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Reviewing and deciding on content

Working the approvals queue, what "edited since submitted" means for your decision, and the separation-of-duties rule that stops an author approving their own work.

Updated

The approvals queue is where submitted content is read, decided and recorded. Six views split the work: awaiting your review, submitted by you, changes requested, approved recently, overdue, and everything you can reach.

Two rules matter more than any control on the page. An author can never approve or review their own content. And a decision is bound to the version that was submitted: if the author has edited it since, approving is refused until they submit the new version.

BEFORE YOU START

  • The "view" permission to read the queue, and "approve" to decide.
  • Somebody else's work to review. Your own submissions appear under "Submitted by me" and cannot be decided by you.
  • A note, if you are requesting changes. The page will not send an empty one.

STEPS

  1. Open Approvals, or go to /app/approvals for your organisation.
  2. Choose a view. Each tab carries a count from the server, and says "not loaded" rather than zero when the count did not arrive.
  3. Open an item. The panel shows the version that was reviewed, the Brand Guard findings, and the timeline.
  4. Read the chips on the row: "Edited since submitted", "Unverified version" and "Overdue" each change what your decision means.
  5. Choose "Approve", or write what needs changing and choose "Request changes".
  6. Use "Previous" and "Next" to walk a campaign, or "Review whole campaign" to decide a batch at once.

WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE

The decision recorded, the item leaving your queue, and the timeline gaining an entry that names you and the version you saw.

WHAT THIS WILL NOT DO

  • It will not let you approve your own work. "Authors cannot approve or review their own content."
  • It will not approve a stale version. "This has been edited since it was submitted. Ask the author to submit it again."
  • It will not decide twice. A settled review answers "This review has already been settled."
  • It will not let you assign a reviewer. The queue shows a Reviewer column and the capability exists behind the API, but no screen in either client sets one.
  • It will not set a deadline from the web. Deadlines can be set in the mobile app only.
  • It will not show the discussion thread on the web. Comments on a review are visible in the mobile app and to guest reviewers.

WORTH KNOWING

Approving recently covers the last fourteen days. A batch decision moves at most fifty items and reports each one's outcome separately, so a partial result is never presented as a whole one.

IF IT DOES NOT WORK

  • "This queue could not be loaded, so nothing here is a list of what is waiting for you. Reload to try again." means the queue request failed. Do not read it as an empty queue.
  • "You cannot decide this review - it may be settled, awaiting a newer version, or your own work." covers the three reasons the controls are unavailable.
  • "The content is no longer available." means it has been removed or moved out of your reach.
  • "Please say what needs changing, so the author knows what to do." means the note is empty.
  • "That person is not an active member of this organisation." and "That person does not have access to this workspace." are assignment refusals from the API.
  • "This review is already settled; its deadline cannot be changed."
  • "This review predates version tracking, so we cannot confirm exactly which version was submitted." is a legacy item. Treat the version as unverified.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Why does an item say "Unverified version"?

Because it was submitted before the product recorded which version went for review. The decision still works; the guarantee about exactly what you saw does not.

Can a client outside the product approve?

Yes, through a review link you create for that item. That is a separate flow with its own guide.

Why do I have more controls on my phone?

The mobile review screen carries the deadline and discussion sections, which the web panel does not. The web carries the batch campaign review, which the mobile app does not.

  • Sending work out for review

    Creating a no-login review link for someone outside Social Studio, what the three scopes allow, and what a guest reviewer sees when the content has moved on.

  • Organising work into campaigns

    Grouping content under a campaign, drafting into it, and moving a whole campaign through review with the bulk controls on the campaign page.

  • Writing and approving content

    The content editor - saving versions, submitting for approval, approving, and why an author cannot approve their own work.