01 / Workflows & automation
Your process sets the pace.
Workflows & automation: SiteFusion connects editorial tasks and technical activities in traceable publishing processes.
ExploreSITEFUSION / BPMN & publishing workflows
BPMN in publishing: model and orchestrate workflows
How tasks, approvals and events work together: a practical guide to BPMN in publishing, with a production example and technical detail on Camunda 8.
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A specialist publication brings together editorial teams, translation, production and technical services. BPMN provides a way to describe that collaboration as a process.
A shared model for editorial teams and IT
BPMN stands for Business Process Model and Notation. Tasks describe work, gateways represent decisions and parallel paths, and events describe what a process responds to. Business teams and IT can discuss the same workflow.
An executable model also needs technical configuration: conditions, data mappings, interfaces and responsibilities. A diagram alone does not create an integration. Camunda executes supported BPMN elements with the necessary configuration; not every element that can be drawn is necessarily executable.
An example: from article to publication
A new specialist article passes structural validation and editorial work. A translation service receives an order for a second language version. When the translation arrives, the responsible editor reviews it. Output production begins after the required approvals.
What happens if the translation arrives late or rights clearance is withdrawn? Those paths belong in the model too. This is an illustrative project workflow; validation rules, services and output channels are agreed for each solution.
Messages and signals: a targeted reply or a broadcast?
A message represents a reply that needs to be matched, such as “translation completed”. A waiting process responds when the message name and correlation value match its subscription. A signal reaches matching active signal subscriptions and can affect multiple workflows or start processes. It does not use a message correlation key.
A message suits the response to a translation order. A signal can suit a deliberately broad notification. A lasting production hold also needs stored state that later processes check. A broadcast alone does not enforce that rule.
Correlation: which translation belongs to which order?
A product number is insufficient when languages or revision cycles run in parallel. A unique order reference should identify the intended tenant, content revision, language and processing cycle. An old reply must not approve a newer content version.
Camunda fixes subscription values when the subscription opens; later variable changes do not automatically update them. A positive time-to-live can buffer early messages for a limited period. A message ID does not replace durable business-level deduplication. A message is matched to at most one subscription per BPMN process ID; matching subscriptions of different process IDs can also receive it. Unique keys are therefore essential.
Interrupt work or respond alongside it
An interrupting boundary event terminates its attached activity and follows an exception path. A non-interrupting boundary event leaves that work running and opens an additional path, for example a reminder. Available variants depend on the event type.
If rights clearance is withdrawn during production, the affected stage can move to a resolution path. This does not automatically stop an external rendering job or retract a published file. Cancellation calls, holds and handling of late results must be explicitly designed into the integration.
Connect technical work through job workers
Camunda 8 exposes technical work as jobs. A worker takes jobs of a matching type, performs the work and reports completion or failure. Message throw events also need a worker to perform the actual transmission. The diagram symbol alone does not send a message to another system.
Jobs may be delivered again. Integrations must handle repeated calls without unintended duplicate effects. For long-running external work, acceptance can be separated from the final result: the order is acknowledged and the process waits for a correlated reply. The APIs, workers or connectors used are part of the agreed architecture.
Distinguish technical failures from business corrections
A temporarily unavailable service can be retried a limited number of times with a delay. Exhausted job retries create an incident for operational handling. An activation timeout is different: it can make a job available again without reducing its retry count.
Missing usage rights or an unsuitable result need a defined resolution path. BPMN errors can trigger modelled error paths; technical exceptions do not automatically become business BPMN errors. Diagnosis, correction and resumption need clear ownership.
Approvals need people and a content revision
Editorial approval needs to refer to the content actually reviewed. If the article changes afterwards, the process must define whether another review is needed. User tasks represent human work; the solution defines the task interface, delegation, permissions and escalation.
SiteFusion connects processes with structured content in MarkLogic. Architecture needs to consider content reference, revision, publication product and process instance together. A MarkLogic transaction is not a shared transaction across the workflow engine and external systems. Partial failures need an agreed consistency and recovery approach.
AI agents within clear responsibilities
A single AI call for metadata is not yet an agent. An agent can select further steps and tools within a loop. Camunda 8 provides technical capabilities for this; the agents and capabilities integrated into SiteFusion are agreed for the environment. No LLM is connected by default.
A useful framework limits tools, data access, runtime and call counts. Results are checked against agreed criteria and passed to a person where needed. AI might help suggest metadata while editors decide what to accept. Publication remains subject to the required approvals.
Change processes while preserving accountability
Process models need owners, testing and controlled approval. Permission to edit content need not include permission to deploy models or modify running instances. New model versions require a decision on how to handle production already in progress.
The history, identities and revision references retained depend on implementation and retention rules. Management and publishing teams need clear responsibility; IT also needs permissions, recovery and traceable interventions. A process model alone does not guarantee compliance.
Technical explanations refer to the Camunda 8.8 documentation. Available features, supported versions and integrations are agreed for the specific SiteFusion solution.
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Connect workflows, technology and AI.
02 / Camunda
Make your publishing process executable.
Camunda connects BPMN process models, human tasks and automated services in SiteFusion workflows.
Explore03 / AI orchestration
Give AI a place in your process.
Your AI solutions in your publishing workflows: SiteFusion orchestrates integration without prescribing or connecting an LLM by default.
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AUDIO · ENGLISH · 3:53 MIN.
Publishing Process Orchestration
Connect people, content and systems: BPMN-based workflows bring editorial tasks, approvals and automated steps together in an end-to-end process.
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AUDIO · ENGLISH · 4:14 MIN.
BPMN and Camunda 8 in Publishing
Using a publishing example, Emil explains how BPMN and Camunda 8 connect content, people and systems – from editorial approvals and automated production to the targeted use of AI.
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