Automate a Content Review Pipeline

Build a ClickUp pipeline with automations that handle content review coordination.

Introduction

30 Second Summary

Every team that publishes content hits the same wall. Drafts pile up, reviews get forgotten, and nobody knows what is actually ready to go live.

In this project, you will build an automated content review pipeline in ClickUp. You'll design custom statuses that mirror a real editorial workflow and wire up automation rules that handle the repetitive coordination for you.

What You'll Build

Picture dragging a draft into your "In Review" column and watching ClickUp post a reviewer notification and escalate the priority automatically, with zero extra clicks.

By the end of this project, you'll have:

A Board view pipeline where content pieces flow visually through six stages from Idea to Published, so you can see your entire editorial workflow at a glance.
Automation rules that fire review notifications and escalate priority the instant a task enters review. No manual reminders, no forgotten assignments.
Filtered views that instantly answer "what's stuck in review?" and "what's approved and ready to publish?", plus a Calendar view showing your full publishing schedule.
Secret Mission: Build a multi-action approval chain that automatically posts publish instructions and resets priority when content gets the green light.

Are there any prerequisites?

You'll need an active ClickUp Free Forever account. This project assumes you already use ClickUp day to day and are comfortable creating tasks and navigating your Workspace.

Before We Start

Before you start building, take a moment to lock in what you're about to create and why it matters.

Build Your Content Pipeline Structure

Right now, your content tasks sit in generic To Do and Complete columns. You cannot tell at a glance which pieces are waiting for review, which need revisions, and which are ready to publish.

In this step, you will build a dedicated pipeline with six Custom Statuses that mirror a real editorial workflow. You will also add Custom Fields that capture key metadata about each content piece.

In this step, get ready to:

Create a Content Pipeline Space and Blog Content List.
Replace the default statuses with six editorial stages.
Add Custom Fields to track content metadata.

Create a Content Pipeline Space and List

Spaces are the top level of organization in ClickUp. You will create a dedicated Space for your content pipeline, then add a List inside it to hold your content tasks.

In your ClickUp sidebar, click the + icon next to Spaces.
Name the Space Content Pipeline.
Click Continue.
Skip the workflow and view configuration for now and click Create Space.
Inside your new Content Pipeline Space, click + List.
Name the List Blog Content and press Enter.

You should see Content Pipeline in your sidebar with Blog Content nested inside it.

Can't create a new Space?

The Free Forever plan allows up to 5 Spaces. If you have reached this limit, archive or delete an unused Space to make room for Content Pipeline.

Help me create a new Space in ClickUp.

Configure Custom Statuses

Every new List in ClickUp starts with default statuses like To Do and Complete. Your editorial workflow needs six distinct stages so you can see exactly where each piece of content sits at any moment.

In your Blog Content List, click the status dropdown area at the top of the List to open the statuses configuration.
Remove the default To Do and Complete statuses.
Add the following six statuses in this order:
Keep the default Closed status group that ClickUp provides.
Click Save.

After saving, you should see your six statuses listed in order: Idea, Drafting, In Review, Revisions, Approved, and Published.

What are Custom Statuses?

Custom Statuses define the stages a task moves through in your workflow. Instead of generic defaults, you create stages that match your actual process.

Every task in the List follows the same progression, so nothing slips through the cracks. Content starts as an Idea and flows through Drafting, Review, and Revisions until it reaches Published.

Don't see your new statuses?

Make sure you clicked Save after adding all six statuses. Unsaved changes revert when you navigate away.

Check that you removed both default statuses (To Do and Complete) before adding the new ones. Leftover defaults will mix in with your custom statuses.

Help me configure custom statuses in my ClickUp List.

Add Custom Fields

Custom Fields let you attach structured metadata to every task in a List. Instead of burying details in descriptions, you get filterable, sortable data you can use to build views later.

