QC Item Status
Each version of a QC Item can have one of the following status values.
Published
The QC Item is officially published.
Versions of QC Items with this status are visible to all.
Publication ready
The QC Item is ready to be published.
A Publication ready Item waits for implementability confirmation: people from QC vendors (Implementers) confirm that the test can be implemented. When two different companies have confirmed, the Item is published automatically. A workflow manager can still publish it by hand. See Implementability confirmation.
Versions of QC Items with this status are only visible to Editors.
(Expert) Group review
The QC Item is reviewed by the relevant EBU group for approval (e.g the Audio Group). This group has at least 3 weeks (21 full days) to review the Test and raise any issues. The period starts when the Test enters Group Review and is not restarted by later edits; only moving the Test into Group Review from another status restarts it. The deadline is a date, and the period ends at 23:59 UTC on that date, so in practice the period is between 21 and 22 days. The Cards in views showing collections of Items show a coloured bar and a days left/passed indicator, together with the end of the period (for example '21 Oct 2026, 23:59 UTC'). If, after the 3-weeks deadline has passed, no more discussion items are open related to this version of the Test, it should go to Publication Ready.
Versions of QC Items with this status are only visible to Editors.
(QC Group) Tech review
For a QC Item with this status, the drafting process is believed to have finished. A 'technical' check is ongoing. The EBU QC Group participants have at least 1 week (7 full days, in practice 5 working days) to check the consistency of the QC Item, check for any lacking data, etc. Small issues are corrected directly; larger issues are brought back to the Test editor for resolution.
As with tests in Group review, the period starts when the Test enters Tech Review, ends at 23:59 UTC on the deadline date (so it lasts between 7 and 8 days), and the Cards in collection views show a bar and counter with the remaining (or overdue) review period and its end time in UTC.
When the Test passes Tech Review and the update is not trivial, it goes to the relevant EBU (Expert) Group for review. For trivial updates, the Group Review may be skipped.
Versions of QC Items with this status are only visible to Editors.
(Note that in the past the Tech Review work was performed by a special QC Output Subgroup after the QC Group review.).
Drafting
It is an idea, proposal or still being worked on.
A version of a QC Item with this status is only visible to Editors.
When a published Item is edited, the new version defaults to 'drafting'.
Contentious
The QC Item may be withdrawn in the (near) future.
This version of a QC Item is only visible to Editors.
Withdrawn
A QC Item with this status signals the Item should not be used in new specifications/work. Note that published prior versions will still be available, as they may still be in use.
- A version can only be changed to Withdrawn if it is currently Published, and only workflow managers can do it.
- Changing the status from Published to Withdrawn creates a new version, so the version number increases.
- An Item Definition must not be edited once its latest version is Withdrawn.
- Withdrawn applies to the Item Definition as a whole, not to one version. When the latest version is Withdrawn, no version of that Item should be used in new specifications/work.
Who can change the status
The status of a version is changed in the Item's edit form. The statuses you are offered depend on your role and on the current status.
| Role | From Drafting | From Tech review or Group review |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow manager | any status | any status |
| Lead editor of the Item | Tech review | From Group review: Publication ready, Tech review or Drafting. From Tech review: Group review or Drafting |
| Other editors | stays in Drafting | no change |
| Everyone else | no change | no change |
An Item normally follows this path: Drafting, then Tech review, then Group review (if relevant; it may be skipped for trivial updates), then Publication ready. Only workflow managers can go from Drafting directly to Group review. The lead editor of the Item can move it from Group review to Publication ready, as long as the Item checks show no blocking (red) finding. Workflow managers are always notified by e-mail when an Item reaches Publication ready. Once an Item is Publication ready, Contentious or Withdrawn, only workflow managers can change its status. A Published version can only be followed by a new Drafting version (or, by a workflow manager, a Withdrawn one).
If you cannot move an Item into review, check that you are its lead editor (shown on the Item) or ask a workflow manager.
An Item cannot move to Tech review, Group review, Publication ready or Published while its Item checks show a blocking finding, for example a CheckResult definition that still starts with "[TO BE VERIFIED]". Some blocking findings, such as an empty Name or EBU QC ID, stop every save, also in Drafting. The Item check rules page lists which is which.