Assignment workflows

You can assign different roles to multiple users for an assignment and, in the process, create the entire workflow for that assignment. Some roles have a maximum number for assigned users, depending on your deployment.

You can assign all the users you need for the entire documentation process during assignment creation to globally select other users for a specific role for that assignment. This saves you from continually updating user roles for each topic. For example, you can select the writer role for yourself and the contributor and reviewer roles for users who act as subject matter experts (SMEs) or content reviewers.

As the assignment changes status and moves through its workflow, it becomes active for users with specific roles according to the workflow phase. If the assignment is not in a status that makes it active for a specific role, then the assignment does not appear on the My Assignments page for users with that role. For example, an assignment only appears on the My Assignments page for the assigned contributors when the assignment is in Contribute status.

Note: Role and status names may differ, depending on your deployment. This guide uses their default names.

Sample CCMS assignment workflow

Example of an assignment workflow

Here is one possible workflow for an assignment. Other workflows are possible. Such a process could start with a technical writer, an information architect, a product manager, or someone else.

  1. A product manager, Pro-M, contacts a technical writer, TW, and they discuss a project.
  2. TW creates a map and some child topics, which all start in the Work status.
  3. TW assigns the map to a group of subject matter experts (SMEs), who each have a Contributor role. At the time TW assigns the map to the SMEs, TW also sets a rule to mark the assignment as finished only when all SMEs have marked their topics as done.
  4. TW assigns the map to another technical writer, Rev, with the Reviewer role and sets a rule to allow Rev to change the status of the assignment.
  5. TW changes the map and some topics to have a Contribute status, and the map is now an active assignment for the SME contributors.
  6. When the SMEs open their My Assignments page, the list of assignments contains the assigned map with a Contribute status.
  7. As each SME completes initial content development, SME marks each assigned topic in the map as SME finishes, so a green check mark appears on the object's icon for that SME.
  8. When all SMEs finish their work, the assignment status changes to finished. A green check mark appears on the object's icon for all users.
  9. TW notes that the SMEs have completed content development, so changes the assignment status to Work. The assignment status change removes the green check mark and it moves to TW's active assignments.
  10. TW rewrites the content and then submits completed topics to Rev for review by changing the assignment status to Review. Any topic TW moved to Review becomes an active assignment for Rev.
  11. Rev reviews the topics assigned for review, and after completion, changes the assignment status to Work. Any topic Rev moved back to Work becomes an active assignment for TW.
  12. When TW finishes making changes, based on the review comments and markup, TW may choose to have Rev review the updates or simply change the assignment status to Complete.
  13. An information architect takes all completed topics and changes the assignment status to Done. When all topics in the map have a Done status, Pro-M, who is responsible for the final publication, creates a build manifest for final publication, a translation manifest for submission to localization, or both.