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Working with Assignments

Assignments are projects that allow you to request other users to work on content. Each assignment is a request to contribute to the content in some way and there is usually a timescale for the work to be completed. For example, you could create a review assignment and allocate it to a group of subject matter experts (SMEs) so that they can check it for technical accuracy.

In Paligo, there are various user types (user roles) and these are assigned when an administrator creates or edits the user accounts. Each user role has a different purpose and different levels of access to Paligo, see User Types.

We recommend that you use assignments in your content production and publication workflow, as they offer several benefits:

  • Assignments are tracked in Paligo, so there is an audit trail of who worked on them and when.

  • You can view the progress of assignments in the Planner or Dashboard, see Track the Assignment Progress.

  • You can set Paligo to change the status of your content automatically when a review assignment starts and ends, see Default Settings for Assignments.

A review assignment can have several assignees, but a contribution assignment can only have one assignee at a time. However, review and contribution assignments can be combined for the same publication, for as long as there is only one contribution assignment per topic.

When combined assignments are viewed in the Contributor Editor, topics being edited are shown with the user's avatar to the right of the topic. If another user tries to edit that topic, a warning is displayed to inform that the topic is checked out by someone else.

Contributor Editor showing some content in the Edit View. It cannot be accessed. In the top corner, a notification tells you that the document is checked out and shows the name and avatar of the user that is working on it.

To use assignments:

  1. Make sure you are familiar with the Workflow Status. You will need to know this so that you understand what type of assignment to create and where that assignment fits in the overall production process.

  2. Find out about the different Assignment Types and also the Assignment Workflow and States.

  3. Create Assignments.

Assignment Types

Use assignments to manage your projects and workflow. You can create assignments from Planner and Content Manager, see Create Assignments. The assignments are found in the Assignment Panel on the Dashboard.

Paligo dashboard. The Assignments panel is highlighted, showing that the user has been assigned to review, contribute, and translate assignments.

There are several types of assignment, each with a different purpose. They are called Review, Contribution, Translation, and Translation Review.

Review Assignment

Review_small.png Use review assignments when you want someone to read your content and provide feedback as comments. For example, you could send a review assignment to an SME (subject matter expert) to check for technical accuracy or proofreading. To learn more, see Create Assignments.

Contribution Assignment

Contribute_small.png Use contribution assignments when you want someone to create or edit content. For example, a project manager or team leader could assign topics or entire publications to authors to update. The actions that are available to the assignee vary, depending on the type of license that is allocated to their user account. To learn more, see Create Assignments

Users with an Author license can create and edit content in Paligo's full editor, but also have access to the Contributor Editor edit and review features.

Users with a Contributor license do not have access to Paligo's full editor, but they can use theContributor Editor. The Contributor editor is designed to allow non-writers to contribute to the documentation. It has features for editing and creating content, but does not include the more advanced authoring features of the full Paligo editor, such as content reuse.

Translation Assignment

Translate_small.png Use for managing translations, creating translation packages, and / or post-edit translations. Or even translate directly in Paligo by using the translation editor. To learn more, see Create a Translation Assignment.

Translation Review Assignment

Translation_Review_small.png Use translation review assignments when you want someone in your organization to proof-read a translation and leave comments as feedback. To learn more, see Create a Translation Review Assignment.

Assignment Workflow and States

Each assignment has its own workflow and state, which begins with Draft or Started, and then ends with Finished (needs work) or Finished (approved).

  • Draft - Started - Finished

  • Started - Finished

Note

The assignment goes through these states wherever the assignment takes place in the Workflow Status. For example, if you have a translation assignment, it will take place in the "In Translation" stage of the production workflow and will go from Started to Finished within that "In Translation" stage.

For each stage in the assignment workflow, there is a matching state. There are also response states for each assignee. You can view these states on Planner and the Dashboard.

In the following descriptions, we have included the assignee response states as variations on the started and finished states, for example, there is a finished (needs work) state and a finished (approved) state.

  • Draft

    The assignment has been created but its start date is in the future. It will switch to "started" automatically on the start date and will then appear on the assignee's dashboard too.

    Draft assignments appear as a transparent bar in the Planner.

    Draft review assignment on the Planner. It is shown as a transparent bar.

  • Started

    The assignment has been created and the assignee has been notified.

    Started assignments appear as a solid color bar in the Planner.

    Started review assignment on the Planner. It is shown as a purple, solid color bar.

  • Started (needs work)

    The assignment is allocated to multiple people and is set to finish only when they have all responded. Out of the users who have responded, at least one person has chosen to finish with the "needs work" state. There are still some users who have not responded yet.

    Planner assignment block shows avatars of all of the assignees. One of them has a stop symbol to show they finished the assignment with a "needs work" state.

    You may also see this state if the assignment is set to only finish when all users approve the content. If one or more users finish with the "needs work" state, the assignment will not go to the finished state, as it can only do that when all users approve the content.

  • Started (approved)

    The assignment is allocated to multiple people and is set to finish only when they have all responded. Out of the users who have responded, at least one person has chosen to finish with the "approved" state. But there are still other users who have not responded yet.

    Review assignment on the Planner. It is shown as a solid color bar. There are two avatars, one for each assignee. One has a check mark and the other has a question mark.

  • Finished (needs work)

    The assignee has completed the assignment and they believe the content needs additional work before it can be released. A writer, contributor, or translator should work to improve the content and then send it for approval in a new assignment.

