To remove workflow for multiple languages, repeat this procedure for each one.

Prerequisites

• Only administrator group members and users assigned to the Folder User Admin Role screen can remove an advanced workflow. See also: Defining roles
• The folder does not inherit its workflow. If it does, you must break inheritance by viewing the folder's Permissions screen and unchecking the Allow this object to inherit permissions check box. See also: Key workflow concepts
• No content in the folder is in Submitted status. If it is, and you want to remove a workflow, your options are as follows:
  • cancel the approval process for each content item in Submitted status. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
  • force publish each content item in Submitted status. See also: Forcing the publication of content
  • get all approvers to approve Submitted content, so its status changes to Published.

To remove an advanced workflow from a folder:

1. Go to the folder whose workflow you want to remove.
2. Choose View > Language and select the language of the workflow.
3. Choose View > Properties.
4. Click Manage Approvals ().
5. Click Remove Workflow ().

Creating an advanced workflow for content

1. Go to the folder that contains the content to which you want to assign an advanced workflow.
2. Choose View > Language and select the content's language.
3. Select the content item and choose View > Properties.
4. Click Manage Approvals (). Several things can happen:
   • If the content inherits workflow from its parent folder, you are informed of that. To break inheritance, view the content's Permissions screen and uncheck the Allow this object to inherit permissions check box. Then, continue to the next step.
   • If the content is in Submitted status, you see
     The workflow for this content cannot be changed because some content is currently in an approval process
     If you still want to assign a workflow, your options are as follows:
     • cancel the approval process for the content. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
     • force publish the content. See also: Forcing the publication of content
     • get all approvers to approve the content, so its status changes to Published.

     Then, continue to the next step.

   • If a basic workflow is assigned to the content, see Switching from basic workflow to advanced workflow. Then, continue to the next step.
     —Image—

     

   • If no workflow is assigned to the content, a screen prompts you to assign Basic or Advanced workflow.
     —Image—

     

     Choose Advanced. The Manage Approvals screen appears.

5. From the Select Workflow Type drop-down, select a workflow to assign to this content. See also: Standard vs. custom workflow
6. Assign a user or group to each approver. If you assign a group, any group member can approve or decline the content.

   Best Practice 

   Assign user groups (not individual users) to a workflow. In this way, if someone is out of the office, any other group member can approve content.

   Prerequisite 

   Only users or groups who have read-only or greater permissions for the folder are available.

7. For each approver, you can assign an escalation time period and user or group in the Escalation column. See also: How escalation affects the approval process
8. Click Save.

Viewing an advanced workflow for content

To view a content item's workflow, click View > Properties > Manage Approvals (). If any content in the folder is in Submitted status, the following message appears instead of its workflow: The workflow for this folder cannot be changed because some content is currently in an approval process.

You can only view a folder's workflow if none of its content is in Submitted status. Typically, this occurs when the content is approved, although content also can be canceled or declined, which change the content's status to Checked In.

If a content item inherits workflow from its folder, this message appears: Approval workflow for this content is currently inherited. You can break this inheritance in the "View Permissions" screen for content title. To view the workflow assigned to the content's folder, choose the folder's View > Properties menu option, then click Manage Approvals ().

Editing an advanced workflow for content

You can change the following advanced workflow information for a content item:

• workflow
• list of approvers
• for each approver
  • escalation user or group
  • escalation time period

Prerequisites

• Only administrator group members and users assigned to the Folder User Admin Role screen can edit an advanced workflow. See also: Defining roles
• The content does not inherit its workflow. If it does, you must break inheritance by viewing its Permissions screen and unchecking Allow this object to inherit permissions.
• The content is not in Submitted status. If it is, and you want to edit the workflow, your options are as follows:
  • cancel the approval process. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
  • force publish the content item. See also: Forcing the publication of content
  • get all approvers to approve the Submitted content, so its status changes to Published.

To edit a content item's advanced workflow:

1. Go to the folder that contains the content whose workflow you want to edit.
2. Choose View > Language and select the workflow's language.
3. Click the content to access its View Content screen.
4. Click Manage Approvals ().
5. From the Select Workflow Type drop-down, select a workflow to assign to this content. See also: Standard vs. custom workflow
6. You can edit the user or group for each approver. If you assign a group, any member of the group can approve or decline the content.

