Ektron
A task is a required action within Ektron, such as updating or publishing content, reordering a collectionA list of Ektron content links for display on a Web page., or updating an image. You can attach a task to a content item, so that as it progresses through editing and approval, a task tracks those activities.
When working with tasks, you need to understand the following.
Tasks are assigned one of the following states.
There are 2 kinds of tasks, contrasted below. The difference between them involves how a task's state can change.
Tasks assigned to content—Task state changes automatically as the assigned content's status changes. For example, if content is checked out, the task state changes to active. Administrators can manually change the task state at any time. See Also: How Content Events Change a Task's State
Tasks not assigned to content—authorized users manually change a task's state at any time. For example, when a task is finished, you change its state to Completed. Ektron events do not affect these tasks.
This section explains how to work with tasks that are assigned to content items.
- Only members of the Administrators groups and users assigned to the Tasks-Create role can create tasks.
NOTE: In the second and third options, you choose a content item then select a task. In these cases, you have already selected the task's content and language.
NOTE: You can only assign a task to someone else if you are a member of the Administrators group or assigned the Tasks-Redirect role. If you don't have this capability, the task is assigned to anyone who can edit the assigned content (All Authors).
The user to whom a task is being assigned must have edit permission for the content.
WARNING! If you add a Task Category or Task Type while adding a task, the task information entered (Task Title, Assigned To, Language, and so on) is lost when the screen refreshes.
WARNING! If you edit a Task Type while adding a task, the task information (Task Title, Assigned To, Language, and so on) entered will be lost when the screen refreshes.
If you see a mix-up of the month and date of your entry (for example, you select March 2 but see February 3), make sure the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel Regional Settings dialog matches your current language. Also, make sure the settings apply to the default user.
You can organize tasks by category and type. You can assign several types to each category. For example:
You can use task categories and types to filter tasks. See Filtering Tasks By Task Type.
NOTE: The View Categorization screen has a system-defined category (Form Submission Task) that can only be used with forms. You can change its name but cannot delete it. For more information, see Working with HTML Forms.
You can hide Task Types from users by enabling Not Available in the Add Task Type and Edit Task Type screens. If you make a Task Type unavailable, the assigned task's Type and Category are changed to Not Specified.
A task assigned to content typically moves through a series of states, from creation to completion to removal. A task's history shows each state, when it was assigned, and who assigned it.
Many states are assigned automatically when associated content undergoes a change. For example, when content is submitted for approval, the task’s state changes to Pending. Some states are manually assigned by users.
IMPORTANT: At any time, an Administrators group member can change a task’s state to any other state.
Here is the sequence of user and system actions that change a task’s state.
Here is the progression of states for tasks assigned to content.
If the current approver edits content then submits it for approval, its status changes to T (awaiting completion of associated tasks), and all tasks assigned to the content are set to Pending. At that point, an authorized user must change the status of all assigned tasks to Completed. Then, all approvers must approve the content to publish it.
You can receive email notification of changes in status for tasks and associated content. See Installing Ektron about setting up email notifications.
Only Administrators group members and the user who created a task are authorized to edit it. If the person to whom a task is assigned is not authorized, that person can only view it and insert a comment. The Task feature restricts most users' ability to edit tasks, so that they progress through a prescribed series of states.
Authorized users can manually edit any task information (except Assigned By, Task ID, and Created By).
NOTE: System events automatically change a task's state. See Also: How Content Events Change a Task's State
Only members of the Administrators group, the user who created a task, and the user to whom a task is assigned can add comments to it.
Comments can be added to a task to record its progress from assignment to completion.
Comments appear on the Comments tab of the View Task screen. If a task is assigned to content, and an approver approves or declines content from the Content Awaiting Approval screen, the Add Comments to Task screen appears. The screen lets the approver add comments about the task associated with the content.
Authorized users also can add comments to a task at any time to provide additional information about its status. For example, if you update a task’s status from In progress to Waiting on Someone Else, you can use a comment such as: Please review for grammar and punctuation.
To update a comment, click its Date/Time link.
- Only members of the Administrators group or users to whom a task is assigned can change its status to archived.
To clean up completed tasks while keeping a record of the tasks, move selected tasks to the Archived Tasks list. This helps you focus on more recent task completions.
- Only Administrators group members and users assigned to the Task-Delete role can delete a task.
- Users can only delete tasks that they can view. See Determining Which Tasks are Visible
You can delete a task that is no longer needed, such as after it is completed or archived, depending on your organization’s policies.
- Only members of the Administrators group or users to whom the Task-Delete role is assigned can purge a task.
WARNING! Purging removes a task and its history from the database.
Only members of the Administrators group, the user who created a task, and the user to whom a task is assigned can view it. See Also: Determining Which Tasks are Visible
You can view a task in the following ways.