    Finished (needs work) assignments show as semi-transparent bars with a red stop symbol next to the assignee's avatar.

    Finished review assignment on the Planner. It is shown as a semi-transparent bar and has a red stop icon to show that the content needs more work.

  • Finished (approved)

    The assignee has completed the assignment and approved the content. They are satisfied that the content is suitable for publication.

    Finished (approved) assignments are shown as semi-transparent bars with a green check symbol next to the assignee's avatar.

    Finished review assignment on the Planner. It is shown as a semi-transparent bar and has a green check icon to show that the content is approved.

The assignments are color-coded too, with purple for review assignments, gray for contribution assignments, and blue for translation assignments. You can view these states on the Planner and on your Dashboard (see Track the Assignment Progress).

Note

Finished assignments are shown as semi-transparent.

There is an avatar for each assignee, and it has an icon to show the assignee's response:

Icon

Description
Black circle icon with white question mark on it.

The assignee has not responded yet.
Green circle icon with white check mark on it.

The assignee has finished the assignment and set the content to "approved".
red circle icon with white stop symbol on it (horizontal line).

The assignee has finished the assignment and has set the content to "needs work".

Note

You can set Paligo to change the state of your content (in the production workflow) automatically when a review assignment starts or finishes. For example, you can set a publication to automatically switch from "Work in Progress" to "In Review" when a review assignment begins. To set these automatic changes, use the Default Settings for Assignments.

Default Settings for Assignments

Paligo has default settings to control various assignment features, including what actions Paligo should take when an assignment begins, ends and what notifications it should send to assignees.

There are two ways to access the Default Settings for assignments:

  • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

    Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

  • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

    Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

Default Settings Tabs

The Default Settings for assignments are organized into the following tabs:

Default settings dialog for assignments. There are tabs of settings. The tabs are General, Review assignments, Comments, and Contributions.

Automatically Archive Comments

Paligo can automatically archive any comments in the content that's used for an assignment. The comments can be auto-archived at the start of the assignment or at the end. Alternatively, you can set Paligo to never auto-archive the comments.

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the Comments tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The Comments tab is selected.

  3. In the When the assignment starts section, define what Paligo should do with any existing comments when an assignment begins.

    Choose from:

    • Archive comments

      Paligo will automatically archive any comments that already exist (in the content for the assignment).

    • Don't archive comments

      Paligo will not automatically archive any comments that already exist.

  4. In the When the assignment ends section, define what Paligo should do with comments when an assignment ends and all assignees have approved the content.

    Choose from:

    • Archive comments if assignment has been approved

      Paligo will automatically archive comments if all assignees have approved the content.

    • Don't archive comments

      Paligo will not archive comments.

  5. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Automatic Change of Release Status

Paligo can automatically switch the status of your content when you create a new assignment. This is a useful time-saving measure, as it means you do not have to change the status manually. For example, if you create a review, Paligo will automatically change the status of the selected content to In Review.

Note

Setting up automatic state changes for the workflows can be convenient, but should be considered carefully. In some situations, it can be preferable to change the state manually, for example, if you have many different variants reusing the same topics. In this scenario, changing the state manually gives you more precise control over the stages of the variants.

See more about the effects of workflow state changes in different scenarios here: Changing Workflow for Reused Content.

To set Paligo to change the status automatically when a new assignment begins:

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the General tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The General tab is selected.

  3. Check the Change the document release status box to set Paligo to automatically change the workflow status when the assignment begins. Clear the checkbox if you want to change the workflow status manually.

  4. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Automatic Change of Release Status for Reviews

Paligo can automatically change the state of your content when a review assignment finishes. By setting this up, you can avoid having to change the status manually.

To set the automatic state changes, it is important that you understand the stages of the production workflow. These are:

Work in progress > In Review > In Translation > In Translation Review > Released

These are the stages that your content goes through from creation to publication. Your review assignments take place in the In Review stage.

Note

Setting up automatic state changes for the workflows can be convenient, but should be considered carefully. In some situations, it can be preferable to change the state manually, for example, if you have many different variants reusing the same topics. In this scenario, changing the state manually gives you more precise control over the stages of the variants.

See more about the effects of workflow state changes in different scenarios here: Changing Workflow for Reused Content.

To set Paligo to change the state of your content when a review is finished:

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the Review assignments tab.

    Default settings dialog for assignments. The review assignments tab is selected.

  3. Check the Change the document release status box.

    When the assignment finishes section on the review assignments tab. There is a change the document release status checkbox and a combo-box.

  4. Use the drop-down to choose what should happen when the review is finished:

    • My documents don't need to be translated

      Choose this option if you want your content to automatically switch to "Work in Progress" or "Released" at the end of a review (depending on whether the content "needs work" or is "approved").

      This option removes the "In Translation" and "In Translation" stages from the production workflow.

    • Assume that my documents are translated

      Choose this option if you want your content to automatically switch to "Work in Progress" or "In Translation" at the end of a review (depending on whether the content "needs work" or is "approved").

    Note

    Use the When is the assignment finished? and Assignee groups settings to control how Paligo recognizes a review is complete. For more details, see Define When Review Assignments End.

  5. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Note

To find out how to get Paligo to change the state of the content at the start of a review, see Automatic Status Change with Assignments.

Automatic Document Check-In

When you create an assignment, it is possible that some of the topics needed for that assignment will be checked out by other users. This can be a problem, as it means the assignees may not be able to access the content they need to work on. To avoid this, you can set Paligo to automatically check in the content that's needed for an assignment.

