Table of contents

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• Solution
• Send the current step back one step for revisions
• Reopen a story that is already completed
• Handle payment on a reopened step
• What the assignee sees after a revision request

Overview

Use this article when you need to move a story back to an earlier workflow step. In Contently, there are two slightly different workflows for that action:

• If the story still has a current active step, moving it back exactly one step creates a revision request.
• If the story is already completed, or if you move it back more than one step, Contently reopens the story at the step you select instead of using the revision-request dialog.

This distinction matters because it determines whether you can add revision instructions during the transition and whether the step is simply reopened or formally sent back for revisions.

Prerequisites

• You must be an owner or manager on the publication.
• The story must already have a workflow.

Solution

Open the story, select the Workflow tab, and click Edit. Then use Transition Workflow to choose the step you want to return to.

Note: Returning to the step immediately before the current one is treated differently from all other backward moves. That immediate step uses the revision-request flow. Other backward moves simply reopen the story at the selected step.

Send the current step back one step for revisions

1. Open the story and go to Workflow > Edit.
2. Open Transition Workflow.
3. Select the step immediately before the current step.
4. Enter the revision details you want the assignee to receive. If needed, add a new due date for the revision.
5. Confirm the transition.

When you move the story back exactly one step, Contently treats that action as a revision request instead of a simple repositioning of the workflow. That is why the platform prompts you for instructions before it completes the transition.

Important: If you move the story back more than one step, the platform does not use the revision-request dialog. It simply moves the story to the step you selected.

Reopen a story that is already completed

1. Open the completed story.
2. Go to Workflow > Edit.
3. Open Transition Workflow.
4. Select the workflow step you want to reopen.
5. Save the change.

When a story is already completed, reopening it works differently from sending back an in-progress step. The story no longer has a current active workflow step to send back from, so Contently reopens the step directly instead of showing the revision-request dialog.

Note: Because this flow reopens the step directly, Contently does not prompt you for revision instructions during the transition. If you need the formal revision-request workflow with instructions, send the story back before it reaches Completed.

Tip: Use this approach when the story needs to return to a final review or revision step after it has already been marked completed.

Handle payment on a reopened step

If the step you are reopening already has payment attached, first decide whether you need to reverse the payment or whether you only need to reopen the workflow step.

• If you need to reverse the payment and return the funds to the content bank, use How to Cancel a Payment in a Workflow Step.
• If you only reopen the step and later move the story forward again without changing that step's payment amount, Contently does not issue a second full payment for that same step.
• If the payment amount on that step is increased after the original payment, the platform can create an additional payment for the increase.

This is why reopening a step and canceling a payment should be treated as two separate decisions. Reopening controls workflow position. Canceling payment controls whether the existing payment is reversed.

What the assignee sees after a revision request

1. After you send a step back for revisions, the assignee receives an email letting them know revisions were requested.
2. When the assignee opens the story, they must accept the revision request.
3. The instructions you entered during the send-back flow appear in a comment on the story.
4. After the assignee accepts the revision request, the workflow continues normally from that reopened step.