Publishing References
The approval workflow, per-language statuses, publication channels, release levels, and reviewer notifications.
Publication is deliberately a multi-step decision: what goes public, in which language, to whom, and on which channel are controlled independently on the Status & publication tab.
The approval workflow
Each language version of a reference has its own approval status:
| Status | Who sets it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| In Progress | Anyone with edit rights | Draft, work ongoing. |
| Suggested | Anyone with edit rights | Proposed for content approval — the responsible reviewers are notified. |
| Approved | Reviewers | Content reviewed and approved — the first safe spot. |
| Content rejected | Reviewers | Sent back with a comment — rework and suggest again. |
| Proposed for publication | Reviewers | Two-stage workflow only: handed to the publishers. |
| Public release rejected | Publishers | Two-stage workflow only: publication declined with a comment; the content approval stays. |
| Approved and publicly visible | Publishers | Released in this language. |
| Cancelled | Publishers | Withdrawn from the workflow. |
Users without review or publishing permission can take a reference up to Suggested — the approval statuses are locked for them. This separation lets teams work with a four-eyes principle: managers write, reviewers approve, publishers release. See Team & Permissions.
The status tab guides you through all of this: a stepper shows the current stage, whom the reference currently lies with, and the next steps your role may take — including the optional two-stage publication approval, the mandatory rejection comments, and a full per-reference status history. The dedicated Status Workflow page walks through the whole lifecycle, the roles, and the kanban board.
Public visibility
The Publicly visible reference checkbox is the master switch (requires publishing permission). A reference is publicly visible in a language when both are true:
- The language's status is Approved and publicly visible
- Publicly visible reference is enabled
Visitors always get the best available published language: their own language if published, otherwise English, otherwise German — with a hint that the content is shown in a fallback language. Only a reference published in none of those languages stays hidden. See Languages and per-language availability.
Publication channels
Choose where the published reference appears:
- Website — the public platform: search, industry pages, your company profile
- Customer Showcase — your branded catalog for your own website
- API — the REST API feeding your website or intranet
- Digital Signage — your screen playlists
Companies can define additional custom channels; those appear here too.
Release levels
Even within a published reference, individual content pieces (contact data, contract value, employees involved, media files, partner roles) carry their own release level:
| Level | Visible to |
|---|---|
| My company only | Your team |
| Contacted companies | Companies you have exchanged messages with |
| All members | Logged-in users |
| Public | Everyone |
This lets you publish the story while gating the sensitive numbers.
Notifying reviewers
The status tab includes a notification block: select recipients, add an optional message, and the notification is sent when you save — by inbox message and, depending on each recipient's settings, by e-mail. This is the standard way to hand a Suggested reference to your publishers.
The suggested recipients are the reviewers responsible for the reference's groups. With location-based reviewer assignment enabled, the suggestion is narrowed to the reviewers responsible at the reference's responsible company location — groups without a location-specific assignment fall back to the company-wide reviewers. If exactly one reviewer matches, they are pre-selected.
The reviewer suggestion appears when a language is set to Suggested — the hand-over to content review. Setting a status to Approved targets the next step instead and offers your publishers, who remain company-wide.
Anonymous visitors & the view limit
Public references are visible to anyone — but visitors without an account can only open a limited number of reference detail pages before being asked to register. References marked as Featured by the platform are exempt from this limit.
All references — including drafts and unpublished ones — count toward your plan's reference contingent. Delete abandoned drafts, or upgrade if you're at the limit. See Plan & Billing.