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the General tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The General tab is selected.

  3. Check the Check in documents box to set Paligo to automatically check in all related and reused documents when the assignment begins. Clear the checkbox if you do not want Paligo to check in these documents, in which case, they may be checked out and unavailable to the assignee(s).

  4. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Automatic Email Notifications

Paligo can automatically send email notifications to assignees to let them know they have an assignment. This is a good way to make assignees aware of their assignment duties, especially if they do not use Paligo for other work.

You can also set Paligo to send an email to the creator of an assignment.

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the General tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The General tab is selected.

  3. Check the Send email to all assignees box to set Paligo to send notification emails. Clear the box to stop Paligo from sending the emails.

  4. Check the Send iCal invitations box to set Paligo to send an iCal calendar invitation with the notification email. Clear the box if you do not want calendar invitations to be included. This option is only available if you have checked the Send email to all assignees box.

  5. Check the Notify me box to set Paligo to send an email to the creator of an assignment when the assignment begins. Clear the box if you do not want these emails.

  6. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Tip

To set Paligo to send an email reminder to assignees who have not responded, check the Send a reminder to assignees box. The reminder is sent a day before the end assignment date.

This feature only applies for assignments that have a duration of more than 2 days.

Automatic Reminders

You can set Paligo to send reminders to unresponsive assignees. The reminder can be a useful prompt to assignees who may have not noticed the assignment or delayed working on it for some reason.

The reminder is sent as an email one day before the end of the assignment deadline.

Note

This feature is only used for assignments with a duration of longer than two days.

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the General tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The General tab is selected.

  3. Check the Send a reminder to assignees box to set Paligo to send reminder emails. Clear the box if you do not want reminder emails to be sent.

  4. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Automatic Snapshots

It is possible to make Paligo automatically create a snapshot at the start of a contribution assignment.

A snapshot is an archived version of the content at a particular point in time. During a release a snapshot is always created but can also be created by a contributor during an assignment or manually created at any time. The snapshots are useful when comparing the content between different versions or for restoring lost content. By comparing a snapshot from before and after an assignment, it is easy to visualize the changes made to the documentation.

Note

To find out more about contribution assignment snapshots, see Compare Contributions.

To set Paligo to create a snapshot automatically at the start of a contribution assignment:

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the Contributions tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The Contributions tab is selected.

  3. In the When the assignment starts section:

    • Check the Create a snapshot box to set Paligo to make a new snapshot automatically when the assignment begins.

    • Clear the Create a snaphot box to stop Paligo from making a new snapshot at the start of the assignment.

  4. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Contribution Settings

When contributors start work on an assignment, Paligo can show them the changes that have occurred since the last snapshot was taken. To show a preview of the changes by default:

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the Contributions tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The Contributions tab is selected.

  3. In the When the assignment starts section, disable Create a snapshot.

    If you have this feature enabled, it will mean Paligo creates a snapshot when the assignment is opened. As a result, the comparison feature would compare the latest version of the content to that snapshot, and the content would be the same.

  4. In the Enable Preview section, check the Enable change preview box.

    When the contributor opens the assignment, Paligo will show them a side-by-side comparison of the latest version of the content and the most recent snapshot of the content. They can choose to compare to different versions if they want (see Compare Contributions).

    Clear the checkbox if you want to disable the comparison.

  5. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Define When Assignments End

By default, assignments are set to end on their due date, but you can change this so that assignments only end when assignees respond to them. You will need to decide which is the best approach for your organization.

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the General tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The General tab is selected.

  3. In the When is the assignment finished? section, use the Finish assignment on due date checkbox to define when assignments end by default.

    • Check the box to set assignments to end on their due date (deadline) even if assignees have not responded.

    • Clear the box to set assignments to remain open after the due date (deadline) if assignees have not ended the assignment, either by setting it to Needs more work or Approved.

  4. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Define When Review Assignments End

By default, each assignment ends on the due date that was set for that assignment. This also applies to review assignments, but these also have extra options for controlling what happens when assignees complete an assignment.

Depending on your choices, Paligo will recognize a review assignment has finished when:

  • All assignees have approved the content

  • All assignees have responded to the assignment

  • All members of a user group have responded to the assignment

  • At least one member of a user group has responded.

Note

It is possible to change the default settings so that assignments do not end automatically when the due date is reached (see Define When Assignments End).

To control when review assignments finish:

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the Review assignments tab.

    Default settings dialog for assignments. The review assignments tab is selected.

  3. In the When is the assignment finished? section, define when Paligo should set an assignment to finished:

    • All assignees have approved

      All assignees must have completed the assignment and set the content to "approved".

    • All assignees have responded

      All assignees must have completed the assignment, but they can have set the content to "Needs Work" or "Approved"

  4. In the Assignee Groups section, define what must be in place for Paligo to recognize that a user group has finished an assignment:

    • All members have responded

      If an assignment is allocated to a user group, it can only be recognized as finished if all of the members of that user group have responded. To respond, they must set the assignment to finished with either "Needs Work" or "Approved" status for the content.

    • One member has responded

      If an assignment is allocated to a user group, it can only be recognized as finished one or more members of the user group have responded.

    Note

    You can send a user two invites to the same assignment, by inviting their user group and also inviting them as an individual user. In this scenario, they only need to respond once. Paligo automatically detects that their response applies to both the user's assignment and the user group's assignment.

  5. Select OK to confirm your choices.

It is possible to allocate an assignment to a user group and also some individual users at the same time. This can result in some more complex scenarios, covered in the following examples.

