Tasks > Working as a lead assignee > Working in an Authoring (Edit Existing Items) task as a lead assignee

Working in an Authoring (Edit Existing Items) task as a lead assignee

NOTE: Only users with the Authoring Assignee permission can work in Authoring tasks. For more information, read About task managers, assignees, and lead assignees.

Authoring (Edit Existing Items) tasks allow you to add content to a predefined collection of blank or partially completed items. As a lead assignee, you have the ability to view all assignees’ items and make any changes before submission. Lead assignees play an editorial role in Authoring tasks.

This article explains how to work in an Authoring (Edit Existing Items) task as a lead assignee, including viewing assignees’ items, approving or rejecting changes, comparing item versions, and finalising the task.

NOTE: You might also be a normal assignee for the Authoring task with a quota of items to submit. To learn more, read Working in an Authoring (Edit Existing Items) task as an assignee.

1. Open the task

NOTE: If you have both Assignee and Manager permissions, select Own Tasks on the All Tasks / Own Tasks toggle to only see tasks that are assigned to you.

On the Tasks list, select the Authoring task you want to work on. The task details panel displays the task’s description and doughnut charts representing the number of submitted items and days until the deadline. You can also download attachments if the task has any. For more information, read About the Tasks screen.

TIP: To find a specific task, you can search, order, and filter the Tasks list. For more information, read ‘Finding tasks’ in About the Tasks screen.

Select Open Task to open the Authoring screen and start working on the Authoring task.

2. Choose an assignee

The Authoring screen contains all items in the task.

To see a specific assignees’ items, select their name in the Assignee menu.

NOTE: If you have your own quota of items to work on as an assignee, select your name in the list to view them.

3. Choose an item to view

Select an item breadcrumb on the item navigation panel to view that item.

Alternatively, you can enter a specific item number into the Go to item field to navigate directly to that item.

If an item is in an item set, you can enter a decimal (such as 1.3) in the Go to item field to navigate directly to that item.

You can also select Previous and Next to move through the task’s items.

NOTE: Item sets are represented by indented breadcrumbs. Select the top-level item set breadcrumb to edit the item set's settings. For more information about item sets, read About item sets.

4. Review and edit the task’s items

As a lead assignee, you have full editorial abilities in an Authoring task. Depending on the item types and task settings, you can edit question stems, answer options, media, tools, and item settings. For more information on editing items, read Creating items.

You can switch between previewing items from a candidate’s perspective or an author’s perspective using Preview and Edit .

IMPORTANT: You cannot change workflow statuses in an Authoring task. Workflow statuses are controlled by task managers and update at the point of submission. For more information on workflow statuses in Authoring tasks, see Creating an Authoring task.

Expanding the Edit screen

Use the expander at the top of the screen to collapse the task information header and expand your view of items vertically, and the expander on the left of the screen to collapse the item breadcrumb panel and expand your view of items horizontally.

You can also click and drag the separators to adjust your view of each panel.

About tracked changes

Task managers can enable tracked changes at the task creation stage to record certain text edits made to items as part of the task. Additions and deletions are colour-coded by user and tracked in question stems, answer options, and the Candidate Feedback field.

As a lead assignee, you can accept or reject changes.

If Track Changes is enabled, changes made by different assignees appear in different colours.

Hover over highlighted text to see who made the change and when their first and last edits were.

You can choose to show or hide tracked changes by selecting Show Tracked Changes / Hide Tracked Changes on the Advanced formatting toolbar.

You can action assignees’ suggested changes either individually or in bulk by using the following buttons in the Advanced toolbar:

Icon	Option	Description
	Accept all changes	Automatically approves all changes in the current text field.
	Reject all changes	Automatically deletes all changes in the current text field.
	Accept change	Approves the selected change. Accept change is not available if you do not have a change selected.
	Reject change	Deletes the selected change. Reject change is not available if you do not have a change selected.

Using the Comparison View

NOTE: You can also use Version Compare to see differences between item versions. For more information, read Comparing item versions.

You can use Comparison View to compare the current version of the item to previous versions. You can copy over selected information from previous item versions to the current version.

Previewing items

You can preview your items to see your item from a candidate’s perspective.

Select Preview to see how your item looks in the test driver.

Use the item information panel to view the item’s settings in the Preview screen.

Icon	Setting	Description
	Item Settings	View information about Item Version, Item Purpose, Marking Type, Mark, and Correct Answer.
	Item Tags	View the item’s assigned tag groups and tag values. For more information, see Using tags in items.
	Item Tag Collections	View the item’s assigned tag collections. For more information, read Using tag collections in items.
	Item Enemies	View any enemy items associated with the item. For more information, see Adding enemies to an item.
	Citations	View the item’s citations. For more information, see Adding citations to an item.
	Candidate Feedback	View any candidate feedback that has been added to the item. For more information, see Adding candidate feedback to items.

Select Close to close the item information panel.

Select Edit to close the preview and continue editing your item.

Flagging items

You can flag items to mark them for action at a later time. As a lead assignee, you can see all assignees’ flagged items.

5. Save and submit items

Select Save to save any changes made to the item. You can continue to work on an item after saving it.

After saving the item, your changes are reflected in Item Authoring. However, the item will be locked for editing until you have finalised the task.

After saving an item, you can select Submit Item to mark the item as finished. Before you can submit an item, it must have question text and, if applicable, answer options and a defined correct answer.

WARNING: Once you submit an item, you can no longer edit it. Ensure you make all necessary changes before submitting an item.

NOTE: Assignees can also submit their own items.

6. Close the task

After saving and submitting your items, you can safely close an Authoring task.

Select Return to Tasks to close the task and return to the Tasks screen.

7. Finalise the task

Select Finalise Task in the task details panel once you are satisfied that the task is complete.

This changes the task’s status to Complete.

Marking a task as incomplete

You can mark a task as incomplete if you incorrectly select Finalise Task or the task needs to be reopened for further work.