Overview

Workflow transition is the action that moves a document from one workflow state to another. Transitions define the path a document follows through its lifecycle, such as from draft to review or from review to approval.

Types of transitions

Each transition can be triggered manually (for example, by a user clicking a button) or automatically (for example, using a trigger or rule).

You can add multiple transitions to a state, but only one of each transition type (automatic or manual) can be added to that state. Each transition is added to a specific state and includes the type of transition and its destination state.

Automatic transitions

These transitions occur without user interaction, based on workflow events or conditions:

approved transition

Occurs when a user (or all assigned users) approves the content.
It can only be added to a state if the state has a content review (approval).

rejected transition

occurs when a user (or all assigned users) rejects the content.
can only be added to a state if the state has a content review (approval).

updated transition

The updated transition must be added to the state. Can be added with other transition options, for example, with a content review or with a select transition.

Occurs when a user edits and saves a change to the content.
An updated transition removes any reviewers previously assigned using the workflow dialog if the state also contains a content review.

Adding or removing a label or attachment does not affect the updated transition.

expired transition

The expired transition must be added to the state, which must be configured with a due date.

Occurs when a due date added to the state is reached.
If no due date is added (or has been removed before the due date), no expiry occurs.
The content expiry workflow has an expired transition added to the Approved state.

A state can have one, more, or all of these possible transitions. The approved and rejected transitions are only available when the state contains an approval (content review).

Transitions can also occur due to a trigger action listening for a workflow event, such as a change of state, or a page approval. These can be added to the workflow as a JSON trigger.

Manual transitions

These require the user to trigger the transition:

Select – allows the user to choose from one or more destination states when transitioning the content.
Other named manual transitions can be configured for specific state changes as required.

select transition

This is a manual action to move the page to another state.

A user can select a destination state using the workflow dialog.
Select options available for the choice of destination state are set in the workflow for the current state.
The select transition cannot be present in a state when an approval is present in the state.

Example - Basic approval workflow transitions

In the Basic Approval Workflow, in the Review state, the content can undergo one of three transitions

The approve and reject transitions are part of the content review called "Review this page," available in the Review state. These transitions are triggered when a user selects either Approve or Reject using the content review buttons in the workflow dialog.

The workflow dialog progress tracker displays the workflow states. Mouse over the approve or reject button to display the destination state for the content review decisions below the progress tracker bar. If the content is edited and saved in the Basic Approval workflow Review state, the page remains in the Review state, but the workflow logs this as a transition.

An updated transition removes a reviewer from the content review if they had been manually assigned using the workflow dialog. The approval and approval decisions are reset.

When the content is edited and saved in the final Approved state, the page automatically transitions to the Review (draft) state. This transition is not implemented through the workflow dialog. The workflow automatically transitions when the content is updated.

Pages or blogs in the Rejected state can also be approved, and the page will transition to the Approved state. If the content is edited, the Simple Approval Workflow will transition the page or blog to the Review state.

The content review, whilst in the Rejected state, can also be rejected by a reviewer.

A rejection decision whilst in the Rejected state will not cause a transition in this example workflow. It will simply remain in the rejected state, but the event of rejecting the content will be recorded in the workflow history.