Configure Approval Process for Publishing Comments

Applies To:

SharePoint Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator R2.0 or newer
Workflow Conductor R1.6 or newer
SharePoint Server and Foundation 2010
MOSS 2007 and WSS v3.0

IMPORTANT: Set up the following workflow processes during off hours. Publishing the workflow templates requires the application pool to be recycled.

LIMITATIONS: To approve workflow tasks, users require the following permissions: Assignee, Initiator, Site Collection Administrator.

NOTE: To complete task forms and to view the Approve, Reject and Submit buttons, users must be able to:

Read the workflow item that the workflow is running on and

Edit items in the Workflow Tasks List that is associated with the workflow.

To create a workflow to approve and publish comments:

Install and configure SharePoint Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator. See the KBSolution Accelerator for more information.
Install and configure Workflow Conductor. See Workflow Conductor for more information.
Configure the approval workflow for publishing comments following the steps below.

Import and publish the workflow template
Step	Action	Result
1.	From the KB Admin site, go to Site Actions > View All Site Content > Bamboo KB Articles List. Use the ribbon to select the List Settings. Under the Workflow Conductor section of the ribbon, select Create or Edit Workflows.	Workflow Conductor Studio opens.
2.	Click Import from the Workflow Conductor Studio menu.
3.	Click Browse and navigate to the SharePoint Knowledge Base Solution Accelerator product extraction folder. Open the misc folder and select SA05 Article Comment Approval.xoml.txt. Click Open, then Import.
4.	The workflow template is loaded into Workflow Conductor Studio. In the workflow diagram pane, click on Submit to KB Comment Approval Team.
5.	In the Widget Properties tab in the settings pane, enter the account(s) for the user(s) who will approve comments.
6.	If desired, modify the other widget properties: Approval Type: The default is All Approvals Required. If desired, change the setting to One Approval Required or Multiple Approvals Required. Days Until Due: Enter the number of days until this workflow task is due. Due Date: Enter a due date for the workflow task. NOTE: If the Days Until Due and Due Date fields both have values, the earliest date will be selected as the due date. Allow Reassignment: The default is No. Choose Yes to allow the workflow task to be assigned to another approver. Allow Request Change: The default is No. Choose Yes to allow the approver to enter a comment for the requester to make changes and resubmit for approval. Logging Level: The default is Errors Only. Choose another option to allow more detailed logging, such as Errors and Warnings or Errors, Warnings and Info. Click Apply. Workflow Conductor updates the diagram.
7.	Select Publish > Deploy from the Workflow Conductor Studio menu.	IMPORTANT: This action will recycle the application pool, and users will receive a 500 error.
8.	Click Yes to save the workflow as a template.	The template is saved to the template gallery, and the application pool is recycled.
9.	Configure the Workflow Start Feature. You can start a workflow using the out-of-the-box SharePoint button, located in the ribbon, or you can create your own buttons for the KB workflow approval process (available for SharePoint 2010 only). For SharePoint 2007, start a workflow using the out-of-the-box SharePoint button.
10.	From the KB Admin site, navigate to Site Actions > Site Settings > Site Actions > Manage Site Features and activate the Workflow Start Feature.
11.	Return to the KB Admin site and select the Workflow Configuration List. Complete the following fields.	Make sure to associate the workflow with the correct Bamboo Comments List and workflow template. Ribbon Section Name: Enter a name for the section of the ribbon that will contain the workflow button. This is a required field. Workflow Button Name: Enter a name for the button that will be displayed in the ribbon. This is a required field. Tooltip Title: Enter a title for the workflow that will appear in a tooltip. Tooltip Description: Enter a description for the workflow that appear in a tooltip. Associated Workflow: Choose a list and a workflow that is associated with the button.
15.	Start a workflow to approve and publish comments: To begin the workflow, an end user or a Knowledge Base Administrator submits a rating or a comment for an article and clicks Submit.
16.	The approver receives an email notification with a link to the comment and a link to the form to Approve or Reject the comment.	When the approver clicks the link, a form appears for approving or rejecting the comment. If the approver has already rejected or approved the comment, the only available option is Cancel.
17.	Return to the article in the KB Client site. The comment is now published.	NOTE: When publishing comments, users with the appropriate level of permission can publish comments using the Publish button through the Approve & Manage Comments link in the KB Admin site instead of using the workflow to publish comments. However, the KB Comment Approval status for that comment will show as In Progress instead of Completed because the comment was not published through the open workflow. This can lead to many open tasks in the Workflow Tasks List.
18.	To close out workflow tasks, navigate to All Site Content > Lists > Workflow Tasks List.
19.	Approve the desired comments.	The item’s status will change to Completed.