The execution of operations on approval requests depends on assigned team roles within the workflow associated with each request.
Note: Project administrators possess full read access to view all approval requests across a project and are the only role capable of configuring workflows. However, to perform step-specific operations such as submitting requests or indicating validations, administrators must be explicit members of the designated submitter, reviewer, or final reviewer teams.
The following topics are described in this article:
Levels of Page/in Approvals - Page View Access Matrix - Approval Actions Matrix - Operational/Lifecycle Phase
1. Levels of Page Access in Approvals
Viewing an approval request and interacting with its contents occurs across three distinct page levels:
The following topics are described in this section:
1.1 Approvals Page (List View)
Displays the overview list of approval request cards.
Detailed request visibility rules on this page are governed by team role assignments as explained in the Approvals Page Visibility and Team Roles article.
1.2 Approval Content Page
Opened by selecting an approval request card from the approvals page.
Assigned reviewer team members and final review team members can view the entire approval request, including all workflow steps before, during, and after their assigned step, as well as the full history of validation indications.
1.3 File Review Page
Opened by clicking review or view for files in an approval request.
This page provides two distinct modes:
1.3.1 Review Mode
Opened by clicking the Review button on behalf of an active reviewer team.
Full annotation tools are available to add markups and comments.
Can be launched for all documents via the Overview tab, or for selected documents via the Documents tab right menu.
1.3.2 View Mode
Opened by clicking the View button.
Operates in read-only mode where only the View tool is available in the document preview toolbar.
1.3.3 Document Access Requirement
To open a file on the File Review Page in either mode, a member must belong to an assigned workflow team and hold at least Read access to that specific document in the project document library.
Belonging to a reviewer team does not bypass document-level access restrictions in the document library.
2. Page View Access Matrix
Page View Level | Submitter Team Member | Reviewer Team Member | Final Reviewer Team Member |
Level 1: Approvals Page | Allowed See article about approvals page visibilty | Allowed See article about approvals page visibilty | Allowed See article about approvals page visibilty |
Level 2: Approval Content Page | Submitting member only Displays full details of personally submitted request | Allowed (Full Request) Displays complete request details across all workflow steps | Allowed (Full Request) Displays complete request details across all workflow steps |
Level 3: File Review (View Mode) | Submitting member only Read-only view; requires Read access to document | Allowed Read-only view; requires Read access to document | Allowed Read-only view; requires Read access to document |
Level 3: File Review (Review Mode) | - | Allowed Full annotation tools; active step team members with Read access | Allowed Full annotation tools; active final step team members with Read access |
3. Approval Actions Matrix
3.1 Pre-Submission Actions Matrix
The matrix below details permissions for actions performed before an approval request is formally submitted for review.
Action / Operation | Submitter Team Member | Reviewer Team Member | Final Reviewer Team Member |
Save Approval Request as Draft | Draft request creator only Creates/updates unsubmitted approval request draft | - | - |
Add Documents to Draft Approval Request | Draft request creator only Adds document revisions prior to submission | - | - |
Discard Document from Draft | Draft request creator only Removes document revisions from draft | - | - |
Edit Draft Approval Title | Draft request creator only Edits the title before submission | - | - |
Edit Draft Approval Description | Draft request creator only Edits the description before submission | - | - |
Submit Approval Request for Review | Submitting member only Submits request on behalf of selected submitter team | - | - |
3.2 Post-Submission Actions Matrix
The matrix below details permissions for actions performed after an approval request has been submitted for review.
