CreateChildDraftRoles exists in the database for possible future use, not sure when it may be used. This is basically true for any field you may see in the database that is not surfaced in the UI. Since we support so many database platforms the mutliple data layerts we must implement are a good bit of work so when adding a new column for example it is better not to do a separate process for each new field but add a few fields at a time when possible so sometimes we think of things we may need in the future and add those fields at the same time as another field which we intend to use right away for something we are working on right at the moment.

DraftApprovalRoles is surfaced to the UI and as far as I know it is implemented and working. Members of those roles should get notification of content submitted for approval on pages where those roles are in place and where workflow is enabled. However to approve content a user must also be in an allowed view role and probably also an allowed edit role. Also workflow is only currently implemented int he HTML content feature so these roles only apply for that feature.

Hope that helps,

Joe

ok, I looked into this and DraftApprovalRoles is not used by default, by default users in the edit roles for the page are the approvers of draft submissions and approval results in publishing the draft.

But there is an optional way to have a 3 step process where approval is a separate step from publishing and users in the roles will get notified of submissions.

To enable this optional 3 stage way of using workflow you would add this to user.config:

<add key="Use3LevelContentWorkflow" value="true" />

Then the draft approval roles should appear under security in page settings.

This was something Joe Davis implemented a while ago to meet one of his client's requirements, I have not tested it thoroughly myself.

Hi John!

The 3-Level workflow works quite well and we have a few sites running it. It's really useful for large organizations who may want only a few people to actually publish content but several able to approve content. This makes the job of the publisher a little bit easier as they do not need to review the content quite as closely for content accuracy (which would be done by the approver) but more for aesthetics or policy adherence (not using Google Docs on sites is a big one these days with some of my clients). 3-Level workflow is also nice if you just want that extra set of eyes on content before it's published.

If you have any questions regarding 3-Level workflow, let me know. I hope to get around to documenting it soon. I finished it like a year ago so I really should document it.

HTH,
Joe D.