Approvals in F2 Manager 2
| The content of this website is last updated to F2 version 11. cBrain are working hard on supplying you with the newest documentation of F2. |
F2 Manager 2 gives you access to active approvals where you are the approver at the current step. An approval is transferred to F2 Manager 2 when it is sent to a step where you are an approver. The approval disappears from F2 Manager 2 when you return or approve it and it thus leaves your step.
Tap Approvals at the bottom of the ribbon on F2 Manager 2 to display a list of all available approvals.
On the left you can see a list of transferred approvals (1). You can search for approvals using the search field above the list (2). When you tap an approval in the list, the approval document will be displayed in a preview on the right (3). Above the preview are functions for processing the approval (4). Above these functions are the metadata of the selected approval such as title, deadline, and record ID for the record associated with the approval (5).
| If you are a gated approver, your gatekeeper will select which approvals are transferred to F2 Manager 2. Some approvals may not be transferred to F2 Manager 2 even though you are an approver on the current step of the approval. Read more about the F2 Gateway Approvals add-on. |
The approvals list
Approvals are displayed in the approvals list with title, deadline, and the number of attached documents. The list is sorted by approval deadline. If there are multiple approvals with the same deadline, they are grouped. The deadline and the number of approvals in the grouping are shown in the grey band above a group of approvals.
Approvals marked "Urgent" are placed at the top of the list. Approvals without a deadline are placed at the bottom of the list. Approvals that are both marked "Urgent" and have a deadline are placed in the "Urgent" group.
| If the user is a gated approver, the gatekeeper is able to edit the order in which the approvals appear. |
Search for approvals
You can search for approvals using the search field above the approvals list. You search by the title of the approval.
Approvals ribbon functions
The ribbon above the preview contains menu items for working with the approval.
When the ribbon is shortened, the menu items are gathered in the "More" drop-down menu.
The functions are as follows:
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
"Full screen" |
Display the selected content on the entire screen. |
"Split screen" |
Restore the default view. |
"Annotate" |
Open the selected document in annotation mode. |
"Hide annotations"/"Show annotations" |
Toggle annotation visibility in the selected document. The menu item is only visible for annotated documents. |
"New chat" |
Create a new chat on the approval. |
"Return" |
Open a dialogue where you can return the approval to a previous step. |
"Approve" |
Open a dialogue where you can grant approval. |
"Resume" |
Open a dialogue where you can resume the approval. |
Read and annotate approval
You can read and annotate approvals on F2 Manager 2 before processing them. You can:
-
Read through the approval and its attached documents.
-
Annotate the approval and its attached documents.
Read through approvals and their documents
When you tap an approval in the list on the left, its approval document opens in the preview on the right, and the list of its attached documents is expanded. The number of documents attached to an approval is shown next to the attachment icon on the item. Unread documents are bolded in the list.
Tap an attached document to preview it on the right.
Tap Full screen in the ribbon to display the selected document on the whole screen. Tap Split screen to restore the approval view.
Annotate documents
You can annotate the approval document and the approval’s attached documents. Tap the relevant document in the approvals list, and then tap Annotate in the ribbon to open the selected document in annotation mode.
In annotation mode the annotation toolbox is placed at the bottom of the screen by default. You can move the toolbox by tapping it and dragging it to the desired location. F2 Manager 2 remembers where you placed the toolbox next time you open a document in annotation mode.
Tap the desired tool to start using it. Read more about annotation tools in Apple’s online documentation.
Tap Discard in the upper toolbar to undo your recent annotations and return to the approvals list.
Tap Save in the upper toolbar to save your latest annotations and return to the approvals list.
You can also make text annotations in the document. Press the text box icon 
in the toolbar to open a text box in the document.
Tap the text box and write your text using the keyboard. Change the size of the text box by dragging the small blue dot on the right side. Move the text box by pressing it while moving its position in the document.
Tap the round menu icon in the top right corner of the text box to open a menu where you can choose font type, size, and colour, as well as background colour. From the menu you can remove the text box by tapping Remove.
Tap the pencil icon in the toolbar to display the toolbox with the other annotation tools.
The annotated document is saved as a PDF file on the approval on both F2 Manager 2 and in F2 Desktop. When you reopen the document on F2 Manager 2, you can choose to view the PDF file with your annotations or you can choose to hide the annotations and view the original document.
| If changes have been made to the original document after you annotated it, e.g. another user has updated the document in F2 Desktop, you may end up overwriting your original annotations if you annotate the new version of the original document. |
The PDF file with the annotations can be accessed from F2 Desktop by all approvers on the approval. The filename for the PDF will be "[Original title] (annotated by [username])" as in the example below.
A pencil icon in the approvals list indicates that the document has been annotated.
| An approval can only contain one F2 Manager 2 PDF. This means that an annotation risks being overwritten if more than one user makes annotations on F2 Manager. The PDF file name always indicates the first annotating user, but not any subsequent users. |
Process approvals
You can process approvals on F2 Manager 2 by returning them or granting approval. In addition you can resume an approval if it has been returned to your step from a subsequent approver.
| When you process an approval as a gated approver, your gatekeeper may apply or adjust your decision to either return or approve before the approval is sent to the relevant approval step. Read more about F2 Gateway Approvals. |
Return approval
Tap Return on the ribbon to return the selected approval to a previous approval step. A dialogue opens where you choose who the approval should be returned to and where you recommend resuming the approval. You can write a comment detailing why you are returning the approval.
Tap OK to return the approval to the selected approval step.
Tap Undo if you do not wish to return the approval.
Grant approval
Tap Approve in the ribbon to approve the selected approval. A dialogue opens where you can add a comment before approving.
Tap OK to grant approval. The approval will move on to the next step or be approved finally if you are the last approver.
Tap Cancel if you do not wish to grant approval.
Resume approval
When an approval is returned to your step from a subsequent approver, you can resume it via the ribbon.
Tap Resume in the ribbon to resume the selected approval. A dialogue will open where you choose with whom to resume the approval. You can also add a comment.
Read more about resuming approvals.
Chat from an approval
You can chat on approvals from F2 Manager 2. If there is a chat on an approval, it will be displayed on the "Chat" tab above the preview of the approval document. From the ribbon, you can create a new chat.
You might receive chats on approvals where you are not an approver. These chats will only be available through the "Chats" section of the chats list. The approvals will not show in the approvals list.
You have a complete overview of all your chats on F2 Manager 2 in the chats list.
Create a new chat on an approval
Tap New chat in the ribbon to create a chat on the selected approval.
A dialogue opens where you can add chat participants. F2 Manager 2 suggests your most frequently used chat participants. When you start typing in the "Search for chat participants" field, F2 Manager 2 searches for users in F2’s participant register. You can add multiple chat participants at once.
When you have added your desired participants, tap OK to create the chat. Tap Cancel if you do not wish to create the chat.
After you tap OK, the chat window opens.
Your selected chat participants are displayed at the top of the chat window. You can write your message in the compose box at the bottom. Tap the send chat icon to send your message.
The chat is also available on the chats list.
View chats on an approval
When there is one or more chats on an approval, the "Chat" tab will be displayed above its preview. If there is an unread chat on a item, the "Chat" tab will be bolded for the given item, and the chat itself will also be bolded.
Tap a chat to open the chat window.