   Best Practice 

   Assign user groups (not individual users) to a workflow. In this way, if someone is out of the office, any other group member can approve content.

   Prerequisite 

   You can only choose users or groups who have read-only or greater permissions for the folder.

7. For each approver, you can enter or modify an escalation time period and user or group in the Escalation column. See also: How escalation affects the approval process
8. Click Save.

Removing an advanced workflow from content

You can remove an advanced workflow from a content item, so that it has no workflow. If you want to switch an advanced workflow to basic workflow, see Switching from advanced workflow to basic workflow.

Because workflow is language-specific, the procedure explains how to delete content workflow for only 1 language. To remove workflow for multiple languages, repeat this procedure for each one.

Prerequisites

• Only administrator group members and users assigned to the Folder User Admin Role screen can remove an advanced workflow. See also: Defining roles
• The content does not inherit its workflow. If it does, you must break inheritance by viewing its Permissions screen and unchecking Allow this object to inherit permissions. See also: Key workflow concepts
• The content is not in Submitted status. If it is, and you want to remove a workflow, your options are as follows:
  • cancel the approval process. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
  • force publish the content. See also: Forcing the publication of content
  • get all approvers to approve the content, so its status changes to Published.

To remove an advanced workflow from a content item:

1. Go to the folder that contains the content whose workflow you want to remove.
2. Choose View > Language and select the language of the workflow.
3. Choose View > Properties.
4. Click the content to access its View Content screen.
5. Click Manage Approvals ().
6. Click Remove Workflow ().

Submitting content into an advanced workflow

To submit content into the workflow process, a content author uses the Submit button (on the editor toolbar) or menu option; the content status changes to Submitted.

NOTE: If no workflow is assigned to a folder or content, a Publish button appears instead of the Submit button.

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When content is submitted, the workflow's next approver or group is notified by email that content awaits their approval. That user can go to the content, then review and approve it using the Approve context menu option or toolbar button on the View Content screen.

—Image—

Alternatively, the approver can use the Approval report or Submitted content report to find, review and approve content. Upon approving the content, the approver is prompted to enter an optional comment. If one is entered, it is included in the notification email.

• If an escalation time period is assigned to an approver or group, and an approver does not act on the content within that time period, approval responsibility transfers to the escalation user or group. See also: How escalation affects the approval process
• If not satisfied with the content, any approver can decline it. If declined, approval responsibility reverts to the previous approver, who can edit then resubmit the content or decline it. See also: Declining content in an advanced workflow
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• An administrator can bypass the approval process at any time, either by force publishing or canceling.
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See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow, Forcing the publication of content

Monitoring content in an advanced workflow

To see any content item's workflow and current approver, view its properties screen. Red text indicates the current approver. Next to that approver is an indication of how long ago the approval request was assigned.

NOTE: If a content item's approval request is escalated, the escalation user or group does not appear on the View Content screen. See also: How escalation affects the approval process

—Image—

To see all content

• awaiting your approval; use the Approval report.
• in Submitted status; use the Submitted content report.
• via desktop widgets; Managing content from the Smart Desktop
  • Content Awaiting Approval (a shortcut to the Approval report).
  • Content In Workflow. All content in Submitted status (a shortcut to the Submitted content report).

Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow

You can cancel an approval request for any Submitted content item. It does not matter if anyone has approved the content yet.

For example, you want to change one of the users assigned to a workflow, and can only do this if no content is in Submitted status. Upon cancellation, the content's status reverts to Checked In.

Prerequisites

• Content status is Checked in (I), Submitted (S) or Checked out (O)
• You are a member of the administrators group, or assigned to both of these roles. See also: Defining roles
  • folder user admin
  • content workflow admin

To cancel an approval request for a Submitted content item:

1. Go to the folder that contains the content whose approval request you want to cancel.
2. Choose View > Language and select the content's language.
3. Click the content to access its View Content screen.
4. Click Manage Approvals ().
5. Click Cancel Workflow. A confirmation appears.
6. Click OK. The content's status changes to Checked In.

Forcing the publication of content

You can force the publishing of a content item, bypassing its workflow. Upon publication, the content's status changes to Approved. For example, you want to change one of the users assigned to a workflow, and can only do this if no content is in Submitted status.

