Request Approval Widget

Request Approval Widget

The Request Approval widget assigns one or more users or groups a task to review and approve an item in a list or library, and then branches the workflow based on whether the item is approved or rejected. Assigned approval tasks are completed using a Workflow Conductor task form.

Icon-Warning Widget Limitation: If the Approver property is a lookup to another SharePoint column, the following SharePoint column type and data format limitations apply for the lookup value:

  • For Person or Group columns, person or group data can be displayed using any user information field, as long as that field has data. For example: Users displayed as Name, Account, Work e-mail, User name, etc., can all be used as approvers. Multiple entries are supported for Person or Group columns.
  • For Single line of text columns, the value must be an account name (DOMAINUsername) or SharePoint group name (e-mail addresses are not supported). Multiple entries are supported for Single line of text columns, separated by semicolons (;).
  • Calculated columns are supported with the same format limitations as Single line of text columns.
  • A lookup to a Choice column with the option Checkboxes (allow multiple selections) selected will only work if a single entry is checked.
  • Lookups to SharePoint Lookup columns are not supported.

Widget Properties:

Column Description
Select Item (Required)

Select the item on which the approval process will be run. This can be run on the item from which the workflow was started (default behavior), or on a different item in the same list or a different list.

  • Leave the default selection of Current Item to run the approval process against the item from which the workflow was started.

  • Change the item selection to External List Lookup to run the approval process on a different item in the same list or in a different list. When using this option, select the Site Collection, Site, and List where the item you want to run the approval on is stored. These can either be explicitly defined through dropdown selections, or the values for these can be dynamically pulled from a lookup. Next, provide a field and field value that will be used to find which item in the list will be used.

Approvers (Required)

Enter one or more users or groups who need to approve or reject the item. Each approver is assigned a task when the widget runs. Approver names can be entered using any of the following methods:

  • Type a SharePoint or Active Directory display name or account name for a user or group and click the Check User icon (Icon-Checkmark). Separate multiple users with a semicolon (;).

  • Click the Lookup User icon (Icon-UserLookup) to search for a SharePoint or Active Directory user or group in the User Lookup form.

  • Enter a lookup to user or group data using the Add Lookup button (Button-AddLookup) in the User Lookup form.
Expand Groups

If a SharePoint group is entered in the Approvers property, the Expand Groups setting determines whether a single task is assigned to the entire group or if a separate task is assigned to each member of the group:

  • Select Yes to assign each user in the group a task, as if each name was entered individually in the Approvers property.
  • Select No to assign one task to the entire group. Only one user in the group needs to complete the task.

    NOTE: The owner of the group is considered a member of the group and is also assigned a task. The only exception is when the owner is the default system account, which will not be assigned a task.

Approval Type

Select the number of approvals required for an item to follow the Approved path:

  • All Approvals Required: All users and groups who were assigned approval tasks must approve the item for the workflow to follow the Approved path. If any user or group rejects the item, the workflow follows the Rejected path. The widget is finished when all approvers approve the item or when one approver rejects it.
  • One Approval Required: Only one user or group must approve the item for the workflow to follow the Approved path. Any rejections that occur before an approval are ignored. Any incomplete tasks will be marked Completed as soon as one user or group approves the item. If all assigned users and groups reject the item, the workflow will follow the Rejected path. The widget is finished as soon as one approver approves the item or when all approvers reject it.
  • Multiple Approvals Required: Allows you to specify how many users or groups must approve an item for the workflow to follow the Approved path. If the specified number of approvers approves the item, the workflow follows the Approved path. Any incomplete tasks will be marked Completed as soon as the required number of approvals has been reached. If all approvers respond and the required number of approvals has not been reached, the workflow follows the Rejected path. The widget is finished as soon as the required number of approvers approves the item or when all approvers respond.
Send Task Assignment Emails

Select an option to determine if the widget will send notification e-mails to approvers:

  • Select Yes to send an e-mail to approvers when a task is assigned.
  • Select No to assign the task without sending task assignment e-mail.
Send Status Emails to Initiator

Select an option to determine if the widget will send notification e-mails to the workflow initiator:

  • Select Yes to send an e-mail to workflow initiators when all tasks are completed.
    Select No to allow tasks to be completed without notification email being sent to the workflow initiator.
Task Name Enter a custom task name for the approver task (e.g., “Approve Expense Report”). This task name is how the task is displayed in SharePoint and Microsoft Office Workflow Task forms. If you do not enter a Task Name, a default name of “Please Approve ItemName” is assigned when the widget runs. The task name, and other task properties, can be referenced in notification e-mails using the Current Task Easy Reference.
Task Description Enter an optional task description for the approver task (e.g., “Please review and approve this expense report.”). This task description is displayed in task forms. To add a hyperlink in the task description that has a display name different from the URL (e.g., Bamboo instead of http://www.bamboosolutions.com), enter the hyperlink in the following format, including the surrounding brackets ([ ]): [_URL(http://url.com) ,_Text(Text to display)] (see Lookups and Variables for more information). The task description, and other task properties, can be referenced in notification e-mails using the Current Task Easy Reference.
Notification Subject/Body Customize the subject and body for the notification e-mail sent for the original Request Approval task. Default text can be specified in the Request Approval Task Notification sections of the Workflow Conductor Control Panel E-mail Settings.
Send Reminder:

Send a reminder email to task assignees some number of days before a task’s due date is reached.

