Edit approval process
You can edit an approval process from the “Approval” tab in the record window. Its menu items are described below.
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Shows the current versions of the approval record’s approval document, record document, and if applicable, attached documents in the document selector. Approval actions cannot be performed while viewing document versions. The personal setting "Ask if I want to exit the document versions view if I attempt to perform an approval action" determines whether this happens automatically or not:
Figure 2. The "Leave document versions?" dialogue
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Changes the menu item back to “Show document versions” and no longer displays the version numbers. |
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Makes it possible to modify an already initiated approval process. The approval process can be entirely changed as long as it has not yet started. If the approval has started, the already approved steps cannot be modified, but the pending steps can be edited, deleted and/or added to. A finally approved approval cannot be modified. |
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Users with full write access to the record can take over an approval and replace approvers. This is relevant e.g. in the event of illness or holidays. This lets a user take over an approval and replace/remove approvers, even if they have already received it in their inbox (but not yet processed the approval). When an approval is taken over, a note is created on the record denoting the changes and the affected participants (i.e. the user responsible for the approval as well as the approvers that have been added and/or removed) are notified via the note in their inboxes. Approvers or approved steps cannot be removed and/or replaced. |
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Stops an ongoing approval process, and the approval is removed from the “Approvals” list in the main window. When an approval is cancelled, a note is automatically created that states it has been cancelled and by whom. The "Cancel approval" menu item automatically changes to "Reopen cancelled approval". Users with write access to the approval record can cancel the approval. Read more in the section Cancel approval. |
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Reopens a cancelled approval. The approval will be resumed from the step at which it was cancelled. The approval is again displayed in the list of “Approvals” in the main window. The menu item “Reopen cancelled approval” changes to “Cancel approval”. The approval note is updated with the information that the approval has been reopened after cancellation. Read more in the section Reopen approval. |
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Users with write access to the approval record can cancel and delete an approval. An approval can only be deleted after it has been cancelled. Read more in the section Delete approval. |
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Shows the latest changes/additions to the approval. |
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Creates a PDF version of the current approval which contains the approval document and the approval information. Read more about this in the section Send approvals to external participants. |
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Open the “Approval notifications” dialogue. The notification settings for users involved in the approval process are managed here. |
Edit the approval process
You can edit both the steps and the metadata of an ongoing approval process. It is not possible to edit steps that have already been processed.
Click on Edit approval process in the “Approval” tab to open the dialogue “Edit approval process for [name of approval record]” as shown below.
Only users with write access to the record can edit the approval process.
All corrections to the approval process are listed in the activity log. Changes are not displayed in the activity log, but a note is created stating “[username] edits the approval”. A user who makes changes to the approval process can elaborate on these changes in the "Remark" field. The text from the "Remark" field is displayed under the line “[username] edits the approval”, as shown below.
The changes can only be saved if the user has write access to the record.
Take over an approval
Taking over an approval is useful in case an approver is absent or ill, so that their step can be either completely removed or replaced with another approver. Users with write access to the record can take over the approval and make changes to the process.
Click on Take over approval in the “Approval” tab to open the dialogue below.
This dialogue shows the entire approval process. The first field is the responsible user who created the approval, and the following fields denote the different steps. The blue field is the active step.
You have the following options:
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Add approvers (1) to active and subsequent steps.
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Add steps (2) after the active step.
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Remove approval steps (3).
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Replace approvers (4).
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Remove approvers (5).
Approvers and approval steps cannot be replaced or removed if approval has already been granted at the step.
Click the icon for replacing an approver 
to open the dialogue below in which a new approver from the participant register can be selected.
In the "Take over approval" dialogue you can write a comment , which will appear in the activity log of the approval. If no comment is entered in the comment field, the activity log will only show who performed the takeover and on which step it occurred. The comment is therefore used to elaborate on the reason.
After clicking Save in the “Take over approval” dialogue, F2 asks for confirmation.
| If an approval record is access restricted, and you add approvers who are not already part of the access restriction, F2 will ask if you want to add the approvers to the record’s access restriction. |
Advanced options in the "Take over approval" dialogue
The "Take over approval" dialogue can be configured to display the "Show advanced" button at the top of the dialogue. The configuration lets you change a step’s deadline and specify copy recipients directly in the dialogue.
| F2 is configured in cooperation with cBrain. |
Click on the Show advanced button to view the advanced options.
Click on Add copy recipient to add a copy recipient at the selected step. You can also change the step’s deadline in the "Deadline" field.
Click on Save to save your changes.
You can hide the advanced options again by clicking on Hide advanced.
Automatic note about approval changes
F2 creates a note on the approval record when changes are made via "Take over approval".
The note describes the action performed. Participants on the note include:
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The user who has taken over the approval and made changes.
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The user responsible for the approval.
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Approvers who have been removed from or replaced in the approval.
Restart approval
An approval can be restarted from the “Take over approval” dialogue, but only if it has been returned with the recommended actions “Return and resume with me” or “Return and resume after me”. Users can only restart an approval if they have full write access to its record.
Restarting the approval makes it possible to add steps, or add, replace, or remove approvers in the entire approval process, not just the step of the returner.
If the returner has selected “Return and resume with me” or “Return and resume after me”, the Restart from step X button becomes visible in the dialogue. “X” corresponds to the step after the step to which the approval was returned. The figure below shows the button with the text “Restart from step 1” because the approval was returned to the responsible user, i.e. to the step before step 1.
Click Restart from step X to edit already approved steps, including the step from which the approval was returned. New steps can be added before and between existing steps.
You cannot remove the step from which the approval was returned, but its approvers can be replaced.
The figure below illustrates some of the options available when restarting an approval.
| The restart completely resets all prior approvals. This means that early approvers may have to reapprove if they are not replaced or removed. |
Cancel approval
Click on Cancel on the "Approval" tab to cancel an ongoing approval process. The "Cancel approval" dialogue opens, where you can select the users to be added to the automatically generated note stating that the approval has been cancelled. The selected users receive the record in their inbox informing them that the approval has been cancelled.
The note can also be viewed on the approval record by anyone with access to the record.
If you do not want to decide every time you cancel an approval, you can opt out of the dialogue in your personal settings. In this instance, everyone involved in the approval are automatically notified. The involved users include:
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The user who cancelled the approval.
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The user who is responsible for the approval record.
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Any approvers who have already approved or returned the approval.
When an approval is cancelled, it is removed from the list of active approvals.
| You can search for cancelled approvals. Read more about creating specific searches for approvals. |
Reopen approval
Cancelled approvals are inactive but can be reopened. The approval record still exists and the created approval process still appears on the record. Therefore, it is possible to reopen an approval and continue on the approval step where it was cancelled.
Click on Reopen on the "Approval" tab to reactivate an approval and resume the approval process. The "Reopen approval process" dialogue opens, where you can select the users to be added to the automatically generated note stating that the approval has been reopened. The selected users receive the record in their inbox informing them that the approval has been reopened.
The note can also be viewed on the approval record by anyone with access to the record.
If you do not want to decide every time you reopen an approval, you can opt out of the dialogue in your personal settings. In this instance, everyone involved in the approval are automatically notified. The involved users include:
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The user who reopened the approval.
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The user who is responsible for the approval record.
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Any approvers who have already approved or returned the approval.
Delete approval
Approvals must be cancelled before they can be deleted. Click on Delete on the "Approval" tab to delete a cancelled approval.
F2 will ask for confirmation before deleting the approval. The deletion cannot be undone.
When an approval is deleted, the approval record becomes an ordinary record. Any documents, the record document, and other metadata are preserved, but not the approval document. If needed, you can create a new approval on the record.