Ektron maintains a history of events and comments in the life of a task. For example, the history shows when and by whom the task was created, when it changed to Active, was linked to content, its state changed, it was approved, and so on.
NOTE: You can view a task’s history until it is purged.
The Workarea > Reports > Tasks folder displays all tasks, many filtered by task state.
Only Administrators group members , the user who created or assigned a task, or the user to whom a task is assigned can view it. See Also: Determining Which Tasks are Visible
The following list shows the types of tasks that authorized users can view, filter, and assign to other users.
NOTE: Authorized users also can edit a task from this task state.
NOTE: You can also purge tasks from the Deleted task state.
Every View Task screen lets you filter tasks by type. Use the Show Task Type drop-down to choose a Task Type. Only Task Types that are applied to a task appear in the Show Task Type drop-down box.
NOTE: Words in bold italics are Task Categories. You cannot filter by Task Categories.
To provide security, Ektron restricts which users can view which tasks. The following table shows the Viewing options by user or group.
View option |
Administrator group member |
User or group member to whom task assigned |
User who assigned task |
User who created task |
All Open * |
X |
|
|
|
Assigned by Me * |
|
|
X |
|
Assigned to Me * |
|
X |
|
|
Created by Me * |
|
|
|
X |
Assigned to User |
X |
|
|
|
Not Started |
all tasks in specified state |
only tasks assigned to user in Not Started state |
|
|
Active |
all tasks in specified state |
only tasks assigned to user in Active state |
|
|
Awaiting data |
all tasks in specified state |
only tasks assigned to user in Awaiting data state |
|
|
On hold |
all tasks in specified state |
only tasks assigned to user in on hold state |
|
|
Pending |
all tasks in specified state |
only tasks assigned to user in Pending state |
|
|
Reopened |
all tasks in specified state |
only tasks assigned to user in Reopened state |
|
|
Completed |
all tasks in specified state |
only tasks assigned to user in Completed state |
|
|
Archived |
all tasks in specified state |
|
|
|
Deleted |
all tasks in specified state |
|
|
|
*—user can only view tasks in a not started, active, awaiting data, on hold, pending, or reopened state
This section explains how to create tasks for activities that are unrelated to specific content items.
- Only members of the Administrators groups and users assigned to the Tasks-Create role can create tasks.
WARNING! If you add a Task Category or Task Type while adding a task, the task information entered (Task Title, Assigned To, Language, and so on) is lost when the screen refreshes.
WARNING! If you edit a Task Type while adding a task, the task information (Task Title, Assigned To, Language, and so on) entered will be lost when the screen refreshes.
If you see a mix-up of the month and date of your entry (for example, you select March 2 but see February 3), make sure the date format specified in the Windows Control Panel Regional Settings dialog matches your current language. Also, make sure the settings apply to the default user.
After a task is created, the user to whom it is assigned would typically perform some aspect of the task. Then, that user would use the Assigned to me screen to change its state as appropriate. For example, the user might change its state to Completed. Or, the user might change its status to On Hold and assign it to someone else.
The following activities can be performed on a task not related to content.
You can set up a preapproval task to require 1 or more users to approve content before it enters the regular approval process. See Also: Creating an Approval Chain for a Content Folder
NOTE: You also can create a task automatically when a form is submitted. See Also: Assigning a Task to a Form
When a user submits content for approval, Ektron checks to see if an open task exists for it. (An open task is one whose state is Not Started, Active, Awaiting Data, On Hold, or Pending.) If none exists but a preapproval group is assigned to its folder, a task is automatically created for the content. When the task is reviewed by any preapproval group member, there are 2 choices.
NOTE: The user submitting the content does not need permission to create tasks. Also, the user assigned to the task should not change its state using the task system. Instead, the user should review and approve content using the content approval mechanism. That mechanism automatically changes the task’s state.
The new task has the following default information.
Task
. For example, Private Content2_Task
.The following list shows the sequence of changes to content and its associated task. All changes are logged in the task’s history. Also, email is automatically generated for automatic tasks as it is for manually-created tasks.
Task/Content Statuses (Author cannot approve)
NOTE: This action creates an automatic task for the content.
NOTE: Because the task requires an approval, it appears in the task list of the current approver. When the content is approved, the task is moved to the next approver’s task list.
Task/Content Statuses (Author can approve)
NOTE: Although an author can approve content, the author must click publish twice: once to change content status to Awaiting Completion of Associated Task, and a second time to change it to Approved.
To set up an automatic preapproval group:
You can choose (or update) a preapproval group only if these criteria are both true.
NOTE: The Preapproval Groups Report lists all preapproval groups assigned to Ektron folders. To access it, go to Workarea > Reports > Contents > Preapproval Groups.