Work In Progress

Work in progress (WIP) is a status applied to a content item or a page to tell other editors that the writing is not finished. Until the status is removed, the content cannot be published. The one documented exception is deletion, since deleting a flagged item can still be published.

Definition and how it works

In a team where several people publish, the WIP status is a simple safeguard against a costly mistake, a draft going live too early. It also makes the state of the work visible to everyone, without meetings or messages. You can see at a glance what is ready and what is not.

In Content Editor, the editor marks a content item as Work in progress, then saves. On a multilingual site, the status can apply to all languages or only to some. A WIP badge shows which languages are concerned. In Page Composer the content is grayed out with a Work in progress message. jContent shows a wrench icon next to it. According to the Academy documentation, child content created under a flagged item is not published with it, although it can be published individually. The content stays in the default workspace until the status is removed. The content workflow, where one applies, comes next, once the content is judged ready.

Academy documentation: understanding work in progress content

Work in progress vs unpublished change: the differences

A modified but unpublished content item is not necessarily a work in progress. The status is an explicit decision by the editor, who states that "this content is not ready". A workflow, by contrast, organizes the approval of content that is ready.

What sets the Work in progress status apart
Concept	What distinguishes it
Unpublished change	A change that is saved but not yet released. It can be published at any time. The WIP status prevents that.
Workspace	The default workspace stores content before publication. Flagged content stays there until the status is removed.
Content workflow	The process that organizes reviews and approvals before publication. It applies to content judged ready, after the status is removed.

Work in progress in practice

A team is redesigning a ten-page section. Nine pages are ready; the tenth is waiting for a visual. The editor marks that page as Work in progress. It can no longer be published while the status is in place. It shows up grayed out, with a Work in progress message, for anyone who opens the section in Page Composer. The other nine pages follow their own course. If the team publishes the whole section in one go, the flagged page is left out, along with the content it holds.

On a multilingual site, flagging only the late language lets you publish the translations that are already approved; properties shared by all languages go live as well.

Frequently asked questions

Does removing the Work in progress status publish the content?

No. Removing the status makes the content publishable, but publication remains a separate action, possibly subject to the site’s approval workflow. This separation is intentional. An editor can finish writing and remove the flag without the content going live before it has been reviewed and approved by the right people.

Can a single language be flagged as work in progress?

Yes. On a multilingual site, the Academy documentation states that the status can apply to all languages or to specific ones. This helps when a translation falls behind. The ready versions can be published while the unfinished language stays blocked. The WIP badge makes the languages concerned easy to spot immediately.

Does the status take an already published version offline?

No, the status is meant to prevent publication, not to unpublish. It blocks the release of ongoing changes. A version that is already live stays visible until the next publication. To remove content from the site, use unpublishing, which is a separate action.