NOTE: On PageBuilder pages, Force Publish () only appears after the content is submitted. The button does not appear on the initial PageBuilder dialog when creating a new page.

• Content status is Checked in (I), Submitted (S) or Checked out (O).
  • You can force publish content upon creating it.
• You are a member of the administrators group, or assigned to both of the following roles. See also: Defining roles
  • content workflow admin
  • folder user admin

To force the publishing of a content item:

1. Go to the folder that contains the content that you want to force publish.
2. Choose View > Language and select the content's language.
3. Click the content to access its View Content screen.
4. Click Force Publish (). The content's status changes to Approved.

Declining content in an advanced workflow

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Only the current approver (or user group member) can decline content. This would typically be done if the content was unsatisfactory. Upon declining, the user is prompted to enter a comment. The next action depends on that user's workflow position.

• If the user is the first approver, the content reverts to Checked In status, and is removed from the workflow process.
• If the user is not the first approver, approval responsibility reverts to the previous approver or group. Only that user or group member can work with the content. The previous approver can edit it then submit again, or decline it.

  The previous approver is notified by email that the content was declined. The notification includes the comment. Notifying users of advanced workflow activities
  

Deleting content in an advanced workflow

You can delete content only if the status is Checked In, Approved, or Pending Go Live Date. If the content status is Submitted and you need to delete it, your options are:

• Cancel the approval process. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
• Force publish. See also: Forcing the publication of content
• Get all approvers to approve the content, so its status changes to Published.

Content controlled by an advanced workflow is deleted immediately—no approval is required. In this way, the procedure is different from the deletion of content controlled by basic workflow, which requires approval.

For additional guidelines, see Deleting content.

Prerequisite 

You are a member of the Administrators group, or are assigned to the Content Workflow Admin role and have delete permission for the content.

1. Go to the folder that contains the content that you want to delete.
2. Click the triangle to the right of the content to display its context menu.
3. Click Delete.
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   NOTE: If you do not see a Delete button or menu option, either you lack permission to delete, or the content status is not Checked In, Approved, or Pending Go Live Date.

Editing content in an advanced workflow

If you are the current approver and have edit permission for Submitted content, you can edit it. Otherwise, you can edit content with the status of Checked In, Approved, or Pending Go Live Date only.

If you want to edit Submitted content but are not the current approver, your options are as follows:

• Cancel the approval process. See also: Canceling an approval request in an advanced workflow
• Force publish. See also: Forcing the publication of content
• Get all approvers to approve the content, so its status changes to Published.

Prerequisite 

You are a member of the Administrators group or have edit permission for the content.

1. Go to the folder that contains the content that you want to edit.
2. Click the triangle to the right of the content to display its context menu.
3. Click Edit.

Step 1: Install Ektron’s SDK

To install Ektron's Software Development Kit (SDK) during installation, choose SDK on the Site Options screen.

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If SDK is not selected during installation, you can install the SDK in either of the following ways:

• Windows Start button > All Programs > Ektron > Cms400vx.x > Utilities > CMS400SDK install
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Ektron\CMS400vx.x\Utilities\CMS400SDK_Setup.exe

The SDK's workflow components are installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\Ektron\CMS400SDK\Contentworkflow\code.

Step 2: Open the sample workflow file

1. Launch Visual Studio 2012.
2. Open C:\Program Files (x86)\Ektron\CMS400SDK\Contentworkflow\code\ContentWorkflowSDKSample.sln.
3. In Solution Explorer, click ContentWorkflowStateSDKSample.xaml. The sample workflow file opens.
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4. Add Ektron Workflow controls to the Visual Studio toolbox.
   1. Open the Visual Studio Toolbox.
   2. Add a tab and name it Ektron Workflow.
   3. Right click and select Choose Items....
   4. Click Browse.
   5. Choose C:\Program Files (x86)\Ektron\CMS400SDK\Contentworkflow\code\CMS\Ektron.Cms.ContentWorkflow.dll.
   6. Click OK. The controls appear on the tab.
      —Image—

      

Step 3: Edit the sample workflow file

IMPORTANT: Save the sample workflow file under a different name, then customize the copy of the file.