In your Blog Content List, click the + icon (or Add) in the upper-right corner above the task table.
Click Create a field.
Select Dropdown as the field type and name it Content Type.
Add four options to the dropdown: Blog Post, Social Media, Newsletter, and Case Study.
Click Create to save the field.

You should see a Content Type column appear in your List view. Now repeat the process for the remaining three fields.

Click the + icon again and create a People field named Reviewer.
Create a Number field named Word Count Target.
Create a Date field named Publish Date.

Your Blog Content List now shows four Custom Field columns: Content Type, Reviewer, Word Count Target, and Publish Date.

What are Custom Fields?

Each Custom Field type enforces a specific kind of data. A Dropdown field keeps your categories consistent. A People field links a real workspace member. A Number field ensures digits instead of free text.

In later steps, you will filter and group tasks by these fields to build views that surface exactly the content you need.

Don't see the Custom Field columns?

Look for the + icon or Add button in the upper-right corner above the task table. You may need to scroll right if other columns are taking up space.

Make sure you are in List view. Custom Field columns display as column headers in List view.

Help me add Custom Fields to my ClickUp List.

Before you switch views, how many columns do you expect to see in a Board view of this List?

Click the + View button at the top of your Blog Content List.
Select Board.

You should see six empty columns labeled Idea, Drafting, In Review, Revisions, Approved, and Published. This is your content pipeline.

Not seeing six columns?

Make sure you selected Board as the view type, not List or Calendar.

If you see columns labeled To Do or Complete, go back to your statuses configuration and verify you saved your six custom statuses.

My ClickUp Board view is not showing the right columns.

Your pipeline structure is locked in. Six stages, four metadata fields, and a Board view that shows the full workflow at a glance. Next up, you will fill this pipeline with real content tasks and discover what happens when you try to manage each status change by hand.

Populate the Pipeline and Hit the Wall

Your pipeline structure is in place with six status columns and four Custom Fields ready to track every content piece. A structure only proves its value when real tasks flow through it.

In this step, you will populate your pipeline with sample content and run through the review handoff workflow yourself. Pay attention to how many clicks each transition takes.

In this step, get ready to:

Create four sample content tasks with metadata across your pipeline columns.
Manage a review handoff manually and count every action it takes.

Create your sample content tasks

Your Board view has six empty columns. Time to fill them with content pieces that represent a realistic editorial pipeline.

In your Board view, click the + in the upper-right corner of the Drafting column.
Type Q3 Product Launch Post and click Save.
Click the new task card to open it.
Set Content Type to Blog Post.
Set Word Count Target to 1200.
Set Publish Date to a date within the next week.
Close the task detail panel.

You should see the Q3 Product Launch Post card sitting in the Drafting column.

Why create tasks in specific columns?

Clicking + inside a column automatically assigns that column's status to the new task. This is how you place content directly into the right pipeline stage without extra clicks.

Follow the same process to create three more tasks. For each one, click + in the correct column, save, then open the card to set its fields.

Create Customer Success Story in the Idea column.
Create Monthly Newsletter Roundup in the Drafting column.
Create SEO Best Practices Guide in the In Review column.

Check your Board view. You should see task cards in three columns: Customer Success Story in Idea, both Q3 Product Launch Post and Monthly Newsletter Roundup in Drafting, and SEO Best Practices Guide in In Review.

Tasks not showing in the right columns?

Make sure you clicked + inside the correct column before creating each task. If a task ended up in the wrong column, drag and drop it to the right one.

If you do not see any columns, confirm you are in the Board view by checking the Views Bar at the top of your List.

Help me fix my Board view layout.

Run the review handoff manually

Your pipeline looks great with content flowing across multiple stages. Now try the workflow that happens every time a draft is ready for review.

Before you start, take a guess: how many separate clicks or actions will it take to move a single task from Drafting to In Review with a complete handoff to a reviewer?

Drag Q3 Product Launch Post from the Drafting column to the In Review column.
Click the task card to open it.
Set the Reviewer field to yourself (or another workspace member).
Scroll down to the comment section and post this comment: This content is ready for review. Please review and provide feedback.
Click the flag icon in the upper-left of the task modal to set the priority to Urgent.
Close the task.

