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How to Migrate CMS Workflows and Permissions

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TL;DR

Migrating CMS workflows and permissions requires documenting your current editorial workflows (draft → review → publish), user roles, and permission rules, then recreating them in your new CMS. Workflow logic doesn't transfer automatically — you'll configure roles, define document-level permissions, and set up approval chains from scratch. Treat the migration as an opportunity to simplify permission structures that accumulated over years of ad-hoc changes.

Key Takeaways

  • Document every existing role, permission rule, and workflow state before you touch the new system
  • Map old roles to new CMS capabilities — they won't be a 1:1 match
  • Recreate editorial workflows (approval chains, publishing rules) explicitly in the new system
  • Simplify during migration — role sprawl is common and migrations are the best time to clean it up