Add the create approval action to a transition

To automate some of the approval process, you can add an Action called InspireCreateApproval to a transition in a workflow template. This Action tells Inspire to send notifications to workgroup users to confirm components to be included on the approval screen.

You must have permission to work with workflow templates.

  • By default, only users with the following permissions can create project workflows and assignments:
    • Administrator permissions
    • Access to the Project Module with the Create permission
  • Even if you don't have these permissions, you can be granted a special permission to create workflows and project assignments after a project is created.
  • Users must be project Participants to start a project workflow.
  • Non-admins users assigned to an approval task must be added to the Content Browser's can_approve module property. Follow the steps in: Control who can approve components.
  • The Create Review activity must be assigned to a workgroup of users that are review coordinators.
  • The Reviewing activity must be assigned to a workgroup of users that have reviewing permissions.

Tips and tricks

  • If a user in the workgroup confirms that they want to include component references in the approval process, then Inspire opens the Approval screen for the approver.
    • Referenced components are not displayed on the screen and can't be selected individually during the approval process in a workflow.
    • The approver is prompted: "Do you want to include referenced components of the workflow components for approval? Components tagged with ApprovalNotRequired will be skipped."
  • If a user in the Review workgroup confirms that they do NOT want to include component references in the approval process, then the workflow moves to the approval Activity without including referenced components.
  • Use this automated Action to get all necessary components included and move the workflow to the approval stage. The Approval process can be included into workflow at any step, even before reviewing or without reviewing at all.
  • If you want the workflow to advance and have all source components approved without user intervention, you can use the Inspire Approve Action (InspireApprove) instead. Follow the steps in: Add an Inspire Approve Action to a topic workflow template.

Before you begin

  • You must have already created the InspireCreateApproval action. Follow the steps in: Add the create approval action to a topic workflow template.
  • An Action is unique to the template it's included in.
  • If you want to use the new or updated Action in a different template, you have to re-create it in that specific template.
  • This automated Action is only available in a topic workflow template (not a sequential reviewer template), or a completely new workflow template component.
  • A component cannot be included in the approval process if the ApprovalNotRequired tag has been attached to the component. For more details, read Exclude a file from approval using a tag.

To add the create approval action to a transition, do one of the following:

Add the action to a new transition

Before you begin

  • You must have created two Activities to connect. Follow the steps in: Add a new activity to a workflow template.

    You use Transitions to define what the next step in the workflow is and what needs to be done before starting that next step. To add an approval action to a new transition, you must have created the two Activities that the transition is connecting. A transition can only be created from an Activity's toolbar.

    For example, in the Topic workflow template that Inspire provides:

    • There is a Review Activity and an Approve Activity
    • These Activities are connected by a transition called Send for Approval
    • You could edit the Send for Approval transition to add the InspireCreateApproval action

To add the Create Approval action to a new Transition:

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.
  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.
  4. In the first Activity that you want to connect through a transition, go to the toolbar and select Create transition.
  5. On the Create Transition screen, In Name, enter Send for approval or another similar title.

  6. In From Activity, select Review or the preceding step where you want to insert the automation of approving components.
  7. In To Activity, select Approve or the name of the Activity you created for this purpose.
  8. In Action, select the InspireCreateApproval option.
  9. To save your changes, click Create.
    Results:
    • You can see your new transition with two lines: one line connecting it from the start activity; one line connecting it to the end activity.
    • To move your transition in the editor but not change the start and ending activities, click the transition's title bar, and when you see the move cursor, drag it inside the editor.

      The lines connecting the transition to the start end activities are re-drawn as you move the box

Update an existing transition

  1. Click Components.
  2. In the Folders pane, select Workflows.
  3. In the Components pane, select a workflow.
  4. Select the transition you want to update, and it it's title bar and select Update transition.
  5. On the Update Transition screen, in Action, select the InspireCreateApproval option.

  6. To save your changes, click Update.
    Results:
    • Your transition changes are saved.
    • The changes are applied to all new workflows that are started using this template.
    • For workflows that use this template and are in progress:
      • If the Transition you are updating has not occurred yet, the changes will be applied when the workflows moves to the updated transition.
      • If the Transition you are updating has already been completed, the changes will not be applied.