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Creating a Process Definition

Create Process Definitions and save them to Content Manager in order to define the way in which workflow works in your organization.

Before you begin

You must have System Administrator privileges or Workflow Management rights in the Publication in which the Process is going to be applied.

Procedure

  1. Start Microsoft Visio and create a new Workflow Designer document
  2. In the Add-Ins Ribbon tab, click New Content Manager Workflow .
  3. In the work area, double-click the Start icon.
    An SDL Web Workflow Process Definition dialog opens, along with a Login popup.
  4. In the Login popup, log in by entering your SDL Web user credentials (username and password).
  5. In the SDL Web Workflow Process Definition window, create an empty Process Definition by filling in the following fields and click OK :
    • Content Manager: enter the URL of your Content Manager Server.
    • Publication: select the name of the Publication in which the Process will be used.
    • Name: enter the name of this Process Definition.
    • Track changes between Activity steps: select this option to create content snapshots for each Activity when completed.
  6. Create Activities in the Process Definition to define the workflow, and connect two Activities by dragging and dropping the Connector shape from one Activity, or shape, to another.

    You can add other shapes to the work area to add information, but you can only use SDL Web shapes to define the actual Process Definition.

  7. Save your Process Definition in one of the following ways:
    • In the Add-Ins Ribbon tab, click the Save SDL Web Workflow Process Definition . This saves the Process Definition in a Publication. In a BluePrint hierarchy, Process Definitions in a Parent Publication are shared to Child Publications.
    • In the Add-Ins Ribbon tab, click the Save SDL Web Workflow Process Definition as to save the Process Definition to a different Publication. You save a Process Definition in a Publication. In a BluePrint hierarchy, Process Definitions in a Parent Publication are shared to Child Publications.
    • In the Add-Ins Ribbon tab, click the Save SDL Web Workflow Process Definition locally to save the Process Definition to your local file system.

Results

You have created a Process Definition that can be associated with a Bundle Schema, Schema, Structure Group or Publication, or that can be used to create a Process through the TOM.NET or Core Service API.