Configure Approval Sequences

Why configure approval sequences

Approval sequences ensure content passes through designated reviewers before it goes live. A legal team might need to review disclaimers. A brand team might need to approve campaign pages. Without approval sequences, any editor with publish rights can push content live without oversight.

Plan your approval steps

Before configuring, decide how many approval steps you need and who participates in each.

1. List the roles that must review content (legal, brand, manager).
2. Decide the order. Earlier steps must approve before later steps see the content.
3. Determine if any step requires all members to approve or just one.

Create an approval sequence

1. Navigate to the page or node in the content tree where you want the sequence.
2. Right-click and select Approval Sequence (or find it under the context menu).
3. Click Add Step to create the first approval step.
4. Name the step, such as “Legal Review.”
5. Add users or groups to the step.
6. Set whether all reviewers or any single reviewer must approve.
7. Click Add Step again for additional steps.
8. Save the sequence.
9. Verify by checking that the sequence shows all steps in order.

CMS

On CMS SaaS, approval sequences are configured under Settings > Workflows. The UI provides a visual step builder with drag-and-drop ordering.

Set sequence scope

Approval sequences can apply to a single page or an entire section of the content tree.

1. Open the approval sequence configuration.
2. Choose the scope: This page only or This page and all children.
3. Save changes.
4. Verify by editing a child page. When you click Send for Approval, the sequence from the parent should apply.

Configure notifications

Reviewers need to know when content awaits their approval.

1. Open Settings > Notification Settings.
2. Ensure email notifications are enabled for approval tasks.
3. Each reviewer should confirm their notification preferences in their profile.
4. Verify by submitting a test page for approval. The reviewer should receive a notification.

CMS

On CMS PaaS, you can configure custom notification providers through the IApprovalNotificationProvider interface. This lets you send notifications to Slack, Teams, or other systems.

Test the approval workflow

1. Log in as a content author (not an admin).
2. Edit a page under the node with the approval sequence.
3. Click Send for Approval instead of Publish.
4. Log in as the first-step reviewer.
5. Open the Tasks panel and locate the pending approval.
6. Review the content and click Approve or Reject.
7. If approved and there are more steps, verify the next reviewer receives the task.
8. After the final step approves, verify the content publishes automatically.

Modify an existing sequence

1. Navigate to the node with the sequence.
2. Open the Approval Sequence settings.
3. Add, remove, or reorder steps as needed.
4. Save changes.
5. Verify that in-progress approvals still follow the previous sequence. New submissions use the updated sequence.

Common issues

Issue	Cause	Fix
No approval prompt when publishing	No sequence on this node	Add a sequence to the page or parent
Reviewer not receiving tasks	User not in the step’s group	Add the user to the correct step
Content stuck in approval	A reviewer has not acted	Check the Tasks panel for pending items
Admin bypasses sequence	Admins have publish rights	Remove direct publish rights if oversight is required

Related content

Continue your journey with these related pages.

🔧Follow a guide

• Manage Projects for Grouped Publishing
• Create a Content Type