Configure document states

Last update: January 11, 2024

CREATED FOR:

  • Experienced
  • Admin

AEM Guides lets you define the document states for your DITA topics according to your organization’s requirements. You can define different states of your document from start to the end. For example, the first state can be Draft and it can move to Review, Approved, Translated, and finally to Published.

There are two ways in which a topic can transition from one state to another - manual and automatic. The document states that are defined in a profile can be used for manually changing the document state. This can be done from the Properties page of a topic file. Also, you can define who can move the document from one state to another state. For example, an author can create a document and the default state of the document can be Draft. When the author sends the document for review she can change the document state to In-Review. The reviewer can change the document state to either Approved or to Draft again based on the review process. If the document is Approved, the publisher can change the document state to Translated or Published depending on the workflow.

NOTE
If a user belongs to the administrators group, the user can change a document’s state from any state irrespective of the document state transitions defined in the system.

Create a document state

AEM Guides is shipped with a set of default document states. These states are:

  • Draft
  • Edit
  • In-Review
  • Approved
  • Reviewed
  • Done

These default states are available to all DITA topics created under DAM. You can create your own document states and assign these to a specific folder. All DITA files created under that folder will then have access to the newly created document states.

To create document states using the Folder Profile, perform the following steps:

  1. Click on the Adobe Experience Manager link at the top and choose Tools.

  2. Select Guides from the list of tools.

  3. Click on the Document States tile.

    Assets States page is displayed. By default, the page shows a default profile.

  4. Click Create Profile and enter the following details:

    • Enter the name for the profile in the Profile field.

    • Specify the path where you want to apply the new profile.

    • Specify the states of the document in the Allowed States under States. The default document states are Draft, Edit, In-Review, Approved, and Done.-

      Click the Add button to add a document state.

      • Click the Delete icon to delete a document state.
      NOTE
      Do not delete a document state if documents are still in that state. If you delete a document state, you won’t be able to change the document state of such documents unless you belong to the administrator user group.

    • Specify the start state of the document in the Start State.

    • Specify the end state of the document in the End State.

    • Specify the state transition of the document in From and To under State Transition.

      • Specify the users and user groups who can change the document state in Groups.

      • Click the Add button to add a state transition.

      • Click the Delete icon to delete a state transition.

      NOTE
      Do not delete a state transition if documents are still in From state. If you delete a state transition, you won’t be able to change the document state of such documents unless you belong to the administrator user group.

  5. Click Done.

Create a copy of a document state profile

Depending on your requirement, you can create a copy of an existing document state profile. You can use the copy as a base for creating another document profile.

To create a copy of a document state profile, perform the following steps:

  1. Click on the Adobe Experience Manager link at the top and choose Tools.

  2. Select Guides from the list of tools.

  3. Click on the Document States tile.

    Assets States page is displayed.

  4. Select the document state profile that you want to duplicate and click Duplicate Profile.

  5. Make required changes and click Done.

Delete a document state or state transition

NOTE
Do not delete a document state or state transition if documents are still in the state or in state transition. If you delete a state or state transition, you won’t be able to change the document state of such documents unless you belong to the administrator user group.

Perform the following steps to delete a document state or state transition from a document state profile:

  1. Click on the Adobe Experience Manager link at the top and choose Tools.

  2. Select Guides from the list of tools.

  3. Click on the Document States tile.

    Assets States page is displayed.

  4. Select the document state profile from where you want to delete the document state and click Edit Profile.

  5. Delete the document state or state transition and click Done.

Delete a document state profile

To delete a document state profile, perform the following steps:

  1. Click on the Adobe Experience Manager link at the top and choose Tools.

  2. Select Guides from the list of tools.

  3. Click on the Document States tile.

    Assets States page is displayed.

  4. Select the document state profile that you want to delete and click Delete Profile.

Automate the document state change

If you do not want to manually change the document states, you can create a workflow and automate the document state change.

NOTE
Automated workflows should be in conformance with the document states and transitions defined in the configuration. The system does not perform any checks for state changes done through automated workflows.

  1. Click on the Adobe Experience Manager link at the top and choose Tools.

  2. Select Workflow from the list of tools.

  3. Click on the Models tile.

  4. Select the relevant workflow, say Review Topics.

  5. Click Edit.

    The workflow opens up in a new tab.

  6. Click Edit (top-right).

  7. Open the Steps browser; using Toggle Side Panel, at the far left of the top toolbar

  8. Drag the appropriate step(s) to the required location in the model.

  9. Click the new step you added in the workflow model and select Configure from the component toolbar

  10. Open the Process tab.

  11. In the Process drop-down list, select Set Document State for Any DAM Asset.

  12. Select the Handler Advance option.

  13. In the Arguments text box, enter a document state to which you want to transition from the selected workflow.

    NOTE
    Ensure that you enter the correct document state in the Arguments text box. If you enter an incorrect value, then the document will be set to an incorrect state.

  14. Confirm the change with Save & Close.