That was one task. Count those up: change status, set Reviewer, post a comment, change priority. Four separate manual actions for a single review handoff.

Repeat the exact same process for Monthly Newsletter Roundup: drag it to In Review, set the Reviewer, post the same comment, and change priority to Urgent.

You just did 8 manual actions for 2 tasks. Imagine doing this for 20 content pieces every week.

Why does this matter?

Every one of those actions follows the same rule every time: "when a task enters In Review, do these things." The comment never changes. The priority always goes to Urgent. The reviewer always needs notifying.

Repetitive, rule-based work is exactly what automation handles. You set the rule once, and it runs on every qualifying task forever.

That manual friction is exactly what the next step eliminates. Next up, you will set ClickUp to handle the busywork for you with a single automation rule.

Automate the Busywork

You now have a working content pipeline with real tasks flowing through it. You also felt the pain of managing those tasks by hand. Changing a status, assigning a reviewer, posting a comment, and escalating priority added up to 4+ manual actions per task.

Every one of those manual steps follows the same rule: "when a task enters In Review, do these things." That predictable pattern is exactly what Automations handle. You set the rule once, and ClickUp runs it on every qualifying task forever.

In this step, get ready to:

Create your first automation rule with a status-change trigger.
Add a second action to the same rule so one automation does two jobs.
Test the automation end-to-end with a brand new task.

Create your first automation: review notification

ClickUp Automations follow a simple pattern: a Trigger fires when something happens, and an Action carries out the response. Your first automation will watch for any task that enters the In Review status and automatically post a comment notifying the reviewer.

In the upper-right corner of your Blog Content List, click the Automate button (the lightning bolt icon).
Select Create an Automation.
Set the Trigger to Status changes and select In Review as the target status.
Set the Action to Post a comment and enter this text:

This content is ready for review. Please review and provide feedback by the due date.

Click Create to activate the automation.

You should see your new automation appear in the Automations panel as an active rule.

What does this automation do?

The Trigger watches for any task in your Blog Content List whose status changes to In Review. When that happens, the Action fires and posts a standardized review comment on the task. No manual typing, no forgotten notifications.

Why built-in Automations instead of the API?

ClickUp has a full API you could use to build external integrations. But for workflow rules that live inside ClickUp, the built-in Automations are purpose-built. No server to run, no code to write, no authentication to manage.

The Trigger-Action pattern you are learning here is the same model used across all workflow automation tools. Master it in ClickUp and the concept transfers everywhere.

Add a second action to the same rule

Your automation posts a review comment, but you also need the priority to change when a task enters review. The Free plan gives you only 5 active automation rules, so packing multiple actions into a single rule is a smart strategy.

Click the Automate button (lightning bolt icon) in the upper-right corner again.
Select Existing Automations to see the rule you just created.
Hover over your automation and click the pencil icon to edit it.
Click + Add Action to add another action to the same rule.
Set the second Action to Change Priority and select Urgent.
Click Save to update the automation.

Your automation now shows two actions under a single rule. You are using only 1 of your 5 available active rules on the Free plan.

Why pack multiple actions into one rule?

The Free Forever plan allows 5 active automation rules and 100 executions per month. Each rule can have multiple actions, and all of them fire together as one execution. Combining actions keeps your rule count low and your execution budget efficient.

If you created separate rules for the comment and the priority change, you would use 2 of your 5 slots for a single status transition. That adds up fast across a real workflow.

Test the multi-action automation

The automation is configured. Time to prove it works with a real task flowing through the pipeline.

Return to your Blog Content List Board view.
Create a new task called Team Culture Blog Post.
Set its Content Type to Blog Post.
Set its status to Drafting.

Before you change the status, think about what you expect to happen. Will the automation post a comment and change the priority automatically, or will you need to do those steps by hand like before?

