These are all good questions, hopefully others will provide answers. We played around with the new workflow UI and features in DNN 10, but the Content Managers role gave the user too many abilities for our scenario, so - as we often do - we quickly built a custom 2sxc app that did everything the client needed (and more, as is our way).

Based on your questions, this solution we recently built for a client as a custom 2sxc App covers everything you asked about. If you are a developer, I really think that is your best way to the finish line: some sort of custom module. If you might consider an outside agency building you a custom solution (using 2sxc), please reach out to me on Discord.

Our solution uses Roles for Members and Approvers. Members can add a new item as a Draft (unpublished). This sends a Notification to a specific group email (but could easily be adapted to send emails to the users in the Approvers role). This Notification includes a link back to the page with the list of items. We have the list of items configured as the dashboard, so people in the Approvers role can see an extra status column showing published, expired, archive, and draft items. The approver can edit the item or one-click approve or archive them.

So do you actually need to move to 2sxc if you want more than what DNN offers out of the box?

• “Doesn’t it become much more complex for users?”
• “How do upgrades of 2sxc work?”
• “It is an extra layer—doesn’t that introduce additional complexity or risk?”
• “How widely is it used—do many people actually use it?”

Posted By willem on 5/27/2026 4:37 PM

So do you actually need to move to 2sxc if you want more than what DNN offers out of the box?

• “Doesn’t it become much more complex for users?”
• “How do upgrades of 2sxc work?”
• “It is an extra layer—doesn’t that introduce additional complexity or risk?”
• “How widely is it used—do many people actually use it?”

• No, it does not become more complex for users, on the contrary. The standard HTML module is something I never offer to any customer.
• 2SXC has the same kind of upgrades like any other module
• The extra layer of complexity is mainly compatibility with DNN and/or other modules. 
• 2SXC one of the most used extensions. Initially it's purpose was structured content because the HTML module breaks stuff easily and life is much easier of you use content types and seperate views. Over the years 2SXC has become a much richer framework and you can basically build anything if you master the module. If you do not master the module, be sure to get support as it can be more difficult if an upgrade, for instance, fails. BTW: the image handling (auto crop, optimize) is pretty awesome.
  
  If you focus on content management only, openContent is a more light weight option. It is a bit of a learning curve to understand how the templating works, but when it comes to installing/upgrading, there are never issues. Regarding content staging: this is not implemented yet. There are other features like draft/publish status. 
  
  If you do not have to worry about list - details, you could even use the page builder if you have a DNNGo skin or the new AI builder if you have a EasyDNN skin. The AI builder might even work with any Bootstrap theme, did not try that yet. Easy DNN News has workflow built in for many years.
  
  Conclusion: as long as you do not use the HTML module, you are in great shape :-)