The custom approval workflow for our Digital & Print Templates allows you to streamline the collaboration between design, marketing, brand, and every other team using the Digital & Print Templates.

In the Template Library, you have the option to create an approval workflow for certain topics. You can add certain users to this preset approval and configure the approval settings, allowing the right people to have a say in their topic of interest.

To set this up, select the Template Library Settings in the Power Bar.

There, you’ll find the Approvals section, where you have the option to add your custom approvals. Click on “Add” to create your first approval.

This will get you to the approval presets, where you can enter all the information needed for the approval process. By having fully configurable options, you’ll be able to reach the right people and make sure the approval process is checking all the predefined boxes – increasing efficiency and saving you time.

Start by adding reviewers to the approval of this particular topic. These people will be the only ones with a stake in the approval decision. By clicking ‘Add reviewers,’ you’ll be able to select users from a list. Entire groups can also be selected if you have any created.

If you want to add or remove someone to or from a group at a later stage, you can do so. It will then be reflected, automatically, in all instances where that group of approvers has a say.

Once you’ve selected the different users or groups, they will be shown on the top section of the panel as Reviewers.

In the Approvals settings panel, you can name the predefined approval according to its use case (e.g. Product Design, Social Media, etc.).

Remember that you can create different approval processes for your templates. This will help you categorize them and ensure that the templates are used properly and reviewed by the appropriate users or teams.

The next step is to apply a rule set to the predefined approvals. This makes the approval process as precise as possible when applying for approval.

A base-rule that needs to be set to make sure there’s always a result is to choose one of the following requirements for approval:

Note: If you’ve chosen ‘First responder decides,’ the option to allow reviews until the closing date will not be available since the response from a single reviewer means that the process has already been closed.

Request Details Section

This feature allows you to add more detailed information for the reviewers, if needed, to paint a better picture. You can either choose to pre-fill the information to speed things up or add additional context for the reviewers if it’s a complex case that requires more information.

Closing Date

The closing date is an essential setting for the process, as it allows you to set a specific time for the approval to be done so that the approval process runs smoothly and on time. Always.

Once the settings are set, click Save, and the items required for approving assets will be created and will now be visible in the Template Library settings.

Once you have completed the previous steps and created approval requirements in your settings, you can set them for your various templates.

You do so by navigating to the "Settings" tab in the metadata sidebar on the right side. In case this sidebar is closed, click on the little unfold icon on the right

Pick one or multiple approvals in the "Required approvals" section.

Of course, when users have created their publication in the workspace and are ready to export it to the desired location, they click the "Download" button. Automatically, the "Approval needed" notice appears and leads the user to the Approval Request. This ensures that users have to go through the mandatory approval process for this template.

The drop-down menu displays all approval settings created in the template library and associated with the template selected by the user.

When you select "Request", settings such as description and deadline are displayed in the approval area. In the description field, users are asked what information reviewers want to know in order to approve this publication.

Once everything has been filled out, the user requesting the approval will be notified on the top of the screen. They will also see the status of the approval process in the approval panel.

If no approval process is defined for the template selected by the user and the user wants to go through one, they can do so directly with the publication - via the "Approval" button at the top right - by clicking "New Approval" and starting the approval settings. This only works for “regular” projects, but not for Personal Projects. For more information on approvals in the workspace, see the Feedback and Approval Process (for Projects) help article.

If a user edits a publication that has already been approved, approvals are again

required before the user can download it. When changes are made, it is important to start the approval process again, as many of the reviewers may not have seen the change after the decision was made.

If a publication is rejected, the user will receive a notification from the reviewers. The user can then make changes and request approval again.

As a reviewer, you can manage your approval requests by going to your avatar and selecting the Requests option. This will redirect you to the page where all the requests are located, depending on your role.

The first tab is designated to Approval Requests, where you’ll find the publications needing approval. The dashboard is equipped with all the necessary information about the design and an easy ‘approve’ or ‘reject’ button, which can also be found within the design.

When clicking on a design, you can see it in its entirety and are able to see the publication settings and status of the approval. In this view, you can also make your decision or even click on the lower left-hand side button to decide later.

We don’t currently support approvals for Video Publications in Frontify. However, if you would like to set up a template for an approval process, you can find more information on how to set up your template in Storyteq here so that the person who created the template can set it up to be reviewed in Storyteq afterwards.

We hope you’ve found this article helpful.

If any questions are left unanswered, don't hesitate to contact us.