Creating a content workflow can transform how you manage and publish content. It ensures that every piece undergoes the necessary checks and balances and improves collaboration among your team.

You might wonder if setting up a content workflow is worth the effort. The answer often depends on your specific needs and goals. However, the benefits usually outweigh the initial setup time.

5 Key Stages in a Typical Content Workflow

Let’s look at the key stages in a typical content workflow.

1. Drafting

Drafting involves creating the initial version of your content. This content modeling stage focuses on getting ideas down without worrying about perfection. The goal is to produce a rough draft that captures the main points and structure. You can use this stage to brainstorm, outline, and write the first version of your content.

It is important to focus on the message and flow rather than on minor details. This approach helps create a solid foundation for the subsequent stages.

2. Editing

Editing refines and improves the draft. This stage involves reviewing the initial draft to enhance clarity, coherence, and readability. You might reorganize sections, rewrite sentences, or add new information. The editing also includes checking for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

It's helpful to take a break between drafting and editing to gain a fresh perspective. Remember, content is data, not the opposite. You can also involve other team members to provide feedback and suggestions. Editing ensures your content is polished and ready for review.

3. Review

The review stage checks if the content meets standards and guidelines. This step involves thoroughly examining the edited draft to ensure accuracy and consistency. Reviewers look for factual correctness, style guide adherence, and overall content strategy alignment. This stage may involve multiple rounds of feedback and revisions.

The goal is to catch any remaining errors and ensure the content aligns with your brand's voice and objectives. A detailed review process helps maintain high-quality standards.

4. Approval

Approval is the final sign-off before publication. This stage involves getting the necessary approvals from stakeholders or decision-makers. The approval process ensures the content is ready for public consumption and aligns with the organization's goals. This stage may involve a final review by senior team members or managers.

Once approved, the content is considered ready for publication. The approval stage adds an extra layer of quality control and accountability.

5. Scheduling/Publishing

Scheduling or publishing sets the live date or publishes the content immediately. This stage involves deciding when and how the content will go live. You can schedule content to be published at a specific time or publish it immediately. This stage also includes preparing the content for different platforms and formats.

Scheduling helps you plan your content calendar and ensures a consistent publishing schedule. Publishing makes the content available to your audience, marking the end of the workflow process.

How to Set Up a Content Workflow in Strapi

Worried about the initial setup? Don't be. Setting up a content workflow in Strapi is straightforward and worthwhile.

Step 1: Enable Strapi Draft and Publish Feature

Start by enabling the Strapi Draft and Publish feature. This feature allows you to save content as a draft and publish it later. It provides flexibility in managing content and ensures that only finalized content goes live. To enable this feature, navigate to the Content-type Builder, select the Collection type or Single type, click on Edit > ADVANCED SETTINGS, and toggle the Draft and Publish options.

Once enabled, you can save your work in progress and return to it when ready for final review and publication.

Step 2: Define User Roles and Permissions

Next, define user roles and permissions to control who can perform specific actions on the content. Onboarding content managers is very easy with Strapi. This step is important for maintaining order and security within your content management system. Assign roles such as Admin, Editor, and Super User, each with different access levels and capabilities.

For example, an Admin can manage all content and settings, while an Editor can only edit and publish content. Setting these roles ensures that users only have access to the needed features, reducing the risk of unauthorized changes.

Step 3: Configure Strapi Workflow Plugin (v4)

Configure the Workflow Plugin to set up multi-stage workflows. This plugin allows you to create and manage workflows that suit your content production process. Install the plugin and access its settings to start configuring your workflow stages.

You can define stages such as Draft, In Review, and Approved, tailoring the workflow to match your team's needs. This configuration helps streamline the content creation process, ensuring that each piece of content goes through the necessary stages before publication.

Step 4: Set Up Review Workflow Stages

Set up review workflow stages to ensure content meets your standards before going live. Create stages like Draft, In Review, and Approved to organize the review process. Content creators can focus on writing and initial edits in the Draft stage. The In Review stage allows editors to check for accuracy, consistency, and quality.

The Approved stage is the final checkpoint before content is published. Setting up these stages helps catch errors early and ensures that only polished content reaches your audience.

Step 5: Test Workflow

Finally, test the workflow to ensure it functions as intended. Create a sample piece of content and move it through each workflow stage. Check that each user role can perform their assigned tasks and that the content progresses smoothly from draft to publication.

Testing helps identify any issues or bottlenecks in the workflow, allowing you to make necessary adjustments. It also ensures that notifications and permissions work correctly, providing a seamless automated Strapi workflow experience for all users involved in the content creation.

Best Practices for Managing Content Workflows

Are you daunted by the idea of managing a new system? Here are some best practices for keeping things smooth and efficient.

Keep It Simple

Avoid overly complex workflows. Simplicity ensures that everyone on your team understands and can follow the process without confusion. A straightforward workflow reduces the risk of errors and makes it easier to train new team members. Focus on the essential stages of content creation, such as drafting, editing, reviewing, and publishing.