NOTE: This feature requires Workflow Conductor version 3.5 or later.

Days Before Due Date (Required if Send Reminder=Yes) This parameter appears when Send Reminder is set to Yes. Enter the number of days prior to the Due Date that the reminder email should be sent. This can be set explicitly, or the value can be set dynamically at runtime using a lookup.
Reminder Subject/Body: Customize the subject and body for the reminder notification e-mail sent to task assignees prior to the task Due Date. Default text can be specified in the Request Approval sections of the Workflow Conductor Control Panel E-mail Settings.
Escalate Overdue:

Reassign a task to a specified person if it passes the task Due Date without being completed.

NOTE: This feature requires Workflow Conductor version 3.5 or later.

Escalate To (Required if Escalate Overdue=Yes):

This parameter appears if Escalate Overdue is set to Yes. Enter a single SharePoint or Active Directory user to escalate the task to, using one of the following methods:

  • Type a display name or account name for a SharePoint or Active Directory user or SharePoint group* and click the Check User icon (Icon-Checkmark).
  • Click the Lookup User icon (Icon-UserLookup) to search for a SharePoint or Active Directory user or SharePoint group* in the User Lookup form.
  • Enter a lookup to user data using the Add Lookup button (Button-AddLookup) in the User Lookup form.

    NOTE: Groups will be expanded to send an escalation notification e-mail to each user in the group. A single task exists for the group. The task is marked Completed when any member of the group submits the task form.

Escalation Subject/Body: Customize the subject and body for the reminder notification e-mail sent to task assignees prior to the task Due Date. Default text can be specified in the Request Approval section of the Workflow Conductor Control Panel E-mail Settings.
Days Until Due Enter the number of days until the task is due. You can enter a specific number or use a lookup. The number of days is added to the current date at the time the widget is run to determine the Due Date for each approver task. The calculated task Due Date is included in the task notification e-mail. If you do not enter a Days Until Due value, the Due Date property will be used, if there is one, or the task Due Date will be empty.
Due Date

Enter a Due Date for the task. You can enter a specific date using the calendar control or use a lookup. Unlike the Days Until Due property, this property sets a specific Due Date for the task. This is useful in situations where a particular deadline must be met. The task Due Date is included in the task notification e-mail. If you do not enter a Due Date, the value in the Days Until Due property will be used, if there is one, or the task Due Date will be empty.

NOTE: If both the Due Date and Days Until Due properties are defined, the task Due Date field will be set to the earlier of the two dates. If neither is defined, the task Due Date field will be blank.

Allow Reassignment
  • Select Yes to allow approvers to delegate their task to another user. If reassignment is allowed, a Reassign Task button is displayed at the bottom of the task form. See the Reassign Task topic for more details about this option.
  • Select No if you do not want approvers to be able to delegate tasks to other users.

    icon-video2 See a Video example of a workflow that allows re-assignment.

Allow Request Change
  • Select Yes to allow approvers to create a new task for the item that must be completed before the approver task is completed. If change requests are allowed, a Request Change button is displayed at the bottom of the task form. See the Request Change topic for more details about this option.
  • Select No if you do not want approvers to be able to create new tasks using the task form.
Save Comments To Each approver has the opportunity to enter comments when completing an approval task. You can view task comments in the completed task. If the Send Email property is sent to Yes, a summary of all comments is e-mailed to the workflow initiator when the widget is finished running. You can also store the comments in a workflow variable for use later in the workflow. To assign a workflow variable, select a Text data type variable from the Save Comments To list. Create variables in the Workflow Settings tab in the settings pane, or click the Create new variable link next to the variable list. If multiple approvers enter comments, each comment is appended to the workflow variable.
Allow Attachment Allow an attachment to be included in the task notification email. The attached item can be the item on which the workflow was started (default behavior), or on a different item in the same list or in a different list.
Item to Attach (Required if Allow Attachment=Yes)

Select which item will be attached to the email:

  • Leave the default selection of Current Item to attach the item on which the workflow was started to the task notification email.
  • Change the item selection to External List Lookup to a different item in the same document library or in a different document library. When using this option, select the Site Collection, Site, and Document Library where the item you want to attach is stored. These can either be explicitly defined through dropdown selections, or the values for these can be dynamically pulled from a lookup. Next, provide a field and field value that will be used to find which item in the list will be used.
Click Apply to save the widget settings.

Examples of Request Approval Widget

Return to User Interaction Widgets List

See Also: