3 December 2008

This is a blog item that needs to be converted to the new Bliki format

Workflow extension updated from user feedback

The Workflow extension has been redesigned to be easier to use and to allow workflows to be optionally defined within templates to be added to articles via transclusion.

A workflow is a sequence of categories that an article is moved between as it receives attention from different roles who each work on it and then recategorise it so that it can receive attention from the role that performs the next activity. This allows the MediaWiki environment to work on projects together using the blackboard metaphor.

The image to the right shows the workflow from workflow example. Clicking on the left or right arrows below the icon cause it to cycle through its sequence of categories, and then the article is updated ajaxly so that the new state is permanent and exhibits an entry in the revision history.

The extension also adds information to the category links area at the bottom of the page as can be seen in the image. For each workflow in the article, all the states of its category sequence are shown in order with the current one highlighted.