With idioms like “too many cooks in the kitchen,” this problem has clearly reared its ugly head for generations, even before the idea of websites was ever imagined. Now the kitchen is virtual.

Multiple people share responsibility for the same content and edit each other’s work. For example, Person A opens an edit form and leaves it open without saving it. Meanwhile, person B opens the edit form, makes some changes, and saves it. Person A returns to their task and saves their changes, overwriting what person B just did. Even if an approval workflow is in place, problems can erupt. Which draft takes precedence?

SOLUTIONS

• A clearer demarcation of responsibilities. Should more than one person feel they have the responsibility to change a piece of content? The answer may be “yes,” but that means you have some extra work to do in managing potential conflicts. Consider building a content matrix as a first step in the right direction. A content matrix is a shared spreadsheet of pages with URLs, recommendations, page titles, descriptions, and who is responsible for writing or editing the content. You need stronger content governance and more communication. Implementing these can surface additional problems that have nothing to do with technology, which gives you opportunities to improve at a deeper level than you might have planned.
• Content locks to avoid concurrent editing. Modules like Content Lock can help, but they should be coupled with a process requirement. For example, implementing notices that display the user who locked the content. The notice informs editors to directly contact the user to unlock the content, which fosters more communication and cooperation.