Learn about Content Workflows
#Overview
As an Editor you are not likely to configure Content Workflows, but you may have to work con content that follows a specific workflow. This document teaches you how to work with this feature.
Content workflows in Hygraph help teams manage content creation and approval through a clear, structured process.
Publishing often involves steps like reviews, QA, translations, and asset creation. Without a workflow, teams can face issues such as inconsistent content, lack of transparency, and publishing errors. Content Workflows address these challenges by guiding content through an organized, step-by-step path from draft to publication.
#Working on a content entry that is part of a workflow
When you open a content entry, the system checks if it is assigned to a workflow, and if editing is allowed:
- If editing is not allowed, you will access a read-only version of the content entry. You can read the entry and leave comments, but you cannot modify the contents. You can also move it to the next step in the workflow if you have this permission.
- If editing allowed, you can work on it normally.
On the sidebar, you can see what workflow step the entry is on:
Workflows in content entries
The sidebar always shows which roles can work on the content entry.
#Move a content entry along the workflow
If you have permission to move the entry to the next step in the workflow, the Move to button at the top-right of the screen will be enabled.
You can click Move to, to move the entry to the next step in the workflow, or click the arrow icon to display the workflow actions.
Content workflows - entry actions
You may see some or all of these workflow actions depending on your role & permissions:
| Workflow action | Description |
|---|---|
Return to | Select this option to return the content entry to its configured return step. This option is enabled only if the workflow step has a Return to step configured. |
Move forward to | Select this option to move the content entry to the next step in the workflow. |
Override workflow for this entry | Select this option to override the workflow for the entry. When you override the workflow, you can perform any actions, just as if there wasn't a workflow configured. This option is enabled only if you have override permission. |
#Publish a content entry in the workflow
If you move a content entry into a step with Publish to configured, the entry will automatically be published to the configured stage. You can publish entries to intermediate content stages such as QA, or to PUBLISHED.
When publishing an entry to the PUBLISHED stage, you will have the option to publish it right away or to schedule publishing.
#Publish now
This action publishes your content to the PUBLISHED stage, meaning it will be available online for others to consume. If your content entry contains unpublished assets or references, you will be prompted to publish those too.
Moving an entry to the next step & publishing at the same time is an atomic operation. This means both events will succeed or fail.
#Schedule publishing
If you select scheduled publishing, the side sheet will open for you to schedule publication of the content entry.
When you schedule an entry to publish to a stage, the workflow will move it to that stage but since publishing is scheduled in the future, it will not be published right away. If you open the content entry at this time, it will display as read-only.
In order to avoid workflow inconsistencies, the only way to edit this entry is to return it to the previous step, if you have the permission.
Check out our scheduled publishing docs to learn how to schedule single entries or add them to a release.