{"id":4063,"date":"2013-02-13T08:48:14","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T13:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=4063"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:22:32","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:22:32","slug":"content-worksheets-for-editorial-workflow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/content-worksheets-for-editorial-workflow\/","title":{"rendered":"Content Worksheets for Editorial Workflow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Get organized. Use content worksheets to help manage your editorial workflow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For web professionals in higher ed, keeping content up to date is an uphill battle. Regardless of the size of your institution, as a content professional you still have to deal with numerous subject matter experts, content contributors, editors, approvers, and publishers. Content has a shelf life, and without processes for maintaining it, it can quickly become ROT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Editorial workflow for the web is a challenge for day-to-day work, not to mention when you’re managing a large-scale website redesign and need to update dozens or hundreds of pages. How do we manage editorial workflow to ensure content is properly collected, created, edited, and ready for publication?<\/p>\n

A CMS Workflow Isn\u2019t Enough <\/h2>\n

A content workflow for your CMS<\/a> is great for helping to manage publishing tasks \u2014 from adding or editing content to publishing content \u2014 but what about the work that happens before logging into your CMS? <\/p>\n

We often look to our CMS or other web publishing tools to manage content workflow, but editorial workflow is just as much about managing people as content. We need to put our publishing hats on to embrace an editorial workflow that caters to both our content (administrative) goals and stakeholder (content contributor) needs. <\/p>\n

To keep everyone on the same page \u2014 literally \u2014 use content worksheets to help manage your editorial workflow.<\/p>\n

Content Templates vs. Content Worksheets <\/h2>\n

Content templates are page-level content guidelines that help prioritize and structure content and that include categories such as communication goals, page purpose, and style and tone. (If you\u2019re looking for a clear example, check out The Elements of Content Strategy<\/a><\/em> by Erin Kissane.)<\/p>\n

Content worksheets are simpler structured documents for helping manage editorial workflow. We\u2019ll cover content templates in a later post, but here I\u2019d like to address the question: \u201cHow do I manage editorial workflow?\u201d<\/p>\n

Content Worksheets <\/h2>\n

Content worksheets are a valuable tool in your content strategy toolbox. They provide a simple framework for collecting and reviewing web content, focusing on elements such as metadata and on-page content requirements. Content worksheets allow you to standardize the collection and creation of editorial content and ensure that editors and publishers have the information they need (and in the right format) to do their work quickly and effectively.<\/p>\n

Define Content Roles<\/h3>\n

Defining stakeholder needs, as well as publishing roles and tasks, is essential for managing editorial workflow. In order for content worksheets to be effective, you must consider the needs of everyone who will be using them. <\/p>\n

For example, the web content requirements for a press release \u2014 and the roles and processes for creating and editing it \u2014 differ from, say, a student handbook. Before creating a content worksheet, consider who will be using it: student staff writers, faculty subject matter experts, department head approvers, general content editors, etc.<\/p>\n

Define Content Requirements <\/h3>\n

Once you\u2019ve determined who will be using the content worksheets, figure out what types of information editors and publishers need from content contributors. Here\u2019s a sample list of fields to include in your content worksheet:<\/p>\n