Example 1. Assignment for user group and users, user group rejects content

Let's say you have the following settings for review assignments in place:

  • When is assignment finished? - All assignees have approved

  • Assignee groups - One member has responded

You then create a review assignment and allocate it to a user group plus two individual users who are not part of that group.

The two individual users read the content and approve it. Their assignment work is complete, with the content set to "approved". But the assignment is still open, as the default settings require all assignees to approve the content and the user group is an assignee.

A member of the user group reads the content and sets it to "needs work".

The assignment remains open. This is because all assignees have responded, but one of them did not approve the content:

  • Individual user 1 approved the content

  • Individual user 2 approved the content

  • User group - one user from the group set the content to "needs work", and so the content cannot have "approved" status from the user group. As a result, the "All assignees have approved" rule is not met, and so the assignment remains open.


Example 2. Assignment for user group and users, some user group members do not respond

Let's say you have the following settings for review assignments in place:

  • When is assignment finished? - All assignees have approved

  • Assignee groups - One member has responded

You then create a review assignment and allocate it to a user group plus two individual users who are not part of that group.

The two individual users read the content and approve it. Their assignment work is complete, with the content set to "approved". But the assignment is still open, as the default settings require all assignees to approve the content and the user group is an assignee.

A member of the user group reads the content and sets it to "approved".

The assignment finishes as the finishing criteria has been met:

  • Individual user 1 approved the content

  • Individual user 2 approved the content

  • User group - one user from the group set the content to "approved".

The individual users both responded with approved, and a user group member responded with approved too. So all assignees have approved. It does not matter that the other user group members did not look at the content, as the Assignee groups setting required only one user group member to respond.

If any of the user group members had responded with "needs work" first, the assignment would have remained open.


Store Contributor Topics in a Different Location

Contributors can create new topics as part of their work on an assignment. By default, Paligo will store these new topics in a special folder called "Contributions, <name of user>" and this is in the root of the Documents section in the Content Manager. But you can set Paligo to store new contribution topics elsewhere, if preferred.

Paligo content manager sidebar shows the Documents section. Inside it, there are special folders named Contributions Frank, Contributions Hank, Contributions Jakob, and Contributions Marek.

To change the location for new contributor topics:

  1. Display the default settings for assignments.

    You can either:

    • Planner - Make general assignment settings. Before you start working with assignments, it is a good idea to review the default settings as you may be able to use them to make your workflow more efficient.

      Assignment_Default_Settings_Planner_small.png

    • Create Assignments - Adjust the settings when the assignment is created.

      Create assignment dialog. A callout box surrounds the Default settings button in the bottom left corner.

  2. On the Default Settings dialog, select the Contributions tab.

    Default settings for assignments. The Contributions tab is selected.

  3. In the Where to save new topics section, use the browse field to choose the folder for new contributor topics. When a contributor creates a new topic, it will be saved in a special folder called "Contributions, <name of user>" and that will be inside your chosen folder.

  4. Select OK to confirm your choices.

Create Assignments

Assignments are an important part of the workflow if you want to track your content in Paligo. When you create an assignment, you choose what type of assignment it is, who should work on it, and the timescale for the work. This is all tracked by Paligo and you can view the progress of an assignment on the Dashboard and in the Planner.

To create a new assignment, you can use both Planner and Content Manager, there is no difference in the end result.

Create an Assignment via the Content Manager

Use the Content Manager to create new translation, translation review, contribution, or review assignments.

Note

Alternatively, use the Planner to create new assignments.

To create an assignment from the Content Manager:

  1. In the Content Manager, find the publication or topic that you want the assignee to work on. Then select its options menu ( ...Create assignment

    reviewassignment1.png

    Paligo displays the Create assignment dialog.

    Tip

    You can also assign only a part of a publication, like a "chapter" or any other subsection. To do this, expand the publication and create the assignment from the "fork" inside the publication:

    assignment-from-fork-topic-in-publication.png

  2. Use the Create assignment dialog to set the options for your assignment.

    Create assignment dialog has options for choosing the type of assignment, language, profiling, assignees and deadlines.

    • Assignment type

      Choose the type of assignment. The options are review, contribution, translation, or translation review. Review is for when you want somebody to proofread the content and contribution is for when you want somebody to add to the content. Translation is for adding a translation of the content and translation review is for proofreading the translation.

    • Document for this assignment

      Choose the publication or topic that you want the assignee to work on.

    • Language

      Choose the language for the assignment. You can only choose one language per assignment. For translations, choose the language that you want the translator to provide.

    • Profiling

      Use to apply a favorite profile to the publication or topic. You only see options here if you have set up favorite profile settings for the document.

    • Assignee

      Choose the user or user group that will work on this assignment.

      Note

      You can choose one or more individual users, one or more user groups, or a combination of user groups and individual users. For user groups, the assignment is allocated to every user that is a member of the selected user group(s).

    • Assignment date

      Use the calendars to set the start date (left calendar) and end date (right calendar) for the assignment.

    • Let me leave a message

      Check the box if you want to leave a message for the assignee(s), and then enter the message in the field that appears. Clear the box if you do not want to add a message.

  3. Select the Default Settings button to display the Default Settings dialog. Then check that the settings are suitable for your assignment. For information on these settings, see Default Settings for Assignments. Close the Default Settings dialog when you are finished.

