How to generate compliance numbers¶

Regulated organisations often need an audit reference for every piece of approved content. Moderation can stamp each Moderation Request with a unique compliance number the moment it receives its final required approval.

Enable compliance numbers for a workflow¶

Compliance numbers are configured per Workflow. In django CMS Moderation → Workflows, edit the workflow and:

tick Requires compliance number?,
choose a compliance number backend (see below),
optionally set an identifier — a free-form prefix used by the prefixed backend.

From then on, every request approved through this workflow carries a compliance number, visible in the moderation request admin.

Built-in backends¶

djangocms_moderation.backends.uuid4_backend: A random 32-character hexadecimal string (default). Globally unique, not sequential.
djangocms_moderation.backends.sequential_number_backend: The moderation request’s primary key — readable, ascending numbers (with gaps).
djangocms_moderation.backends.sequential_number_with_identifier_prefix_backend: Like the sequential backend, prefixed with the workflow’s identifier field, e.g. LEGAL-1234.

Write your own backend¶

A backend is a plain function that receives the moderation request as a keyword argument and returns a string:

# myapp/backends.py
def year_prefixed_backend(**kwargs):
    moderation_request = kwargs["moderation_request"]
    year = moderation_request.date_sent.year
    return f"{year}-{moderation_request.pk:06d}"

CMS_MODERATION_COMPLIANCE_NUMBER_BACKENDS = (
    ("myapp.backends.year_prefixed_backend", "Year-prefixed number"),
    ("djangocms_moderation.backends.uuid4_backend", "Unique alphanumeric string"),
)

# optional: make it the default for new workflows
CMS_MODERATION_DEFAULT_COMPLIANCE_NUMBER_BACKEND = (
    "myapp.backends.year_prefixed_backend"
)

The returned value must be unique across all moderation requests — it is stored in a unique database column.