Overview
The approval workflow lets your account enforce a formal content review process before a video or template is published. A creator submits a video or template for approval, an approver reviews it and either approves it or sends comments, and the creator and approver continue back and forth until approval is granted. This supports the review processes that regulated and enterprise organizations require.
Key Points
- The approval workflow applies to both videos and templates.
- Only one approver can be assigned per request. After approval is granted, the creator can resubmit to another approver.
- The approver role takes a seat. If a user is both an approver and an editor, they share a single seat.
- While an approval is in progress, editing is locked for that video.
- Comments are attached to a specific item, such as the overall video or an individual scene, so feedback is easy to act on.
Enabling the Approval Workflow
- Go to Account Settings and open the Approval tab.
- Make sure at least one user is assigned the approver role in your account.
- Toggle the approval workflow on.
Note: If you disable the approval workflow for the account, all pending approvals are canceled.
Submitting a Video for Approval
- Open the video you want to submit. The video must have an in-progress draft.
- Click Submit for approval.
- Choose an approver to send the request to.
- (Optional) Add a message to the approver. This message is included in the approval request email.
- (Optional) Copy the approval link to share it directly with your approver by email, Slack, or another channel.
- (Optional) Select Notify me about feedback to be emailed when the approver comments or approves. You will receive a notification either way.
The draft status changes to Draft pending approval, and this is reflected on the video card in the Video Library.
To withdraw a request, you can cancel the approval. When you cancel, you can include an optional message, and the approver is notified that the request was canceled.
Reviewing as an Approver
- Open the request from your notification or the approval link, then select Review for approval.
- Click Start approval.
- In the review panel, choose to Approve video or add comments.
- Starting an approval stops all edits to the video. Any editor currently in the video switches to view-only mode.
- You can return to the review panel at any time from the "Comments" button in the left panel, and past comments and iterations are kept in the History tab.
- You can also choose Approve later to close the window and return to the request afterward.
Adding Comments
By adding granular comments and indicating the item the comment refers to, you enable the video creator to address the comments in an organized way and provide explanations where needed. For each comment, select the item it applies to:
- The overall video.
- Any individual scene.
- The landing page, when the video has one.
- The template details, when reviewing a template.
- Select the item you want to comment on.
- Enter your comment.
- Click the "+ Additional comment" button and repeat for any other items you want to address.
- When you are finished, click the send comments button.
Note: Each comment must be complete before it can be sent. If a comment is only partially filled in, either finish it or delete it. You cannot approve the video while comments are still pending — send or remove them first.
Responding to Comments and Re-submitting for Approval
- When an approver sends comments, you are notified by email, a notification in the notification center, and you'll see a new-comments indicator with a red dot on the video card and in the comments tool in the Studio left panel.
- Open the video to review the comments in the Studio. The comments are organized by the item they apply to and indicate who left the comment and when.
- Make your changes and mark comments as resolved as you address them.
- Select Resubmit for approval. The resubmission goes to the same approver.
Note: If you resubmit without resolving every comment, you are asked to add an explanation for each unresolved comment. The approver receives your explanation, and it is also included in the email notification alongside the original comment.
Viewing Comment History
When an approval iteration ends by resubmission for approval, its comments move to the History tab, where the pending comments area is cleared for the next round. In History, you can see your comments, the responses to them, and whether each was resolved. If a video went through more than one approver, you can filter the history by approver or by the item a comment applies to. When approval is granted, an approval granted entry is added so you can see who approved the video. History is available to video creators and approvers.
Publishing an Approved Video
Once your video is approved, its draft status changes to Draft approved, and you are notified. You can then either:
- Publish the video. The video status changes to ready to share and appears under the Share tab.
- Submit for another approval to send it to a second approver.
Approving a Template
Templates follow the same approval flow as videos, with one addition: When reviewing a template for approval, there is a checklist of reminder items to review, including reviewing the input field form, template sharing methods, and the template details. These items are linkable from the checklist. As with videos, you can add comments to specific items instead of approving.