A workflow determines the state(s) that a content item can have. The state of a content item determines whether it is visible on the frontend of your website, whether it can be edited and by whom, and so forth. A workflow also determines the order that states can be moved through. For example, consider the simple workflow "Planned - Published". When a content item is first created, it is in the "Planned" state. Content items in the "Planned" state are not visible on the website frontend. When the workflow state of a content item is changed from "Planned" to "Published", it becomes visible on the website frontend. Depending on your organization, you might want to create more complicated workflows that add intermediate steps such as "Ready for Review", "Review in Progress", "Review Completed" and so forth. As content items pass through different workflow states, specific roles have specific rights to modify a content item's settings and/or content. A workflow model also defines the order that the states must be transitioned through. For example, it can enforce the condition that a content item can only move from the "Planned" state to the "Ready for review" and not directly from "Planned" to "Published".
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