Module Review: Drupal Workbench

One common concern for sites with multiple content contributors is how to deal with editorial workflow. My organization faced this issue when migrating to Drupal a few years ago and after reviewing the options, I implemented a workflow using the Rules module. This has worked fairly well, but it has always seemed like an inelegant, convoluted solution.

We recently began to consider migrating our sites to Drupal 7, so I took the opportunity to refresh my research on the subject. First stop was to see what state the Rules module was in.  Unfortunately, it's still a release candidate at this writing, not something I'm eager to deploy on our production site. Although I had tried it out before and didn't care for it, I thought I'd check out the Workflow module as well. I was surprised to see that there is no apparent development underway for Drupal 7, in fact, it had been almost a year since the last commit. It was at this point that I discovered Workbench.

I'll cut to the chase, the Drupal Workbench module is flat-out awesome. Developed by Palantir.net, this suite of modules radically simplifies configuring an editorial workflow. When I went through installation and configuration on my development site, I only tested three of the five modules in this suite - Workbench, Workbench Moderation and Workbench Files. Although you only need the first two to setup a workflow, I couldn't resist checking out the Files module (I wasn't disappointed).

The steps you need to get going are very easy - especially when compared to the alternatives. First, create your roles. In my test I added writer and editor roles. I then installed the Workbench modules and then set the permissions for my roles. Besides setting module specific permissions, you'll also have to make sure that your roles have permission to access/edit content, etc., as you usually would for a role that is going to be managing content.

And that's it. Seriously. You have a new admin tab, 'My Workbench' that provides an easy to use interface for creating and managing your content. If you haven't already, take the time to view the presentation from Palantir.net I've placed in this post. If you've spent much time working with Drupal, you'll know not every module is a breeze to work with. That's what struck me the most about this suite - it was just so easy. Aside from setting the roles and permissions, you have a sophisticated editorial workflow with Drupal Workbench right out of the box.