Category Transitions

Category transitions allow you to create document workflows by using categories and defining transitions between them. The transitions can be triggered when requested by a user with sufficient rights. Object permissions define which groups of users can trigger the transition.

To create category transitions, you must first create the set of categories that will act as the document states in the system. The workflows will apply to any objects (wiki pages, tracker items, ...) that include some of the member states.

Once the categories are created, you can visit the transition administration panel. The same panel also applies for Group Transitions.

The first step to creating a transition is to select the set of states that are part of the workflow. You can select all categories in the system, but it's much easier to work with a smaller set. The graphical representation will also be cleaner.

A transition is a labeled link between two categories. Multiple transitions form an ad-hoc workflow. When adding a transition, you will be requested to select among the start and end node for each of them.

Once the transition is created, you can also configure guards for it. Guards are conditions that must be met for the transition to trigger on an object. The conditions verify other states. For example, you could have a Draft category that prevents the document from going Public, or final approval may depend on a series of other departmental approvals that are managed by different transitions.

To use the transitions, you must include the transition module in one of the columns. This module inspects the currently visible object's categories and proposes the transitions available for the current users. If a transition is disabled by a guard, it will also explain the reason.