What the relaxed approval workflow lets you change during review

By default an approval project is strict. Material can only be changed after an Approver sets it to Needs change, and once a review reaches Approved or Rejected it is final. Relaxed approval workflow is a project setting that loosens both rules: material can be updated while it is still Pending review, and a finished review can be reopened.

Turn it on for a project

Relaxed approval workflow is a setting on the project itself. You turn it on when you create the project, or later from the project menu (the three dots beside the project name) under Edit project. The same setting exists for Place and Produce approval projects. See Creating an approval project in Plan for the rest of the dialog.

Plan describes the setting like this: "Initiators can modify materials during any stage (Needs change, Pending review) of the review process. Approvers can restore the file review if the review is already in the final stage (Approved, Rejected) of review process."

Change material that is still under review

Open the asset or document from the project. In a relaxed project the Upload new version button (for a Place asset) or Edit document button (for a Produce document) is available while the status is still Pending review. In a strict project the button appears only after the status has been set to Needs change.

Plan asks you to confirm: "Any changes will result in a new version and reset the approval process." When the new version has finished processing:

• The version number goes up and the new version is shown. Earlier versions stay in the version list.
• The status stays Pending review.
• In a multi-stage review, the review goes back to the first stage. In the example above, the asset is back at stage 1 of 2 after a new version was uploaded.
• If the project has a response time with Restart countdown with new version turned on, the deadline is counted again from the new upload. See Setting response times and tracking review time in Plan approval projects.

Reopen a review that is already finished

When a review has reached Approved or Rejected, a relaxed project shows a Restore review button at the top of the review page. It is there for Place assets as well as Produce documents.

Plan asks you to confirm: "The approval workflow is already finished. If you restore it, new version of the file will be created and the approval workflow will be initiated again from the start." After you confirm, a new version is created with the same file, the status goes back to Pending review, and the review starts again from the first stage. The earlier versions and their history are kept.

In a strict project there is no Restore review button. An approved or rejected asset stays as it is.