Action / Operation | Submitter Team Member | Reviewer Team Member | Final Reviewer Team Member |
Discard Document from Request | Allowed (all steps) Any member of the submitter team, at any point before the final decision | Allowed (active step only) Members of a reviewer team, while their review step is the active one | Allowed (all steps) Any member of the final reviewer team, at any point before the final decision |
Indicate Validation (Approve / Reject) | - | Allowed (active step only) Indicates approve or reject per document, while their review step is the active one. Only before the team's indication has been submitted | Allowed (final step only) Indicates approve or reject per document, once the request has reached the final review step. Only before the final decision has been submitted |
Change Validation Indication | - | Allowed (active step only) Changes an indication while their review step is the active one. No longer possible once the team's indication has been submitted | Allowed (final step only) Changes an indication during the final review step. No longer possible once the final decision has been submitted |
Submit Validation Indication | - | Allowed (active step only) Submits the team's validation indications for their step. The documents it covers are locked, and the step completes only once every document has a submitted indication | Allowed (final step only) Executes the final approval or rejection decision during the final review step. The documents it covers are published, and the request closes only once every document has a submitted decision |
Edit Approval Title | Request creator only Also available to project administrators, without submitter team membership | - | - |
Edit Approval Description | Request creator only Also available to project administrators, without submitter team membership | - | - |
4. Operational Breakdown by Approval Lifecycle Phase
The following topics are described in this section:
4.1 Drafting and Submission Phase
Submitting members manage approval requests during the initial creation stage.
3.1.1 Creating and Saving Draft Approval Requests
Members assigned to a submitter team configured for a workflow can initiate a new approval request.
Saving an approval request as a draft creates an unsubmitted request container, allowing document revisions to be added and configured before launching the review timeline.
Draft approval requests remain accessible exclusively to the individual member who created them.
The title and the description of a draft approval request can be edited by the draft creator at any point before submission.
Note: This refers strictly to the draft approval request container, not to document revision statuses
3.1.2 Adding Documents to Draft Approval Requests
After a draft approval request has been saved, the draft creator can continue adding shared document revisions to that draft request prior to submitting it for review.
3.1.3 Submitting Approval Requests for Review
Submitting an approval request locks the workflow selection and initiates the review timeline for reviewer teams configured in the first review step.
The title and the description remain editable after submission, by the person who created the approval request and by project administrators.
3.1.4 Discarding Documents from Approval Requests
Document revisions can be discarded from an approval request at any time before the final approval decision has been executed.
Members of the submitter team and members of the final reviewer team can do this throughout the whole workflow.
Members of a team assigned to a review step can do it only while that step is the active one.
In the draft stage, before the request has been submitted, only the draft creator can discard document revisions.
4.2 Review and Validation Phase
Reviewer teams process document validations during active review steps.
3.2.1 Accessing Full Approval Request Details (Level 2)
Opening an approval request card gives reviewer team members access to the full Approval Content Page.
Reviewers can view all document details, step histories, and comments submitted across all preceding and subsequent steps, ensuring complete context prior to making decisions.
3.2.2 Opening Documents for Review (Level 3)
Clicking review or view opens the File Review Page.
Members can launch review mode for all files via the Overview tab or for a selection of files via the Documents tab right menu.
Navigation tools and a progress bar allow stepping through the selected file revisions.
3.2.3 Annotation Tool Availability
When accessing the File Review Page in Review Mode on behalf of a team, all document annotation tools are available to add markups.
When accessing the page in View Mode, only the View tool is active in read-only mode.
3.2.4 Document Access Prerequisites
Opening a file on the File Review Page requires at least Read access to that specific document in the project document library.
3.2.5 Indicating and Submitting Validation
Members of reviewer teams assigned to an active step can indicate Approve or Reject per document. Indications remain editable until formally submitted.
Submitting formally records and locks the team's decision for the documents it covers.
A submission does not have to cover every document at once. When it covers only some of them, those indications are locked and the step stays open, because the remaining documents still have an indication to submit.
The step completes once every document has a submitted indication.
4.3 Final Approval Phase
Final reviewer teams execute the definitive outcome of an approval request.
3.3.1 Reviewing Preceding Validations (Level 2)
Members of the designated final approval team can examine the entire approval request content page, including all validation indications, markups, and comments submitted by reviewer teams across all preceding review steps.
3.3.2 Document Access Prerequisites (Level 3)
Final reviewers require Read access to the underlying documents in the document library to preview file contents on the File Review Page.
3.3.3 Executing Final Approval or Rejection
A member of the final approval team submits the final decision.
The decision can be indicated and changed only once the request has reached the final review step, and only until it has been submitted.
Approving the request publishes the approved shared revisions, while rejecting the request prevents publication according to the workflow configuration.
A decision does not have to cover every document at once. When it is submitted for only some of them, those documents are published and the request stays open, because the remaining documents still have a validation indication to submit.
The approval request closes once every document in it has a submitted decision.