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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.

Updated

A review link lets someone outside Social Studio read one item, comment on it and, if the link allows it, approve it or request changes. They need no account and no sign-in.

A link carries a scope, an expiry and optionally a passphrase. It is bound to the exact version that was shared, so a decision made through it can always be matched to what the reviewer actually read.

BEFORE YOU START

  • The "create" or "edit" permission to make a view-only or comment link.
  • The "manage_approval_links" permission to make a link that can approve. That is a deliberately separate permission, because approving from outside the product is a different level of trust.
  • Content that is currently awaiting review. A link cannot be created for anything else.

STEPS

  1. Open the item in Approvals and find the review links panel.
  2. Choose the scope: view, comment, or approve.
  3. Set how long the link should last. Anything from one to ninety days, and fourteen if you do not choose.
  4. Add a passphrase if the item is sensitive. It must be at least four characters.
  5. Create the link and copy it immediately. The link is shown once and cannot be recovered.
  6. Send it to your reviewer by whatever means you normally use. Social Studio does not send it.

WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE

The full link, once, with a warning that it will not be shown again. Afterwards the panel lists the link and lets you revoke it.

WHAT THIS WILL NOT DO

  • It will not email the link. Nothing in Social Studio sends mail. Copy it and send it yourself.
  • It will not survive an edit. If the author revises the content after the link was made, the reviewer can still read and comment, but the decision controls disappear and the page explains why.
  • It will not let a view-only link comment or decide. "This link does not allow that action."
  • It will not be regenerated. "This link was revoked; create a new link instead." and "This link has expired; create a new link instead."
  • It will not verify who used it. A decision is recorded as made by a self-declared name via possession of the link, and the confirmation says exactly that.

WORTH KNOWING

Comments through a link remain available after the review has been settled, on purpose, so a conversation is not cut off by a decision.

IF IT DOES NOT WORK

  • "This content is not currently awaiting review, so an approval link cannot be created for it." means submit it first.
  • "This content has changed since it was submitted for review. Submit it again before sharing it."
  • "manage_approval_links permission required." means your role can share for reading but not for deciding.
  • Your reviewer seeing "The link has expired. Ask your contact to send a new one." or "The link was revoked." means exactly that.
  • Your reviewer seeing "That password is not correct." means the passphrase does not match. It is checked on the server and never appears in the address.
  • "This link cannot be matched to the current review, so we cannot record a decision from it. Ask the sender to share a new approval link. You can still read and comment here." is the fail-closed answer for a link made before version binding existed.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Can a reviewer see the rest of my account?

No. A link opens one item. There is no navigation out of it, the page is not indexed and it is never cached.

What if my reviewer's connection drops mid-decision?

They are told the outcome is unknown and offered a retry, and retrying is safe: the same decision cannot be recorded twice.

Is this the same as the client portal?

No. A portal is a standing, read-only window onto a client's own account. A review link is one item and can carry a decision.

  • 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.

  • Giving a client a portal

    Creating a read-only portal link for a client, choosing which of the four sections they can see, and why approving is not one of the things they can do there.

  • Writing and approving content

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