Edit approvals using workflow builder

Overview

One or more approvals can be added to a state using workflow builder. An existing approval in a state can be edited in workflow builder.

Workflow builder can be used to add an approval or edit an existing approval and the approval details

name
description
configure reviewers and the way they are assigned
set condition(s) for approval to be active
set requirements for reviewer credentials
customize the approval decision button labels displayed in the workflow popup
enable the addition of reviewer roles for assignment of reviewers

Once an approval is added to a state, the approval approve and reject transitions can be added and edited using workflow builder.

Approvals in workflow builder

A workflow state with one or more approvals added is displayed in the workflow panel with a tick.

Edit states using workflow builder

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Edit states using workflow builder
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Edit tasks using workflow builder
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Edit transitions using workflow builder
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Edit state parameters using workflow builder
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Edit approvals using workflow builder
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Edit approval reviewers using workflow builder

Select a state to open the state editor.

The state editor displays

the state name
a lozenge for each state parameter (if present) such as taskable, final, hidefrompath)
transitions
approvals
tasks

Choose Approvals to add an approval or view existing approvals in the state.

to add an approval choose +Add Approval under the list of existing approvals
to edit an existing approval select the approval name

If the state currently has no approval, a +add option to add an approval will be displayed with the initial Approvals option.

The Approved and/or Rejected transition can only be added to the state after an approval has been added.

Add an approval

To add an approval to an existing state in workflow builder, open the state editor.

Choose the Approvals +add option.

Add details for the approval

name
description

The approval description will be displayed in the workflow popup for users with edit permission when the page or blog post is in the state with the approval.

Configure the approval reviewer assignment process.

Add and manage approval reviewers

Reviewers for the approval can be managed when adding or editing an approval in workflow builder.

There are three options to manage the reviewers for the approval:

Anyone can approve

Allows any user with view and edit permission to undertake the review

One reviewer decision will cause the transition unless you add Minimum approvals number to require multiple reviewers to undertake and agree the approval decision.

Limit who can approve and/or assign reviewers

If you choose to configure the approval to Limit who can approve and/or assign you can use the following options.

This option can be configured to allow users to manually assign a user as a reviewer on the page using the workflow popup. Other options include limiting the approval reviewers or reviewer assignment to specific users/user group members. It’s also a way to require that reviewers must be assigned.

Set all the reviewers that have to approve

Specify users who must undertake the approval and exclude all other users from undertaking the approval. The users are assigned by the workflow on transition into the review state and their avatars are added to the workflow popup.

Minimum approvals number can also be set when choosing some of the Limit who can approve reviewer options and Set all the reviewers that have to approve option.

Different dialog boxes are displayed on choosing each of the three Reviewers options. These can be used to add users and/or groups (depending on the chosen option) to limit or set

the only users that can be assigned for the approval
the users who cannot undertake the approval
the users who can/cannot assign other users as reviewers

When editing approval reviewers some reviewer options require at least one user or user group to be added before the approval reviewer configuration can be saved in workflow builder.

You can also configure requirements for reviewer credentials and/or conditions for the approval to be enabled in the Advanced options.

To add the approval to the current state, choose the Add button in the Add approval editor.

You must at least add a name for the new approval to enable the Add button.

Edit an approval

The number of existing approvals in the state will be displayed when viewing the state in workflow builder visual editor.

If the state has no approvals, the +add option is displayed in place of a number.

Choose Approvals to display any existing approvals for the state.

Choose a named approval to open the Edit Approvals panel for the approval.

If no approvals are present in the state, the Add approval panel will be displayed when choosing Approvals.

Edit the existing approval

Name
Description
Reviewers
Advanced options to require reviewer credentials; customize approval button displayed names; set conditions for the approval to be active; remember assigned reviewers or enable descriptive roles for reviewers

Choose Apply to update the approval.

The Apply will become enabled when a change has been added to the editor.

Choose Save to update the workflow.

Reviewer Credentials

Each approval can be set to require user authentication

Open the Advanced dropdown options.

User authentication (or e-signature) for reviewer can be set to require either:

a password
a username and password

Users will see the credentials prompt in the workflow popup if identity authentication is required for the reviewer.

The Approve and Reject buttons in the workflow popup will be disabled until the user credentials are added. The credentials are validated when an approval decision is made by the user.

A global administrator can set the default credentials required for approvals in a workflow in the instance. Identity authentication can be

Confluence username and password
Confluence username and a signing token generated by a third-party app

Conditions

Conditions can also be set for the approval to be active.

Open the >Advanced option.

For example, the haslabel condition can be used to set a requirement for a named content label to be present on the page.

Multiple conditions can be added using the + button.

Customize approval decision buttons

The approval decision buttons display in the workflow popup can be customized.

Edit the default Approve and Reject text in each button to customize one or both buttons.

An approval button will include a warning emoji if a destination state for an approval decision has been configured to require the setting of a parameter value before the transition to the state can take place. This requirement can be added by editing the destination state for the approve or reject approval decision if a workflow parameter has been added to the workflow.

Sticky assigned reviewers

The reviewers assigned to an approval can be stored and automatically assigned to the next occurrence of the current approval.

Check the Remember reviewers option.

Any reviewers who undertook the approval in the current state will be automatically assigned to the named approval if the workflow returns to this state.

If Remember reviewers is checked, will also assign the reviewers to other approvals with the same name in other states in the workflow.

Reviewer roles

You can also enable for the approval the option for reviewers to be given a reviewer role when they are assigned in the workflow popup.

Check the Enable roles option.

The option to add a reviewer role is then displayed in the workflow popup after a user is selected to be assigned to the approval.

Assignee roles are displayed as a lozenge in the workflow popup when the assignee views the page.

Assignee role names once added are retained in the workflow and are available in a role dropdown menu when assigning users.

Once a role has been added to a workflow in a space, the roles will be available to add when assigning users to an approval for all reviewer role-enabled approvals for each workflow in the space.

You can also enable reviewers to be able to be given Roles when they are assigned in the workflow popup .

The option to add a role is displayed in the workflow popup after a user is selected to be assigned to the approval.