There’s a pretty good chance that your app or working prototype doesn’t do much with workflow management or discrete permissions. Yet, I can’t recall a client who, at some point in the process, didn’t eventually ask for features out of one or both toolboxes.

What usually happens at that point is that developers start describing the features of the wheel they’re about to reinvent. Poorly. See, there are a LOT of issues in both areas that, unless you’ve done a lot of related development, you probably haven’t thought of.

Fortunately, there are resources out there to help explain. On the workflow management side, this older article does a good job of sketching out a pretty complete workflow system. Even if you don’t use the software that the article links to, it covers lots of the features you’re unlikely to have thought of on your own.

On the permissions side, I point a lot of people to PHPGacl for a more well thought out access control list implementation than you’re likely to see anywhere else. And, again, even if you don’t end up using the script itself, the manual is something every PHP developer should read. The fact that it uses Han Solo’s decisions in allowing permission to the different areas of the Millennium Falcon adds a bit of geek appeal and seems to get through to lots of people who haven’t thought about these issues much.