  4. Select OK to create the assignment.

Note

You cannot give a user a contribution assignment to content that they do not have permission to edit. Paligo will prompt you to allocate the suitable permission to the user. This applies on instances that use Paligo's permissions feature, which is available on the Enterprise plan.

To upgrade your plan, contact your Paligo account manager.

Create an Assignment via the Planner

Use the Planner to create new translation, translation review, contribution, or review assignments.

To create an assignment in the Planner:

  1. Select Planner in the top menu to display the Planner.

  2. Either:

    • Select the Create button and then choose the type of assignment you want to create.

      Create button on the Planner. It has a menu with options for creating different types of assignment.

    • Select the starting date for the assignment directly on the calendar widget.

      The Planner has columns for each day, and the assignments are shown on each row. They stretch from their start date to end date.

    Paligo displays the Create assignment dialog.

  3. Use the Create assignment dialog to set the options for your assignment.

    Create assignment dialog has options for choosing the type of assignment, language, profiling, assignees and deadlines.

    • Assignment type

      Choose the type of assignment. The options are review, contribution, translation, or translation review. Review is for when you want somebody to proofread the content and contribution is for when you want somebody to add to the content. Translation is for adding a translation of the content and translation review is for proofreading the translation.

    • Document for this assignment

      Choose the publication or topic that you want the assignee to work on.

    • Language

      Choose the language for the assignment. You can only choose one language per assignment. For translations, choose the language that you want the translator to provide.

    • Profiling

      Use to apply a favorite profile to the publication or topic. You only see options here if you have set up favorite profile settings for the document.

    • Assignee

      Choose the user or user group that will work on this assignment.

      Note

      You can choose one or more individual users, one or more user groups, or a combination of user groups and individual users. For user groups, the assignment is allocated to every user that is a member of the selected user group(s).

    • Assignment date

      Use the calendars to set the start date (left calendar) and end date (right calendar) for the assignment.

    • Let me leave a message

      Check the box if you want to leave a message for the assignee(s), and then enter the message in the field that appears. Clear the box if you do not want to add a message.

  4. Select the Default Settings button to display the Default Settings dialog. Then check that the settings are suitable for your assignment. For information on these settings, see Default Settings for Assignments. Close the Default Settings dialog when you are finished.

  5. Select OK to create the assignment.

Tip

To change the timescale for the assignment on the Planner, drag it to another date on the calendar.

Note

You cannot give a user a contribution assignment to content that they do not have permission to edit. Paligo will prompt you to allocate the suitable permission to the user. This applies on instances that use Paligo's permissions feature, which is available on the Enterprise plan.

To upgrade your plan, contact your Paligo account manager.

Track the Assignment Progress

You can track the progress of an assignment both via the Planner and also on your Dashboard. If you have enabled email notifications in the assignment default settings, you will also receive emails when an assignment starts and / or ends. To track the progress of an assignment, you'll need to understand the Assignment Workflow and States.

The Planner showing assignments scheduled for different dates. Some assignments have already been completed.

Tip

Read

Track Assignments via the Planner

The Planner is a built-in project planning tool, much like a Gantt chart for planning your technical documentation assignments. It is a convenient view for creating assignments and monitoring them.

To display the Planner, select the Planner tab from the top menu.

TopMenu_Planner_small.png

The Planner has two sections that contain information about your assignments: the Assignment planner and the Workload summary.

The Assignment planner has:

The Assignment Planner section of the Planner. It is labelled with numbers to identify each part of the user interface.

  1. Filter for limiting the information shown. For example, you can filter the Assignment planner by assignment type, language, and assignee.

  2. Time period selector. Use to set the time range for the information shown.

  3. Options to create, delete, and select all assignments.

  4. Options to enlarge the table view, show today in the table, and access the default settings for assignments.

  5. List of publications and topics that are included in assignments.

  6. Calendar/Gantt view showing the assignments, their timescales, and status.

The Workload summary shows the amount of assignments allocated to each user. They are organized by assignment type.

Workload summary section shows charts for each assignment type. The charts show the number of assignments each user has to work on.

Track Assignments via the Dashboard

Your dashboard is displayed when you first log in to Paligo and it contains a summary of the activity in your Paligo instance. It also contains information about assignments.

Tip

Learn more about the

To display the Dashboard, select the Dashboard tab from the top menu.

TopMenu_Dashboard_small.png

On your dashboard, you can find information on the assignments in various places:

  • In the Activity Feed

    Activity feed on dashboard showing information about an assignment.

  • In the Assignments panel. It is divided in three tabs:

    Assignments that you created are shown in the By You tab.

    Assignments section on a dashboard. Its By You tab is selected, revealing a list of assignments that are allocated to the current user.

    Assignments that are assigned to you are shown in the For You tab.

    Assignments section on a dashboard. Its For You tab is selected, revealing a list of assignments that the current user created and assigned to other users.

    Assignments that have been completed are shown in the Done tab.

    Assignments section on a dashboard. Its Done tab is selected, revealing a list of assignments that have been completed.

    All completed assignments appear here, including those that require the writer to do more work on the content (the assignment is complete but the content is not approved).

Change Assignment Status

There are several ways to change the status of an assignment, depending on your user permissions. It is necessary to end an assignment by changing status, otherwise the author will not receive a notification that you are done with your assignment.

The following symbols show the assignment status:

Assignment_Not_Started_small.png

Question mark

The user has not approved or rejected the assignment content

To be able to remove a former status, choose Reset my status.
Assignment_Approved_small.png

Green checkmark

The user has approved the assignment content

Set the status to Update to approved.
Assignment_Rejected_small.png

Red Minus symbol

The user has rejected the assignment content as it needs more work before it is suitable for publishing.