Rules for working with the sample workflow file

Rules for working with the sample workflow file

• Only statemachine workflowis supported.
• Each workflow approver is represented by one workflow state.
• Transitions
  • Approver states have two transitions: Approved and Declined.
    • Upon approval, the transition destination is the next workflow activity. Upon approval by the last approver, the transition destination is Final State.
    • Upon decline, the transition destination is the previous workflow activity.
  • Final State has no transitions.
• Do not delete or edit the Get Item Before Transition state.
• Do not delete the Final State.
• You can add code to customize the behavior of any state or transition.
  —Image—

  

  To see the arguments for use in custom code, open the Arguments panel.

  —Image—

  

Step 3a: Adding an approver

Step 3a: Adding an approver

1. From the Visual Studio toolbox, drag and drop a State machine > State control.
   —Image—

   

2. Drag the new state near other states with which it will connect.
3. Open an existing workflow activity, such as Second Approver.
4. Right click and copy its UpdateInstance activity.
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5. Click to open the new state.
6. Within the Entry box, right-click Drop activity here and paste the UpdateInstance activity.
7. In the title bar, select the default text, State1, and replace it with the new state's name. For example, Sixth Approver.
8. At the bottom of the screen, click Variables to open that panel.
   —Image—

   

9. Enter these values into the Variables panel.
   • Name. ApproverName
   • Variable type. String
   • Scope. copied from the name you assigned in Step 7.
   • Default. Within quotes (""), enter the name you assigned in Step 7.
10. Create an Approved transition between the new state and its next state.
    1. Click an existing Approved transition to open its dialog.
    2. Copy its WaitForItemEvent.
    3. Create a transition by dragging a line from the side of the new state to its approval destination state. For example, drag a line from the Sixth Approver state to the Final State.
    4. Click the transition to open its dialog.
    5. Within the Trigger box, right-click Drop trigger activity here and paste the WaitForItemEvent activity.
    6. In the title bar, select the default text, Tnumber, and replace it with Approved.
11. Create a Declined transition between the new state and its previous state.
    1. Click an existing Declined transition to open its dialog.
    2. Copy the WaitForItemEvent.
    3. Drag a line from the side of the new state to its declined destination state. For example, drag a line from the Sixth Approver state to the Fifth State.
    4. Click the transition to open its dialog.
    5. In the top box, right-click Drop trigger activity here and paste the WaitForItemEvent activity.
    6. In the title bar, select the default text, Tnumber, and replace it with Declined.

Step 3b: Removing an approver

Step 3b: Removing an approver

1. Drag the transitions of the state being removed to new states.

   For example, if you are removing the Fourth Approver in a Five Approver workflow, move the Fifth Approver's declined transition to Third Approver. Then, move the Third Approver's Approved transition to the Fifth approver.

2. Rename the approver that follows the approver being deleted. To continue the above example, change the name of Fifth Approver to Fourth Approver.

   IMPORTANT: Do not change the name of the Final State.

3. Select the approver state that you want to delete.
4. Right click and choose Delete.

Step 3c: Adding a custom activity to a workflow

1. In ContentWorkflowSDKSample.sln, add a new Code Activity item to the project.
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2. In the new Code Activity file, add custom code. In the following example, a simple content block is created.

   IMPORTANT: Use Try Catches around your code.

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3. After saving the Code Activity file, you can find it in the Visual Studio Toolbox. By default, it appears under the name of your assembly, Ektron.Cms.ContentWorkflowSDKSample.

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You can place the activity anywhere you see Drop activity here.

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In the following example, the activity is placed in the Approved transition between First Approver and Second Approver.

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Step 4: Update the Ektron.cms.contentworkflow.config file

After you customize the sample workflow file and save it to a different name, edit Ektron.cms.contentworkflow.config. Ektron references this file to determine the properties of your advanced workflows.

1. In Solution Explorer, right click the ContentWorkflowSDKSample project and choose Properties.
2. Copy the Assembly name.
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3. In Solution Explorer, select the .xaml sample workflow file that you edited in Step 3: Edit the sample workflow file, right click, and choose View Code. The xml version of the file appears.
4. Copy the value of x:Class in the top line.

   <Activity mc:Ignorable="sap sap2010 sads" x:Class="Ektron.Cms.ContentWorkflowStateSDKSample"				
   xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/netfx/2009/xaml/activities"
   xmlns:av="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
   xmlns:ecc="clr-namespace:Ektron.Cms.Common;assembly=Ektron.Cms.Common"

5. Open siteroot\Ektron.Cms.ContentWorkflow.config. In this file, each workflow activity contains the following XML structure. Each workflow has several "activities" (approvers or states), and each state has several transitions (typically, a decline and an approve).

