Workstreams

Making changes to lots of different pages can be very time-consuming, but Brightspot has tools to reduce that time in significant ways. Workstreams allow you to select a group of items to edit, keep track of which ones have been edited, and easily involve other people in the work—without the need to coordinate who's editing which items.

Brightspot Workstreams Documentation

Use bulk edit when possible

The fastest and easiest way to change lots of content at once is to use the Bulk Edit feature. This works well when you're editing content that is all of the same type—such as articles, events, or something like that. The other thing you need for bulk edit is for the change to be the same for each item. If I wanted add a tag to 75 articles, or move 30 pages into a certain section, that would be ideal for bulk edit.

Brightspot bulk editing Documentation

Workstreams to the rescue

What about those times when you have a mix of content types, or if each item needs specific attention? It can get tedious to search for each item and open it, or to remember which ones you've already edited. The problems multiply when you have to coordinate the work with other people. Workstreams are the perfect tool for that situation.

Create a Workstream

You create a workstream from a Search window. It helps to use the Global Filters to the left to find the content you want. It's especially useful to use the top filter that says 'All Content Types' to narrow the list down to a specific content type. This will also give you more filters specific to that content type (see the Brightspot search documentation).

You can create a workstream by checking the box next to the items that should be included, or by selecting nothing, which will include all of the results of your search in the workstream.

If the New Workstream button does not appear

This may mean that you have items with more than one content type selected. You may need to limit the results using the Global Filters. It may also mean that you have some items selected that you didn't want selected. Brightspot often remembers previous selections. If this is the case, you'll see an indicator at the top of the dropdown that says 'X items selected' with a red Clear button above it. If you click the Clear button it will remove all previously selected items.

Edit Items in a Workstream

All of your workstreams appear in the Workstreams widget on your dashboard. In the standard dashboard, this is at the bottom of the first column.

When you click the Start or Continue button for a workstream, it will open an editor window for the first item in the workstream. There is an indicator at the top of the screen for where you are in the list and how many others are working with you to finish the workstream.

Once you're finished with your edits, click Publish (or save if you're working on a draft) and Brightspot will load the next item in the workstream. If there's nothing to change, click Skip. If you're finished working, click Stop.

When more than one person is working on the same workstream, Brightspot will give each person a different item to edit.