Set the status to Update to needs work.

Note

For translation assignments, "Needs work" is replaced by "Declined".

Change Assignment Status via the Assignments Panel

Usually, you would go into the assignment content to set the status. But you can also set the status from the Assignments Panel on the Dashboard.

  1. Select the Dashboard tab from the top menu.

    TopMenu_Dashboard_small.png

  2. Select the Menu icon in the bottom-right corner of the Assignments Panel. Menu_Icon_small.png

  3. Choose Update to approved, Update to needs work or Reset my status.

    Change_Assignment_Status_small.png

Change Assignment Status via the Planner

To be able to reach Planner, you need to have to be an author or administrator.

  1. Select the Planner tab in the top menu.

    TopMenu_Planner_small.png

  2. Drag assignments in the planner to change their status:

    • Draft assignments to current date or before to change it to Started.

    • Started assignments into the future to change their state to Draft.

Change Assignment Status via the Assignment

When working on an assignment,

  1. Display Review View from the assignment link or via the Assignments Panel.

    Paligo dashboard. The Assignments panel is highlighted, showing that the user has been assigned to review, contribute, and translate assignments.

  2. Select the Assignment button. Assignment_Button_ContributorEditor_small.png

    Finish assignment options - Approved or Needs Work.

  3. Select a Status for the reviewed content (Approved, Needs work or Reset status).

    The assignment is finished and the author receives a notification that you are done.

View the Assignment Status

To view the current status of an assignment, select the Planner tab in the top menu. The calendar view there shows the status of the assignments:

  • Blue blocks for translation and translation review assignments that have started

  • Purple blocks for review assignments that have started

  • Gray blocks for contribution assignments that have started

  • Semi-transparent blocks for assignments that are finished (either approved or needs more work)

  • Clear / gray outline blocks for assignments that are drafts. These are set to begin in the future and will switch to started on the start date.

The Planner showing assignments scheduled for different dates. Some assignments have already been completed.

Alternatively, select the Dashboard tab in the top menu. Look in the Assignments Panel. The status of the assignments is shown on the three tabs:

  • For you for assignments allocated to you

  • By you for assignments you created

  • Done for the assignments you created and have been completed

assignment-status-by-you.png

Assignments that are:

  • Drafts are shown as grayed out entries with the line "The assignment is still a draft and has therefore not started yet."

  • Started are shown in color and include information about when the assignment's deadline. You can see assignments allocated to you on the For you tab and assignments you allocated to other users on the By you tab.

  • Finished are shown in the Done tab. This is where you can find assignments that are finished and the content is approved and also assignments that are finished but the content needs more work.

Tip

To find out about the different states and what the icons mean on the assignees' avatars, see Assignment Workflow and States.

Open an Assignment that "Needs Work"

When an assignment is finished, Paligo sends an email to notify the assignment's creator. The assignment is updated in Planner and moved to the Done tab in the Assignments Panel on the dashboard. If the assignment is finished, but the content is marked as "needs work", the author opens the assignment and corrects the content according to the review comments.

Depending on the type of assignment and the feedback provided, this could mean adding more content, changing the existing content, or applying the correct structure and content reuse.

Note

You can open the assignment content at any time, but in the usual workflow, an author would only open the content when the assignment is finished (or cannot finish as there is content that has the "needs work" state).

Open Finished Assignment in Review View

Review View is the display that reviewers see when they work on review assignments. It shows the content in the main panel and comments in a sidebar on the right. To find out about review assignments, see Working in Review View.

Once the assignee has finished the assignment, an email notification is sent to the author.

Document shown in review mode. There is a view of the document text with a side panel on the right that contains feedback comments.

The finished assignment that needs work can be opened in two ways:

  • From the link in the email notification.

  • By selecting the finished Review assignment under the Done tab, in the Assignments Panel.

    The assignment is listed in the For You, By You, or Done tabs, depending on whether it is allocated to you, created by you or has been completed.

    Paligo dashboard. The Assignments panel is highlighted, showing that the user has been assigned to review, contribute, and translate assignments.

Note

Paligo authors can open the content in the full Paligo editor and view feedback and changes there, see Open Assignment Content in the Full Editor.

Open Finished Assignment in Contributor Editor

Initially the contributor enters Review View and has to activate Edit Mode to edit the assignment. The Edit View Toolbar provides features for editing and adding content. Learn more, see Working in Edit View.

Once the assignee has finished the assignment, an email notification is sent to the author.

After a contribution assignment, it is a good idea to use the validation features in the full Paligo editor to check the structure of the content is valid, see Validation.

Document shown in review mode. There is a view of the document text with a side panel on the right that contains feedback comments.

The finished assignment that needs work can be opened in two ways:

  • From the link in the email notification.

  • By selecting the finished Contribution assignment under the Done tab, in the Assignments Panel.

    The assignment is listed in the For You, By You, or Done tabs, depending on whether it is allocated to you, created by you or has been completed.

    Paligo dashboard. The Assignments panel is highlighted, showing that the user has been assigned to review, contribute, and translate assignments.

Note

Paligo authors can open the content in the full Paligo editor and view feedback and changes there, see Open Assignment Content in the Full Editor.

