Requesting and recording approvals

What an approval is

An approval is a formal question to your client: "Is this ready to go?" The client answers with Approve or Request changes, and Clientwharf keeps a permanent record of the answer. It replaces the "looks good to me" email that is hard to find later.

Request an approval

1. Open the project at /app/projects/<id> and go to the Approvals tab.
2. Under Request approval, choose What needs approval: a file in the project, or a deliverable without a file, such as a launch checklist.
3. Give it a clear Title, such as "Homepage design, round 2".
4. Add a Note for your client explaining what you want them to check, and an optional Respond by date.

When you choose a file, the approval is tied to the current version of that file. The client sees the approval in their portal, can preview the file and receives an email letting them know a decision is needed, depending on their notification settings.

How the client responds

Any invited contact for that client can respond:

• Approve. The approval is marked Approved.
• Request changes. The client must add a comment explaining what needs to change, and the approval is marked Changes requested.

Once a contact has decided, the decision is final for that request. Contacts and your team can also leave comments on the approval, for questions that do not need a decision.

Your team receives an email when a decision is made, according to each person's notification settings.

The approval record

Every decision is stored as a permanent record that includes:

• The decision and any comment.
• The name and email address of the person who decided.
• The file name and version number they decided on.
• The date and time of the decision.

Records cannot be edited or deleted afterwards, by your team or by the client. That makes them useful when you need to show what was agreed. Your team can select Export record (PDF) on the approval, for example to attach the record to your project files or share it with someone outside Clientwharf.

After changes are requested

1. Make the changes and upload the revised file as a new version of the same file. See projects, files and versions.
2. On the approval, select Request approval on v2 (or whichever version is now current). For a deliverable without a file, select Request approval again.

The earlier request and its feedback stay in the history, so you can always see how the work developed.

Canceling an approval

If you sent an approval by mistake, or the deliverable is no longer needed, select Cancel request while it is still waiting for a decision. It disappears from the client's portal. In your project it stays listed as canceled, and any earlier decisions stay in the record.

Tips for faster approvals

• Ask for one decision per approval. "Logo and color palette" is easier to answer as two approvals.
• Say what kind of feedback you need. "Please check the copy and the product names" helps more than "Thoughts?".
• Set a respond-by date when timing matters. It shows in the portal next to the approval.
• Post an update explaining the context when you send a big round for review.