Eliminate unnecessary steps that do not add value to the final product. A simple workflow enhances efficiency and productivity, allowing your team to produce high-quality content consistently.

Clearly Define Roles

Specify the responsibilities of each user role. Clearly defined roles ensure that everyone knows their duties and can perform them effectively. Assign roles such as content creator, editor, reviewer, and approver. Each role should have specific tasks and permissions within the workflow.

For instance, content creators focus on drafting, while editors handle revisions and quality checks. Reviewers ensure that content meets standards, and approvers give the final sign-off. Clear role definitions prevent overlaps and gaps in responsibilities, leading to a smoother workflow.

Set Realistic Timelines

Allow adequate time for each workflow stage. Setting realistic timelines ensures that each step receives the attention it needs without rushing. When establishing deadlines, consider the content's complexity and team members' availability.

Factor in time for revisions and unexpected delays. Realistic timelines help maintain a steady content production pace and reduce stress on your team. They also ensure that content is thoroughly reviewed and polished before publication, enhancing overall quality.

Leverage Automation Where Possible

When integrating Strapi with workflow automation, use features to automate manual tasks. Automation can significantly streamline your content workflow by reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks. For example, you can automate notifications to alert team members when content moves to the next stage.

Use automated workflows to handle routine processes like content scheduling and publishing. Automation frees your team to focus on more strategic tasks, such as content creation and quality improvement. It also reduces the risk of human error, ensuring a more reliable workflow.

Continuously Gather Feedback and Optimize

Evaluate and improve the workflow over time. Regular feedback from your team can provide valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t. Encourage team members to share their experiences and suggestions for improvement.

Analyze workflow performance metrics to identify bottlenecks and areas for enhancement. Continuously optimizing your workflow ensures that it evolves to meet changing needs and challenges. Implementing feedback-driven improvements keeps your workflow efficient and effective, helping your team produce better content consistently.

3 Benefits of Implementing a Content Workflow in Strapi

Feeling overwhelmed by the chaos of managing a large volume of content? You're not alone. A structured content workflow can be a game-changer, simplifying processes and ensuring high-quality output.

Streamlined Content Creation Process

Ever found yourself scrambling to meet a deadline, only to realize there's a glaring typo in your content? A well-defined content workflow ensures each piece of content goes through essential checks before publication. This process helps maintain a consistent quality across all published materials. You can avoid last-minute rushes and errors by setting up a structured workflow.

Each piece of content moves through predefined stages, ensuring thorough review and approval. This structured approach boosts productivity by saving time and reducing stress, making the content creation more efficient.

Improved Collaboration

If coordinating content across your team feels like herding cats, a content workflow can help. A well-defined content workflow allows multiple users to work together on content seamlessly. Different marketing team members can take on specific roles, such as drafting, editing, and reviewing. This division of labor ensures that everyone knows their responsibilities and deadlines.

Collaboration tools within the workflow enable real-time updates and feedback, making it easier to work together even if your team is remote. Improved collaboration leads to better content and a more cohesive team effort.

Better Quality Control

Worried about errors slipping through the cracks? Implementing a content workflow helps catch errors and inconsistencies before content goes live. Each workflow stage includes checks and balances to ensure the content meets your standards. For instance, the review stage allows editors to catch grammatical errors, factual inaccuracies, and formatting issues. This multi-layered review process ensures that only high-quality content gets published.

You avoid potential embarrassment and maintain your brand’s credibility by catching errors early.

Why is Having a Content Workflow Advisable

Implementing a content workflow can benefit most projects by providing structure and organization. It is especially valuable for large sites with many content types and contributors. A well-defined workflow ensures content is properly reviewed before publication, helping maintain quality and consistency.

Beneficial for Most Projects

A content workflow introduces a systematic approach to content creation and management. Whether you run a small blog or a large corporate website, a workflow can streamline processes and reduce errors. It helps organize tasks, assign responsibilities, and track progress. This structured approach makes it easier to manage content, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.

Valuable for Large Sites

For large sites with many content contributors, a workflow becomes indispensable. It allows multiple users to collaborate efficiently without stepping on each other's toes. Each contributor knows their role and responsibilities, which reduces confusion and overlap. The workflow ensures that content moves smoothly from one stage to the next, even when multiple people are involved. This is particularly useful for websites that publish a high content volume regularly.

Ensures Proper Review

A content workflow ensures that every piece of content undergoes a thorough review before publication. This review process helps catch errors, inconsistencies, and inaccuracies. It involves multiple stages, such as drafting, editing, and approval, each with its checks. By the time content reaches the final stage, it has been vetted and refined, ensuring high quality. This reduces the risk of publishing content that could harm your brand's reputation.

Maintains Quality and Consistency

Maintaining quality and consistency is crucial for any content strategy. A content workflow helps achieve this by standardizing the process. Every content follows the same path, ensuring it meets the same standards. This consistency is important for building trust with your audience. They come to expect a certain level of quality from your content, and a workflow helps you deliver on that expectation.

If you are ready to streamline your content management process with Strapi, contact us to find out more about the benefits of using our product and the pricing tiers that can suit your requirements.