Open Assignment Content in the Full Editor

OR

Comments in the Full Editor

When reviewers and contributors add comments to content, those comments are stored in the relevant topic. As a Paligo author, you can view the comments when you open the topics in the full editor (or you can see them in review mode or edit mode, see Open an Assignment that "Needs Work").

To view the feedback comments in the full editor:

  1. Select a block of highlighted content. Any content that has a comment is highlighted in yellow.

  2. Select the Show comments option to open the comments dialog. It shows the comments for the content you have selected. If you select another block of highlighted content, the comments dialog updates to show the comments for that content instead.

    Full Paligo editor showing an open topic. The comment option in the toolbar is labelled 1, a paragraph with yellow highlight is labelled 2, and a comment box is labelled 3.

    Select highlighted content (2) and then select the Show comments option (1). The comments dialog (3) is displayed.

    Tip

    The number next to the comment icon shows the number of comments that have not been dealt with.

    Close up image of the show comments option in the toolbar.

  3. Select a piece of content that is highlighted yellow (and so has comments associated with it).

  4. Use the comments dialog to respond to any existing comments.

    Select:

    • Status to change the status of the comment to:

      • Done if you have resolved the issue.

      • Rejected if you disagree with the point being made and are not going to make any changes.

      • Mark as read if you want the reviewer to know you have seen the comment, but you have not yet made changes or rejected it.

      • Unset status to remove the current state.

      Alternatively, select the cog icon in the bottom corner and you can set the status for all of the comments in the conversation.

    • Add to add a reply to a comment.

    • Archive to remove old comments, but keep a record of them.

    • Restore to recover old archived comments.

    Tip

    You can mention other users in your comments and Paligo will send them a notification message. To mention them, enter @ followed by the first characters of their name. Paligo then displays a list and you can select the user from the list.

    A feedback comment that reads @danni could you review this section for me please?

Alternatively, you can use Paligo's "distraction free" mode. This gives you access to all of the editor features, but hides the Content Manager and adds a comments sidebar. So you can edit the content and see all of the feedback comments in the sidebar at the same time.

To use distraction free mode, open the review in the full editor and select the Distraction free mode icon:

Close up of distraction free mode icon on the toolbar.

Respond to Feedback Comments

If an assignment has content that has been marked as "needs work", open the content and review the feedback comments. Based on the feedback, you can then make changes to the content, if required, respond to the comments, and set the comment status.

  1. Open the content for the assignment. As an author, you can make changes to the content in the full editor or the edit mode (contributor).

  2. View the comments in the comments dialog or the side bar. The comments dialog is only available in the full editor.

  3. To reply to a comment, select Add comment and enter your message.

  4. When you have taken care of an issue, you can set the status:

    • To set the status of an individual comment, select the comment message to display a status menu.

      Individual comment is selected revealing a menu containing options for changing the comment status.

    • To set the status of an entire conversation, select the statusicon.png icon in the bottom corner to display a status menu.

      Cog menu is selected, revealing a menu containing options for changing the status of all comments.

    Select:

    • Done if you have resolved the issue.

    • Rejected if you disagree with the point being made and are not going to make any changes.

    • Mark as read if you want the reviewer to know you have seen the comment, but you have not yet made changes or rejected it.

    • Unset status to remove the current state.

  5. When you have dealt with all of the comments, either reassign the assignment, refresh the assignment, or create a new assignment to get the changes checked. You can only reassign if you created the original assignment.

Reassign an Assignment

In certain circumstances, you may need to reassign an assignment, so that reviewers, contributors, or translators can take another look at the content. Some common reasons for reassigning content are:

  • A reviewer completed a review assignment and set the content as "needs work". You have now changed the content based on the feedback and need your changes to be reviewed.

  • A contributor made changes and you have had to alter them and need your changes to be approved.

  • A translator declined a translation assignment as they do not have time to work on the translation.

  • An assignment ended and the assignees did not respond. This could happen if an assignee has had other priorities or perhaps they have left the organization before they finished the assignment.

To reassign an assignment:

  1. Select the Dashboard tab in the top menu.

    TopMenu_Dashboard_small.png

  2. Find the assignment in the Assignments section. Then select the cog icon in the bottom corner, and select Reassign.

    Assignments on dashboard. The cog menu is selected, revealing a Reassign option.

    Note

    For Paligo administrators and authors, the Assignments section has tabs. You will find assignments that you created and need to reassign in the By You tab or the Done tab.

  3. Use the Reassign dialog to allocate the assignment to one or more users and/or user groups and to set the timescale.

    Reassign assignment dialog has fields for choosing assignees, the timescale, and adding a message.

When you reassign, the recipient will receive an email inviting them to join the assignment. They will then provide feedback. If they reject the content, you will need to make changes and then reassign an updated version until the reviewer accepts the content. If the content is accepted, it is ready for translation or publication.

Refresh an Assignment for "Needs Work" Content

If an assignee finishes an assignment and sets the content to "needs work", you will need to address the problems with the content. When you have done that, you will need to get the changes reviewed. An easy way to do this is to "refresh" the original assignment, as this resets the status and sends the assignee a reminder to check the content again.

Note

The Refresh option is only available if you set review assignments to complete when all assignees have approved. This is an option in the Default Settings for assignments, see Define When Review Assignments End.

To refresh an assignment:

  1. Select the Dashboard tab in the top menu.

    TopMenu_Dashboard_small.png

  2. Find the assignment in the Assignments section. Then select the cog icon in the bottom corner, and select Refresh.

    Assignment on dashboard. Its cog menu is selected, revealing several options including Refresh.

