Understand Editorial Status and CMS Status

Overview

Every content item in CntX carries two independent status tracks displayed in the editor header:

Editorial status — how your team progresses from idea to approved copy inside CntX:

• Draft — initial or returned work.
• In progress — actively being written or generated.
• In review — awaiting reviewer feedback.
• Approved — editorial sign-off to publish or distribute.
• Rejected — sent back for rework (optional path in your process).
• Published in CntX — internal marker that the editorial lifecycle is complete (does not mean live on the website by itself).
• Archived — retired from active planning.

CMS status — sync state with an external CMS (WordPress or Webflow):

• Not synced — never pushed to a CMS.
• CMS not connected — no integration or destination configured.
• CMS draft — draft exists in the CMS.
• CMS scheduled — scheduled publish in the CMS when supported.
• CMS published — live (or updated live) on the connected site.
• CMS failed — last publish attempt failed; error shown in header.

Publishing from CntX updates CMS fields only (`cmsStatus`, `cmsProvider`, external URL, last error). It does not auto-update editorial status. Likewise, moving editorial status to Approved does not publish to WordPress or Webflow.

When to use

Refer to this guide when:

• Reviewers ask whether “Published” in CntX means the blog post is live (often it does not).
• CMS shows a draft but editorial status still says In review—and you need to know if that is OK.
• You see CMS failed and wonder whether editorial approval was lost (it was not).
• You configure reports or filters and must pick the right status dimension.
• CntX warns you at publish time that editorial status is not Approved.

Before you start

• A shared team definition of done for editorial vs live on site.
• Optional: a connected WordPress or Webflow integration and mapped destination if CMS status matters for your workflow.
• Permission to change editorial status on content items (role-dependent).

Steps

1. Open any content item and locate the status header above the Brief / Content tabs.
2. Read Editorial status (dropdown)—this is your internal pipeline. Change it as reviews complete.
3. Read CMS status (badge)—this reflects the last CMS handoff. Click the external link when present to open the live or draft URL.
4. To publish externally, use Publish draft or Publish now—watch CMS status change, not editorial status.
5. If a publish warning appears because editorial status is not Approved, either approve first or confirm intentional early CMS push.
6. After CMS publish succeeds, manually set editorial status to Published in CntX if that matches your internal bookkeeping.
7. On failure, read CMS failed error text, fix integration or mapping, and retry publish—editorial content in CntX remains intact.
8. In lists and calendar views, filter by editorial status for planning; use CMS status when troubleshooting distribution.

Expected result

• Team members distinguish “approved copy” from “live on website.”
• Drafts can exist in WordPress/Webflow while editorial review continues in CntX.
• Failed CMS pushes do not revert brief or body content.
• Status header shows provider (WordPress or Webflow) when connected.
• Legacy `status` field mirrors editorial status for older views—always treat editorial status as source of truth for workflow.

Tips

• Agree on a rule: e.g. Approved required before Publish now, but Publish draft allowed during review.
• Published in CntX is optional—some teams skip it and rely on CMS published only.
• Reconcile published URL for Performance/GSC even when CMS status is correct—URL mapping is separate from status badges.
• Do not use CMS status in capacity or calendar logic; editorial status drives planning counts.
• When handing off to a non-CntX editor, CMS draft + In review editorial is a common pattern.

Next step

Publish your next approved piece as a CMS draft and walk reviewers through both statuses on a single item. Connect analytics afterward so Performance reflects the live URL, independent of editorial labels.