Plone Public Websites

A Plone Public Website is an implementation of our Plone Content Management System (CMS) specifically for clients who need the ability to work on draft versions of content and have that content reviewed before it is published to the world.  In addition, this feature allows approved users to make edits on existing content while the original version is still available to the public.

The draft version can be created anew, or it can be a working copy of existing content.  It can then be modified and submitted to the Reviewer for further modification or approval.  Upon approval, the new draft is published while the working copy is published to replace the previous version.  This feature applies to Events, News Items, Pages, and Contacts.

There are two essential user groups:  Editors and Reviewers.  Editors can create and edit content.  Reviewers can edit and review content created by the Editor, and then either approve the content for publishing or reject the content back to the Editor.  A user can be both an Editor and a Reviewer.

Create New Content

  • Create content (by Editors)

    1. Select Event, News Item, Page, or Contact from the Add new menu located on the toolbar.
    2. Fill in the necessary information and click Save.
    3. After saving, the State will say “Draft”.  This is similar to the Private state.  It can be viewed by both the Editors and Reviewers, but modified by only the Editors.
    4. To cancel/delete a draft, select Delete from the Actions menu on the toolbar.
    5. When the content is ready for review, select Submit for Review from the State menu to change the state to Pending Review and turn the content over to the Reviewer.
    6. If there are additional work, select Retract to Draft from the State menu, and click Edit on the toolbar to continue work.

  • Review content in the Pending Review state (by Reviewers)

    1. Content in the Pending Review state can be accepted as is, revised by clicking Edit on the toolbar, or rejected to revert back to the Draft state and return to the Editor.
    2. To accept content as is or after revision, simply select Publish from the State menu.
    3. To reject and send back to the Editor, select Retract to Draft from the State menu.

Create a Draft or Working Copy

  • Create a draft (by Editors)

    1. Navigate to the content that requires editing, and select Edit Draft on the toolbar.  A new screen will open stating that a working copy will be created.  Click the Create Draft button to complete the transaction.  The working copy will have its title set to red and the state to Draft.
    2. Click Edit on the toolbar to access the Edit Page, make the applicable changes, and then click Save.  Edits can be made as many times as necessary by repeating this step.
    3. When the draft is ready for review, select Submit for Review from the State menu to change the state to Pending Review and turn the revised copy over to the Reviewer.
    4. If there are additional edits, select Retract to Draft from the State menu and repeat Step 2.  If the draft is no longer needed, select Delete Working Copy instead.

  • Publish a draft (by Reviewers)

    1. Content in the Pending Review state can be published as is, or revised and then published.
    2. To publish a draft to replace the previous version, select Publish from the State menu.
    3. A comment box will open to allow the Reviewer to add an optional comment.  To view the comments, go to the content and click History on the toolbar.
    4. Select the Publish button to publish the content.

Note:  the warning message "This is a working copy of <content title>, made by <user name> on <date>" appears at the top of any draft page.  Next to the message is the link "View changes".  Click on this link to see the changes if desired. 

Review List Portlet

Content in the Pending Review state is shown in the Review List portlet, just below the Navigation portlet, and is viewable by Reviewers only.

My Content Link

This link is located in the user menu at the top right corner.  It opens to a page of content items applicable to the user.  However, both Editors and Reviewers can view content created by other users as well as content in various states.  As such, the content items can be filtered by the Creator and/or the State of the content.  They can also be sorted alphabetically or by the modified date.

Notifications

Email notifications can be set so Reviewers and Editors can receive an email when a content item is ready for review.

  1. When adding a new user, check the box “Review Queue Notification” on the Add New User dialog.
  2. For an existing user, select Preferences from the User Account menu located under their username in the top right corner, select the Personal Information tab, and check the box “Review Queue Notification” just above the Save button.