When you refresh, Paligo clears the status for the content in the assignment. It is no longer set as "Needs Work". Paligo also sends a reminder to those assignees who previously chose "Needs Work". The reminder is to ask them to re-check the content, so that hopefully, they see the content is now correct and can be set to "Approved". When the content is approved, it is ready for translation or publication.

Favorite Profiles

When you are viewing content or sending content to reviewers or contributors, you may want certain filters and variables to be in place. For example, if a topic contains information about several products but your reviewer only knows about one product, you might want to filter out the content about other products. Rather than set up the filters and variable separately each time, you can set them up once and store them as a favorite profile. You can then apply the favorite profile when you view the topic or send it in an assignment. .

Favorite profiles are associated with the content they were created for. You cannot create a profile for one topic and then use the same profile on a different topic. You can create a favorite profile from the Preview tab and also from the Review View. No matter where you create your favorite profiles, they are visible in both views.

To be able to make Favorite Profiles, you need to:

Note

When you create an assignment, include a message to tell the assignee which Favorite Profile to use. This makes it easier for assignees as they can choose the favorite to display the content that is relevant to them, without having to understand how variables and filters work, see Choose the Profile Settings.

Create a Favorite Profile via Preview Tab

Instead of having to set up the profiling and variables each time, you can select the Favorites tab and choose the profile you want, and select Apply. To stop applying a profile, select Reset.

Note

Favorite profiles are associated with the content they were created for. You cannot create a profile for one topic and then use the same profile on a different topic.

  1. Open a topic in the Paligo editor.

  2. Select Preview and then Profile settings to display the Profile Settings dialog.

    Paligo editor. Preview tab is selected and highlighted. The profile settings option is highlighted.

  3. On the Favorites tab, select +New to create a new favorite and give it a name.

    Profile settings dialog has favorites tab, variables tab, profiling tab, and options tab.

  4. Select your new favorite and then select the Variables tab. Choose the variables and variants you want Paligo to show.

    Profile settings dialog. The variables tab is selected, revealing a list of possible variables with fields to select the variant to use.

  5. Select the Profiling tab. Choose the filter types and filter values that you want Paligo to apply. The filters you choose are included, for example, if you choose a Product filter with value Acme 100, Paligo will show all content that has no Product filter at all and all content that has a Product filter with value Acme 100. Any content that has a Product filter set to any other value is excluded.

    Profile settings dialog. The profiling tab is selected revealing a list of possible filter types and fields for setting the values.

  6. Select the Favorites tab and make sure your favorite profile is still selected (its name is in bold when selected) and then select Update.

    Profile settings dialog showing the favorites tab. There is one favorite profile shown in bold and there are update, reset, and apply buttons.

  7. Repeat this process to create other favorite profiles for the topic (and other topics as required).

    The new favorite profile can now be accessed from the Profile settings option in the Preview in the editor toolbar and Review View.

Create a Favorite Profile via Review View

Example of Favorite Profile in Use
Example 3. Favorite profile used for a review assignment

Let's say you have an introduction topic that is reused in the user guide for two different products (we'll call them Acme 100 and Acme 200). That topic uses variables for the product names and has a note that only applies to the Acme 200 version of the product. So that note has a filter so that it can be excluded when it is not needed.

The topic looks like this:

Topic in the editor. It has numbered labels. 1 points to the product name variables in the content. 2 points to a note that has a filter.

Where:

  • 1 is the product variables that are used to swap out the product name, depending on whether the content is for the Acme 100 or Acme 200

  • 2 is the note that only applies to the Acme 200. This note has an xinfo:product filter with a filter value of Acme 200.

You want to set up favorite profiles so that you can easily switch between the content for the Acme 100 and the content for the Acme 200.

You go into the profile settings and create a new favorite called Acme 100.

Profile settings dialog. Favorites tab shows a profile named Acme 100.

On the Variables tab, you set the Acme Products variable to use the Acme 100 variant.

Profile settings. The variables tab is selected and shows the Acme Products variable has been set to Acme 100.

On the Profiling tab, you set the Product filter to use a value of Acme 100.

Profile settings dialog. The Profiling tab is selected. It shows the Product filter is set to Acme 100.

You then go back to the Favorites tab, make sure your Acme 100 favorite is selected, and then select Update.

Next, you select Reset so that no profiling is applied to your content. You then select New and create a new favorite profile for Acme 200. You repeat the steps for setting up the profile, only this time, you set the variables and profiling to use Acme 200.

The topic now has two favorite profiles in place.

Profile settings dialog. The Favorites tab is displayed and shows there are two favorite profiles, Acme 100 and Acme 200. Acme 200 is in bold.

You create a new review assignment for the topic and in the assignment settings, there is a profiling option. There, you can choose to apply any of the favorite profiles that are associated with your content. You choose Acme 100 and send the review assignment.

Review assignment dialog. The settings show the topic is being sent for review and the profiling is set to Acme 100.

When the reviewer receives the assignment, they see it with the Acme 100 profiling applied to it, so the variables show "Acme 100" and the note is excluded from the content (as it has a filter to only appear for the Acme 200 product).

Topic shown in a review with the Acme 100 profile applied. The variables appear as Acme 100 and the note is filtered out.

In this section:

A "fork" is a special type of link between a publication and its content. This means that it's not the topic or subpublication itself, but a reference (link) that is used in a publication. Learn more, see Forks.

fork.png

  1. Fork, only a reference (link) to the actual topic

  2. Actual origin topic, where you write your content