   <Workflow>	
      <Activities>		
   	 <Activity ActivityName="First Approver"  AssignUser="true">
   	    <Transitions>		
   		<Transition TransitionName="Approved" BookmarkName = "First Approver Approved" 
                     Destination="Second Approver" />   
                  <Transition TransitionName="Declined" BookmarkName = "First Approver Declined" 
                     Destination="Author" />
   	    </Transitions>
          </Activity> 
      <Activities>
   </Workflow>

6. To add a new workflow:
   1. Copy and paste an existing workflow. A workflow is surrounded by <Workflow> </Workflow> elements.
   2. Modify the pasted workflow as follows:
      1. Change its DisplayName to the name you want to appear in the Ektron Workarea.
      2. Replace ClassName with the class name you copied in Step 4 of this procedure.
      3. Replace AssemblyName with the assembly name you copied in Step 2 of this procedure.
      4. To add an activity, copy and paste an existing one. For example, if the new workflow has 5 steps, copy and paste the "4 Step Approval" activity.
      5. Update the copied <Activity> properties to match the new workflow. To continue the example:
         • Change DisplayName to "5 Step Approval."
         • Within the "Fifth Approver" <Activity> element, update the approved and declined transition values to match the .xaml file.
         • Modify the properties of other activities to match the .xaml file. For example, change the Fourth Approver's Destination from "Final State" to "Fifth Approver".
7. To remove an existing workflow:
   1. Select and delete the beginning (<Workflow>) and ending (</Workflow>) elements.
   2. Modify the properties of other activities to match the .xaml file. For example, change the third Approver's Destination from "Fourth Approver" to "Final State".

Step 5: Move the compiled .dll file to siteroot\bin folder

1. With the sample project open in Visual Studio, click the menu option Build > Build Solution. The project starts to build.

   The build creates a new .dll file in C:\Program Files (x86)\Ektron\CMS400SDK\Contentworkflow\code\bin\Debug. The file name matches the assembly name that you copied in Step 2 of Step 4: Update the Ektron.cms.contentworkflow.config file.

2. Copy the .dll file to the siteroot\bin folder.

Step 6: Publish affected content

Before using the new workflow file, publish content that will be affected by it.

1. Identify every folder or content item to which you want to apply the new workflow.
2. Publish content in those folders, and affected content items. You can either ask approvers to approve the content, or (if you are an Administrators Group member) use the Force Publish button. See also: Forcing the publication of content

Step 7: Test the new workflow in the Ektron workarea

Ektron Workarea users can select the new workflow on the Manage Approvals screen.

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Try out the new workflow in a test environment before moving it to a live system.

Removing a custom advanced workflow

Use this procedure to remove advanced workflows that are delivered with Ektron, or any that are created for your site.

Prerequisite 

You have permission to edit files on the Ektron server.

1. In the Ektron Workarea, review folders and content to make sure that the advanced workflow you want to delete is not currently assigned to any of them.
2. Open siteroot\Ektron.Cms.ContentWorkflow.config.
3. Select the opening and closing <Workflow> tags of the workflow you want to remove.
   —Example—

   <Workflow DisplayName = "Two Step Approval" 
     ClassName = "Ektron.Cms.ContentWorkflow.ContentStateMachineWorkflow" 
     AssemblyName = "Ektron.Cms.ContentWorkflow" >
     <Activities>
        <Activity ActivityName="First Approver">
          <Transitions>
             <Transition TransitionName="Approved" BookmarkName = "First Approver Approved"  
                 Destination="Second Approver" />
             <Transition TransitionName="Declined" BookmarkName = "First Approver Declined" 
                  Destination="Author" />
           </Transitions>
        </Activity>
        <Activity ActivityName="Second Approver">
           <Transitions>
              <Transition TransitionName="Approved" BookmarkName = "Second Approver Approved"   
                   Destination="Final State" />
               <Transition TransitionName="Declined" BookmarkName = "Second Approver Declined" 
                    Destination="First Approver" />
           </Transitions>
         </Activity>
      </Activities>
   </Workflow>

4. Delete or comment out the unwanted workflow.