Sitecore Workbox

Owned by Alexandre Boyle
Jul 24, 2023
3 min read

Workbox is Sitecore’s central tool for managing publishing approvals made by Authors and Contributors.

Instead of navigating to each page individually or chasing email notifications, Workbox helps you track all Author and Contributor changes and approve them from a single interface.

Accessing Workbox

Workbox is accessed from the Sitecore Launchpad via a button under the Content Editing section.

Workbox Interface

Workbox displays your pages workflow state of “Working” and “Awaiting Approval” all in one place where USF authors can approve any updates made by other contributors or authors.

Choose a Workflow

The first step is selecting the correct workflow for your site.

  • If your site has been recently rebuilt with the new v3 Components check the USF Publishing v3 workflow.

  • If your site has not yet been rebuilt, check the USF Health workflow instead.

If you manage multiple websites that use both versions, you can check both workflows at the same time however, you may experience slower performance. We recommend activating only one at a time.

Working Pages vs Pages Awaiting Approval

Workbox separates pages that are actively being worked on from pages that are ready for your approval with two collapsible accordions:

 

  • Working - All pages that are currently being worked on but have not been submitted for publishing.

  • Awaiting Approval - All pages that have been submitted and are awaiting publishing approval.

Only want to see pages submitted for approval? Click on the grey bar titled Working to collapse it out of your way.

Reviewing Pages Awaiting Approval

Pages under the Awaiting Approval accordion includes the page title and URL as well as who made the latest update with a timestamp.

Below the timestamp and above the links is a section titled Comments. This feature currently does not function correctly so we do not recommend clicking on the “More” link. Our team is working to fix or hide this feature.

Each page has three links for you to take action on the page:

 

  • Preview - Opens the page in the experience editor in a new tab.

  • Approve - Publishes the update, but it will open a pop-up window to allow you to provide feedback or a comment with your approval.

  • Reject - Rejects the update and will open a pop-up window to allow you to provide feedback or a comment on why you have rejected the update.

Bulk Actions

Each page listed within the Working and Awaiting Approval accordions includes a checkbox to their left. This allows you to select multiple items at one time and approve or reject them in bulk. Additionally, there are options to approve or reject all items listed in your workbox without having to select them.