Drag Team Culture Blog Post from the Drafting column to the In Review column.
Open the task by clicking on it.

You should see two things that happened automatically. A comment appeared with the text "This content is ready for review. Please review and provide feedback by the due date." The task priority changed to Urgent. Zero manual steps.

Click the Automate button and select Manage Automations to see your automation's execution count.

The Activity tab shows that your automation ran successfully. That is one execution used out of your 100 monthly allowance on the Free plan.

Automation did not fire?

Make sure the task was in Drafting before you moved it to In Review. The trigger fires on a status change, so the task must transition into In Review, not already be sitting there.
Check that the automation is active. Click the Automate button, select Manage Automations, and confirm the toggle next to your rule is switched on.
Verify the trigger is set to the In Review status specifically, not a different status in your List.

Still stuck? Why isn't my ClickUp automation firing when I change a task's status?

One rule, two actions, zero manual steps. Your automation now handles the repetitive coordination every time a task enters review. Next up, you will create filtered views that answer big-picture questions at a glance: what is stuck in review, what is approved, and when everything publishes.

Create Pipeline Views for Visibility

Your automation now handles review notifications and priority changes the instant a task moves to "In Review." Comments post and priorities escalate without you lifting a finger.

Your Board view still shows every task across all six columns. To find out what is stuck in review or what is approved and ready to publish, you have to scan each column yourself. Filtered views answer those questions with a single click.

In this step, get ready to:

Create a filtered view that surfaces tasks stuck in review.
Build a grouped view that shows approved content organized by type.
Add a Calendar view to visualize your publishing schedule.

Create a "Stuck in Review" filtered view

Your pipeline has four tasks sitting in "In Review" and one in "Idea." A filtered view lets you isolate just the tasks that need reviewer attention, without scrolling through every column on the Board.

In your Blog Content List, click the + View button at the top of the List.
Select List as the view type.
Name the view Stuck in Review.
Click the Filter button at the top of the view.
Select Status as the filter field, then choose In Review.
Click + Add filter to add a second condition. Change the operator to or, then select Status is Revisions.

Why two filter conditions?

A task can be stuck at review in two ways: it is waiting for initial feedback (In Review) or it has been sent back for changes (Revisions). The OR condition catches both, so nothing falls through the cracks.

Click the Sort option at the top of the view.
Sort by Publish Date in ascending order so the most overdue reviews surface first.
Save the view.

Before you look at the results, think about which of your five tasks you expect to see in this view. How many are currently in "In Review" or "Revisions"?

You should see four tasks in the view: "Q3 Product Launch Post," "Monthly Newsletter Roundup," "SEO Best Practices Guide," and "Team Culture Blog Post." They are sorted with the earliest publish date at the top. "Customer Success Story" is filtered out because its status is "Idea."

Don't see the right tasks?

Make sure both filter conditions use Status as the field, not another field like Assignee or Priority.
Check that the two conditions are joined by or, not and. Using "and" would require a task to be in both statuses at once, which is impossible.
If sorting does not show Publish Date as an option, make sure the Publish Date Custom Field column is visible in the view. Click the + icon in the column header area to add it.
Why is my filtered view showing the wrong tasks?

Create a "Ready to Publish" grouped view

Once content clears review and moves to "Approved," you need a quick way to see everything that is green-lit and waiting to go live. Grouping by content type organizes it so Blog Posts, Newsletters, and Case Studies each get their own section.

Click + View at the top of your Blog Content List.
Select List as the view type.
Name the view Ready to Publish.
Click the Filter button and add a filter: Status is Approved.
Click Group by at the top of the view.
Select Content Type as the grouping field.

This view is empty right now because none of your tasks have reached "Approved" status yet. That is expected. Once content clears review and moves to Approved, it appears here grouped into sections like Blog Post, Newsletter, and Case Study.

Why group instead of just filtering?

