To help your users manage complex content plan hierarchies, new Vault implementations after the 19R3 release include a configuration to move ascendant Content Plan records to a new lifecycle state when descendant records move to new states. For example, Vault can move ascendant Content Plan records to an active Draft lifecycle state when a Content Plan Item record moves from Inactive to Draft as an alternative to inactivating or deleting sections not in use. This article discusses how to set up this configuration in Vaults created before 19R3.

Vault also includes the Content Plan Hierarchy State Change system action. When configured, this action changes the state of the current Content Plan record and all of its descendant Content Plan and Content Plan Item records asynchronously, meaning it runs in the background without preventing users from continuing their work. Users receive a notification to let them know when the state change is complete. See Managing Content Plans with a Lifecycle for details about configuring this action.

Configuration to Activate Ascendant Records

In this configuration, Vault moves ascendant Content Plan records to an active Draft lifecycle state when a descendant Content Plan or Content Plan Item record moves from Inactive to Draft. When configured:

  • Moving an inactive Content Plan Item record to the Draft state activates the immediate parent Content Plan record but does not activate sibling Content Plan Item records or parent Content Plan records at other levels of the hierarchy.
  • Moving an inactive Content Plan record to the Draft state activates any parent Content Plan records in the hierarchy, as well as each parent’s child records, without activating sibling Content Plan records.

Configuration Overview

  1. Add new lifecycle states to the Content Plan and Content Plan Item object lifecycles.
  2. Create new object workflows.
  3. Set up entry actions and user actions on the Content Plan and Content Plan Item object lifecycles.

Adding New Object Lifecycle States

Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Object Lifecycles. Ensure that both your Content Plan and Content Plan Item lifecycles include Inactive and Draft states already. If they don’t, add those first.

Add the following new active states to the Content Plan and Content Plan Item object lifecycles:

Lifecycle State Label Records in this state become inactive Description
Content Plan Lifecycle Activate Parent (Intermediate) No Intermediate state used to initiate the state change from Inactive to Draft on Content Plan parent records. Vault enacts this state in conjunction with the Activate Section state to activate all descendant records.
Content Plan Lifecycle Activate Section (Intermediate) No Intermediate state used to initiate the state change from Inactive to Draft for all of the Content Plan record’s descendants. Vault enacts this state in conjunction with the Activate Parent state to activate ascendant parent records in the hierarchy.
Content Plan Item Lifecycle Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate) Yes Intermediate state used to initiate the state change to Draft on Content Plan parent records.

Creating Object Workflows

Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Workflows to add the following new workflows:

Workflow Label Object Lifecycle Allow auto-start from entry action and event action Workflow Steps
Change Content Plan to Draft Content Plan Lifecycle Yes Add a State Change step and set the Next State to Draft.
Change Content Plan Item to Draft Content Plan Item Lifecycle Yes Add a State Change step and set the Next State to Draft.

Setting Up Entry Actions & User Actions

Set up the following entry actions and user actions on the Content Plan object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State

Action

Action Type

Action Conditions

Activate Parent (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Parent

Change State To: Activate Parent (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record’s State: Draft

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan to Draft workflow

Activate Section (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Plan

Change State To: Activate Section (Intermediate)

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Plan Items

Change State To: Draft

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Parent

Change State To: Activate Parent (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record’s State: Draft

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan to Draft workflow

Draft

Entry Action

On the Draft state, delete all existing entry actions related to changing parent or child states.

Inactive

User Action

Change State to

Select the Activate Section (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Draft

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Draft user action

Set up the following entry actions and user actions on the Content Plan Item object lifecycle. Configure these in the order they appear in the table below.

Lifecycle State

Action

Action Type

Action Conditions

Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Plan

Change State To: Activate Parent (Intermediate)

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan Item to Draft workflow

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft

Inactive

User Action

Change State to

Select the Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Draft

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Draft user action

Configuration for Backwards State Changes

When a content plan section reverts to a lower state, for example, when it moves from the Baselined state back to the Draft state, the section’s parent records should no longer be in the Baselined state. This section includes configurations for applying backwards state changes up the content plan hierarchy.

If your Vault has custom configurations for the Content Plan object lifecycle or lifecycle states, you may need to make additional changes to your configuration.

