---
title: Control the publishing process
slug: cms-saas/docs/control-the-publishing-process
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-07-30T20:18:08.000Z
---

Large organizations with geographically distributed editors often benefit from process support when creating, reviewing, publishing, and translating content. Optimizely Content Management System (CMS) is built for a distributed way of working, with various options for managing content creation and publishing depending on the size and setup of organizations.

Ways of controlling the publishing process:

- [Approve content](docId\:qcR6NwUQQHBkwABvukZnT)
- [Restrict access rights](docId\:oAarEbQsc4UvPA6OYU3yi)

The following features can be used to control the publishing process:

- **Content must be approved before it can be published**
  Content approvals are a way to ensure that content is reviewed and approved before publication. When an editor has finished working on a content item, the item is set to **Ready for Review**. One or more appointed reviewers must then approve the content item before publication. The reviewers are defined by an administrator in **an approval sequence**.
- **Restrict publishing access rights**
  Access rights let you control **what** editors can do **where** in the content structure. A typical example is restricting the right to publish content to editor groups. This means that the publish option is not available for editors. Instead, they use the **Ready to Publish** status option. You can then view the content under **Tasks**.
- **Use the Tasks tab**
  The simplest way to monitor content creation activities is to use tasks. The **Tasks** option lists changes to content filtered by [content status](docId\:wdGYzOsuDJ4wH5e-dUj-Q).

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/BrbvVORKJ5iIeSMZye5kI/6Ee3bQwA8wPYMS5VS0JOc_938f79663216d26f18a9b001522fce651de38d45c235cf64b3d001e9c12ccd5d-image.png)

You can use the following options for monitoring content creation and content approvals:

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**Draft** – List draft versions that you have created or changed.
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**Rejected** – Lists content items in the Rejected status that you created or changed. Items are set as Rejected when set to **Ready for Review** or **Ready to Publish** and then are declined. You can edit and update content in **Rejected** status before you set it to **Ready to  Publish** or **Ready for Review** again.
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**In Review** – Lists content items on the application that are set as **Ready for Review**. See Content approvals.
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**Ready to Publish** – Lists content items on the application that are set as **Ready to Publish** and that you have publish rights to.
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**Marked as Being Edited** – Lists content items on the application that you have set as being edited. See **Tools** under **Basic information** properties.
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**Recently Changed** – Lists the last items that you or any other editor have changed for the application.
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**Awaiting Review** – Lists the content items you sent for review and are in content status **In Review**.
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**Declined Reviews** – Lists the content items you sent for review that have been declined and are in content status **Rejected**. When the item is updated, it is no longer displayed in this list.
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**Approved Reviews** – Lists the content items you have sent for review that have been approved and are in content status **Ready to Publish**. When the item is published (or updated), it is no longer displayed in this list.
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**Awaiting Your Review** – Lists the content items of which you are one of the designated approvers.
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**Approved by You** – Lists the content items you have approved. When the item is published (or updated), it is no longer displayed in this list.
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Clicking a content item in the filtered task list displays the item in the main area. Use the *Versions* gadget to see the version history for that particular content item. If you have publishing access rights, you can decide upon further publishing actions from the **Versions** gadget.