Review and approve a process

A process that matters needs a formal yes. In this tutorial you run your diagram through an approval cycle and see what changes for its readers once a version is approved.

What you'll build

An approved version of your tutorial diagram: you choose the approvers, start the cycle, approve, and check the result. Plan for about 15 minutes.

note

To keep the tutorial self-contained, you act as both starter and approver. In real life the cycle group holds the actual approvers — the steps are the same, only spread across people.

Prerequisites

• The checked-in diagram from the first tutorial — a cycle always runs on a checked-in version.
• The permissions to set approvers and start approval cycles on the diagram — see Set up a cycle group and Start and manage a cycle for the exact requirements.

Step 1 — Choose the approvers

1. Open your diagram and select the Manage Cycles tab. It lists the four cycle types — Review, Approval, Endorsement, Acknowledgement — each marked Not In-Progress.
2. Expand Approval Cycle. Under Cycle Group you'll see the repository's default (for example Default Approval Group).
3. Click Change and pick a group — or build a custom group for this diagram and add yourself to it, so you can complete the tutorial alone. See Set up a cycle group for the editor.

Step 2 — Start the cycle

1. Still under Approval Cycle, look at Start a Cycle: you can have the platform remind participants of pending actions every few days, and add a comment as guidance to them.
2. Click Start Cycle Now. (The Scheduling section can instead start cycles automatically on a rhythm — skip that for now.)

The Approval Cycle section now shows the cycle in progress, and every approver gets a to-do — with an email, if the repository's notification settings say so.

Step 3 — Approve

1. Select the bell icon in the header to open Notifications — your approval task is in the to-do list.
2. Open the task and approve, adding a comment if asked — whether comments are required on approvals is a repository policy. The full participant flow is in Act on your to-do items.

Once everyone the cycle group requires has approved — in this tutorial, only you — the cycle completes.

Step 4 — See what readers see

1. Open the diagram's History tab. The Approved Versions section lists your version with its effective date, and the timeline records the cycle.
2. Open the user menu and select View Approved Only to read the repository the way a reader without draft access sees it: only approved versions. Switch back the same way.

From now on, work continues safely: you can check out and edit new drafts while readers who only see approved versions keep seeing the approved one, until the next approval replaces it.

What's next

• Cycles — the four cycle types and how approved versions behave.
• Start and manage a cycle — scheduling, updating participants, canceling.
• Watch an item — get notified when the process changes.
• Set repository email notifications — which cycle events send email.