Baselined or Locked to Draft Configuration

In this configuration, Vault moves ascendant Content Plan records to an active Draft lifecycle state when a descendant Content Plan or Content Plan Item record moves from the Baselined or Locked state to Draft. When configured:

  • Moving a Content Plan Item record from the Baselined or Locked state to the Draft state cascades the Draft state to its ascendant parent records in the hierarchy without updating sibling Content Plans or Content Plan Items.
  • Moving a Content Plan record from the Baselined or Locked state to the Draft state cascades the Draft state to its descendant records and any ascendant parent records that are also in the Baselined or Locked state.

Configuration Overview

  1. Add new lifecycle states to the Content Plan object lifecycle.
  2. Set up entry actions and user actions on the Content Plan and Content Plan Item object lifecycles.

Creating New Lifecycle States

Add the following new active states to the Content Plan lifecycle:

Lifecycle State Label Records in this state become inactive Description
Content Plan Lifecycle Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate) No Intermediate state used to initiate the backwards state change to Draft on Content Plan parent records. Vault enacts this state in conjunction with Set Section to Draft (Intermediate) state to set all descendant records to Draft.
Content Plan Lifecycle Set Section to Draft (Intermediate) No Intermediate state used to cascade the backwards state change to Draft for all Content Plan descendant records. Vault enacts this state in conjunction with the Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate) state to set the record’s parents in the hierarchy to Draft.

Setting Up Entry Actions & User Actions

Set up the following entry actions and user actions on the Content Plan object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State

Action

Action Type

Action Conditions

Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Parent

Change State To: Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan to Draft workflow

Set Section to Draft (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Plans

Change State To: Set Section to Draft (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft, Inactive

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Plan Items

Change State To: Draft

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft, Inactive

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Parent

Change State To: Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft, Inactive

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan to Draft workflow

Baselined

User Action

Change State to

Select the Set Section to Draft (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Draft

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Draft user action

Locked

User Action

Change State to

Select the Set Section to Draft (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Draft

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Draft user action

Set up the following and user actions on the Content Plan Item object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State Action Action Type Action Conditions
Baselined User Action Change State to Select the Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Draft

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Draft user action
Locked User Action Change State to Select the Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Draft

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Draft user action

Locked or Published to Baselined Configuration

In this configuration, Vault moves ascendant Content Plan records to an active Baselined lifecycle state when a descendant Content Plan or Content Plan Item record moves from the Locked or Published state to Baselined. When configured:

  • Moving a Content Plan Item record from the Locked or Published state to the Baselined state cascades the Baselined state to its ascendant parent records in the hierarchy that are also in the Locked or Published state without updating sibling Content Plans or Content Plan Items.
  • Moving a Content Plan record from the Locked or Published state to the Baselined state cascades the Baselined state to its descendant records and any ascendant parent records that are also in the Baselined or Locked state.

Configuration Overview

  1. Add new lifecycle states to the Content Plan object lifecycle.
  2. Create new object workflows.
  3. Set up entry actions and user actions on the Content Plan and Content Plan Item object lifecycles.

Creating New Lifecycle States

Add the following new active states to the Content Plan lifecycle:

Lifecycle State Label Records in this state become inactive Description
Content Plan Lifecycle Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate) No Intermediate state used to initiate a state change to the previous Baselined state on Content Plan parent records. Vault enacts this state change in conjunction with the Set Section to Baselined (Intermediate) state to move descendant records to Baselined.
Content Plan Lifecycle Set Section to Baselined (Intermediate) No Intermediate state used to initiate a state change to the previous Baselined state for all Content Plan descendant records. Vault enacts this state change in conjunction with Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate) state to move ascendant parent records in the hierarchy to Baselined.
Content Plan Item Lifecycle Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate) No Intermediate state used to initiate a state change to the previous Baselined state on the Content Plan Item record’s parents in the hierarchy.

Creating Object Workflows

Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Workflows to add the following new workflows:

Workflow Label Object Lifecycle Allow auto-start from entry action and event action Workflow Steps
Change Content Plan to Baselined Content Plan Lifecycle Yes Add a State Change step and set the Next State to Baselined.
Change Content Plan Item to Baselined Content Plan Item Lifecycle Yes Add a State Change step and set the Next State to Baselined.

Setting Up Entry Actions & User Actions

Set up the following entry actions and and user actions on the Content Plan object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State

Action

Action Type

Action Conditions

Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan to Baselined workflow

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Parent

Change State To: Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft, Baselined

Set Section to Baselined (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Plans

Change State To: Set Section to Baselined (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Inactive, Baselined

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Items Plans

Change State To: Baselined

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Inactive, Baselined

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan to Baselined workflow

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Parent

Change State To: Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft, Inactive, Baselined

Baselined

Entry Action

On the Baselined state, delete all existing entry actions related to changing parent or child states.

