Creating Workflow Statuses in Studio Server

When a file goes through its production process from planning, creation and editing to publishing, each stage of that process is tracked by assigning a workflow status to the file.

This article describes how to create Workflow Statuses.

Step 1. Access the Brand Maintenance page for the Brand in which you want to add Workflow Statuses by doing the following:

Step 1a. In the Maintenance menu or on the Home page, click Brands. The Brands page appears.

Step 1b. Click the name of the Brand. The Brand Maintenance page appears.

Step 2. Locate the Workflow options.

Since we are working with a newly created Brand/Issue, no Workflows exist yet.

Step 3. Click Add.

The Workflow Maintenance page appears.

Step 4. Add each Workflow Status as follows:

Step 4a. From the Type list, choose the file type for which a Workflow Status needs to be created.

Step 4b. Click Add Status.

Step 4c. Fill out the options to your needs.

Tip: In order to be able to select the Next Status, start with the very last status of the workflow (for instance Final Version) and work your way backwards. This way, the next status is always available to choose from and saves you from having to set this later.

• Order. Order in which the Status needs to appear in the Status list and thereby in the user interfaces of the client applications.

• Status. Name of the Status.

• Output. Select this option when an action needs to be performed when the file reaches the Status. One of the following actions will occur:
• For layout Statuses: a PDF (default), EPS, or high-res JPG will be created (depending on the configuration).
• For article Statuses: an XML file of the composed text will be created. Note the following:
• The XML file is only created when the article is checked-in using InDesign, InDesign Server, or InCopy. It is not created when checking-in the article using Studio.
• This file can be used in external systems. For information about the article schema of the XML file, see article.xsd__1.zip (10 March 2014, 2KB).
• For Task Statuses: any files that were added to the Task will be added to the Dossier containing this Task.

• Create Permanent Version. Select this option when a permanent version of the file needs to be created when the file reaches the Status. This version is never automatically removed, even when the maximum number of versions is reached. See Saving file versions with Studio Server.

Note: When Assets Server is integrated, this option should be disabled for images, videos, and audio files. The version information is then handled by Assets Server and overrules this option. As Assets Server only supports major versions and Studio Server supports the major and minor format, a conversion is needed. Version 1 in Assets Server is shown as version 0.1 in Studio Server, version 2 as 0.2 and so on.

• Remove Intermediate Versions. Select this option when all older, non-permanent versions of the file need to be removed when the file reaches the Status. See Saving file versions with Studio Server.

Note: When Assets Server is integrated, this option should be disabled for images, videos, and audio files. The version information is then handled by Assets Server and overrules this option. As Assets Server only supports major versions and Studio Server supports the major and minor format, a conversion is needed. Version 1 in Assets Server is shown as version 0.1 in Studio Server, version 2 as 0.2 and so on.

• Ready to be Published. Select this option to indicate that files assigned to the status are considered ready to be published.

• Skip InDesign Server Automation. (Available for articles, images, layouts, Layout Modules, and spreadsheets. Only visible when the Studio Server plug-in named Setting up InDesign Server Automation in Studio Server is enabled.) Select this option when the InDesign Server Automation feature should not be triggered for this Status.

• Send to Archive. (Requires Studio Server 10.11.2) Select this option when files that are set to this status should be archived to Assets Server (known as 'Status Based' archiving, see Archiving files from Studio Server 10.11.1 – 10.11.3 or higher to Assets Server.)

• Next Status. Define the next Status after this Status. When a user chooses the 'Send File To' or 'Send File to Next' command, this is the status that the file will be set to.

• Phase. Currently not used by Studio Server.

• Color. The color associated with this Status. The color appears in various places, such as in the Publication Overview application in Studio.

• Deadline. (This option only appears when 'Activate Relative Deadlines' is selected on the the Brand Maintenance page. For previous versions, the option is displayed by default.) Enter a relative deadline specific for this Status.

Step 4d. Click Update.

Tip: When adding multiple Statuses, click Add Status to make a new row of Status options appear. When all Statuses are added, click Update.

Step 5. Repeat the above steps to add more Workflow Statuses for the selected object type.

Step 6. When finished adding statuses for this object type, click the arrow at the bottom of the page to return to the Brand Maintenance page.

Step 7. (Optional) Repeat Steps 3 and 4 for all object types that are required in the Workflow.