Filtering narrows which tasks you see. Grouping organizes those tasks into labeled sections. When you combine both, you get a view that shows only approved content and sorts it by type, so you can quickly see how many blog posts versus newsletters are ready to publish.

Add a Calendar view for your publishing schedule

Filtered views answer "what is in this status?" A Calendar view answers a different question: "when is everything going out?" This gives you a timeline of all upcoming content, making gaps and overlaps immediately visible.

Click + View at the top of your Blog Content List.
Select Calendar.
Name the view Publishing Schedule.
Click Customize in the upper-right corner of the Calendar view.
Under Task dates, make sure Date Custom Fields is enabled. This ensures your Publish Date field is used to place tasks on the calendar.

You should see your tasks displayed on the calendar based on the publish dates you set earlier. Any gaps or overlaps in your schedule are immediately visible.

What if a task does not appear on the calendar?

Tasks without a start date, due date, or active Date Custom Field do not appear in Calendar view. If a task is missing, open it and confirm that a Publish Date is set.

Calendar looks empty?

Check that Date Custom Fields is toggled on under Customize > Task dates. If it is off, your Publish Date values are hidden from the calendar.
Make sure the calendar is showing the right month. Click the date navigation arrows to move forward or backward until you reach the two-week window where your Publish Dates are set.
Why are my tasks not showing on the ClickUp Calendar view?

Secret mission

Build a Multi-Action Approval Chain

Your In Review automation handles one status transition. Build a second multi-action automation that fires when content reaches the Approved stage, posting publish instructions and resetting the priority automatically.

Clean Up Your Resources

Decide whether to keep your resources running, pause them to come back later, or delete them entirely. This project runs entirely on the ClickUp Free Forever plan, so there are no ongoing costs.

Resources you used:

Content Pipeline Space (contains the Blog Content List, all tasks, Custom Fields, Custom Statuses, and views).
Automation rules on the Blog Content List (2 or 3 active rules, depending on whether you completed the bonus).
Custom views: Stuck in Review, Ready to Publish, and Publishing Schedule.

Keep everything running

No action needed. Choose this if you are still actively building on your content pipeline or want to keep experimenting with automations.

Your Content Pipeline Space, tasks, automations, and views stay as they are.
Automations continue to fire when tasks change status, counting against your 100 executions per month on the Free Forever plan.
You can always return to the Blog Content List and keep adding content tasks to the pipeline.

Pause - I'll come back to this later

Disable your automations so they stop consuming your monthly execution limit, but keep the Space and all your content intact for when you return.

Open the Blog Content List in your Content Pipeline Space.
Click the lightning bolt icon in the upper-right corner of the List.
Select Existing Automations.
Toggle each automation off to disable it. Disabled automations stop running but are not deleted.
When you are ready to resume, return to the same panel and toggle the automations back on.

Delete - I don't want to use this again

Remove the entire Content Pipeline Space and everything inside it. This deletes all tasks, automations, Custom Fields, and views in one action.

In your Home Sidebar, find the Content Pipeline Space.
Hover over the Space name and click the ellipsis ... icon.
Select Delete.
Confirm the deletion when prompted. Deleted Spaces can be recovered from the Trash within 30 days if you change your mind.

Your ClickUp account stays

Deleting the Space does not affect your ClickUp account. You can create a new Space and rebuild the pipeline at any time.

Nice Work!

You just built a fully automated content review pipeline in ClickUp. Content pieces now flow from idea to publication with automated notifications and priority changes, zero manual reminders required.

You've learned how to:

Design a six-stage content pipeline with Custom Statuses and Custom Fields that track every content piece from Idea through Published.
Build multi-action Automations that post review notifications and escalate priority the instant a task changes status, eliminating repetitive coordination.
Create filtered views that instantly surface stuck reviews and approved content, plus a Calendar view for your full publishing schedule.
Secret Mission: Built a second multi-action automation for the approval stage, chaining publish instructions and a priority reset while staying within the Free plan's 5-rule limit.

Ready to quiz yourself?