Locked

User Action

Change State to

Select the Set Section to Baselined (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Baselined

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Baselined user action

Published

User Action

Change State to

Select the Set Section to Baselined (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Baselined

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Baselined user action

Set up the following entry actions and user actions on the Content Plan Item object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State

Action

Action Type

Action Conditions

Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate)

Entry Action

Change related object lifecycle state

Related Object: Content Plan

Change State To: Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate)

Conditions On Related Records: Yes

Condition: Exclude related records in the following lifecycle states

Related Record's State: Draft, Baselined

Start Workflow

Start Workflow: Change Content Plan Item to Baselined workflow

Locked

User Action

Change State to

Select the Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Baselined

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Baselined user action

Published

User Action

Change State to

Select the Set Parent to Baselined (Intermediate) state

Action Label: Change State to Baselined

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Baselined user action

Draft to Baselined Configuration

In this configuration, moving a Content Plan record from the Draft state to the Baselined state cascades the Baselined state to all of the Content Plan’s active descendant records, but not to its parent records. This configuration uses the Content Plan Hierarchy State Change action so that Vault can change the state of the records asynchronously.

To configure this, update the existing Change State to Baselined user action on the Content Plan object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State Action Action Type Action Conditions
Draft User Action Content Plan Hierarchy State Change Next State: Baselined

Exclude States: Inactive, Locked

Action Label: Change State to Baselined

Optional: Select Prevent action if one or more items are being processed

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Baselined user.

Baselined to Locked Configuration

This configuration cascades the Locked state to all of the Content Plan’s active descendant records, but not to its parent records. This configuration uses the Content Plan Hierarchy State Change action so that Vault can change the state of the records asynchronously.

To configure this, add or update the following user action and remove the following entry actions on the Content Plan object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State Action Action Type Action Conditions
Baselined User Action Content Plan Hierarchy State Change Next State: Locked

Exclude States: Inactive

Recommended: Select Prevent action if one or more items are being processed

Action Label: Change State to Locked

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Locked user action.
Locked Entry Action N/A Remove the existing Change related object lifecycle state or Change related object lifecycle state asynchronously (no limit) entry action that moved related Content Plan records to Locked.

Remove the existing Change related object lifecycle state or Change related object lifecycle state asynchronously (no limit) entry action that moved related Content Plan Item records to Locked.

Inactive Entry Action Configuration

This configuration cascades the Inactive state to all of the Content Plan’s descendant records, but not to its parent records. This configuration uses the Content Plan Hierarchy State Change action so that Vault can change the state of the records asynchronously.

To configure this, add or update the following and user actions and remove the following entry actions on the Content Plan object lifecycle:

Lifecycle State Action Action Type Action Conditions
Draft User Action Content Plan Hierarchy State Change Next State: Inactive

Optional: Select Prevent action if one or more items are being processed

Action Label: Change State to Inactive

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Inactive user action.
Baselined User Action Content Plan Hierarchy State Change Next State: Inactive

Optional: Select Prevent action if one or more items are being processed

Action Label: Change State to Inactive

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Inactive user action.
Locked User Action Content Plan Hierarchy State Change Next State: Inactive

Optional: Select Prevent action if one or more items are being processed

Action Label: Change State to Inactive

Note: This replaces the existing Change State to Inactive user action.
Inactive Entry Action N/A Remove the existing Change related object lifecycle state or Change related object lifecycle state asynchronously (no limit) entry action that moved related Content Plan records to Inactive.

Remove the existing Change related object lifecycle state or Change related object lifecycle state asynchronously (no limit) entry action that moved related Content Plan Item records to Inactive.

Configuration for Drag & Drop Document Matching

By default, Vault does not allow users to drag and drop a document onto inactive content plan items. However, you can configure Vault to move the content plan item to an active lifecycle state before matching the document. You must update the cascade configuration in your Vault to support the ability to drag and drop documents to match them to inactive content plan items.

To update your configuration, add the Cascade Activation state type to the Content Plan Item lifecycle and select the Set Parent to Draft (Intermediate) lifecycle state. This will allow users to drag and drop a document onto an inactive Content Plan Item to activate the record and its ascendant records. Ensure that there is an existing Change State to user action on the Content Plan Item lifecycle state you selected when setting up in the Cascade Activation state type.