[Typo3] Practical Workflow design

[Robert Markula]

Hi,
For my current project, I need to integrate a 'six-eyes'-workflow. I 
think the following scenario is in one way or the other not-so-uncommon. 
So maybe we can put together our ideas and experiences, and if there is 
a need for it, we can publish it on the wiki for future reference.

Without the new workflow in place yet, I have to create my own 
'workflow' with what's available.

There are some things to be mentioned first:
- The website has about 35 sub-areas. The maintainer of each sub-area 
should only have access (and even see) his own sub-area and must not 
have access to other sub-areas.
- We use tt_news for managing most content.
- It must be assumed that the editors and supervisors have only little 
technical knowledge, mostly basic 'Microsoft Word' knowledge and are 
spread throughout europe. Which means, an on-site training is not 
possible for all of them, so the system should be as easy as possible. 
The QA manager is the only person of the ones mentioned here who gets a 
thorough training in typo3.

Now the requirements.
- The editor should be able to create an article on his own and modify 
it as often as he needs. When he is finished, he notifies his supervisor.
- The supervisor my approve or reject the article to the respective 
editor (he must not edit it though). As soon as it is approved, it must 
not be editable for the editor anymore. When the supervisor approves 
("releases") the article, the QA manager is notified.
- The QA manager may edit the article, reject the article to the initial 
editor, or publish the article. As soon as it gets published, it should 
not be possible for the editor or supervisor to access it anymore. 
(Changes or hide/delete operations my only be done by the QA manager or 
the site manager).


How can this be accomplished with typo3?
Here is what I made up so far:
- There is a "drafts" folder for each subarea. The respective editors 
have full read/write access. The article is hidden by default. When an 
editor finished his article, he notifies the supervisor.
* Problems: Having a drafts folder for each of the 35 sub-areas makes 
mainenance much more difficult (you always have to be aware of the right 
user/group rights etc.). Another problem: An editor can alter (or even 
delete) every other article that resides in the same drafts folder.

- Approving by the supervisor is done by unhiding the article and 
notifying the QA manager. Rejection of an article is handled outside 
typo3 via e-mail communication.
* Problems: The editors are still able to edit the article after it has 
been unhidden. Also the supervisor can change the content of the 
article, which is not desired. Even deletion is possible for both 
groups. And finally, the rejection process is not integrated in this 
scenario.

- The QA manager 'publishes' the article by moving it into the live area 
(the SysFolder which holds the live records).
* No problems here.


Is there a better way to accomplish a workflow like this? How can this 
scenario be accomplished with typo3 (thinking of Page TSconfig, User 
TSconfig and/or Template TS setup)?

By the way, notification can be done unrelated to typo3, e.g. via e-mail 
or the built-in messaging system. But: If there is a way to automate 
notification, I'll gladly take it.

Any ideas or experiences can be helpful.
Regards,
Ro