In some cases, it may be necessary to resubmit assets for approval that have already been through the process. In order to get the most out of DF Studio’s Approvals View, it is useful to reset the approval state on those assets before sending a new set of Approval Messengers.
The approval state is stored with each asset in DF Studio and incorporates the Yes/No approvals sent by all recipients of Approval Messengers containing that asset. Resetting its approval state in one Project or Collection will reset it in the asset’s originating Project and all Collections where it appears.
The following steps detail the process:
1. Select the asset (or assets) for which approvals should be reset.
2. Click the “Reset Approvals” button in the Asset Inspector’s Info tab.
3. Provide a reason for resetting the approval state on the asset(s) and click the “Reset Approvals” button.
The approval state of the asset(s) is reset regardless of the reason entered. The reason is logged in the asset’s history in case a user needs that information in the future; it is not displayed anywhere else.
Once the approval state from a particular Messenger has been reset, any future approvals created or submitted from that Messenger will also be ignored from the Approvals View. If it is necessary to submit the same assets for approval again, make sure to create new Messengers rather than re-sending the existing Messengers.
Approvals View
DF Studio’s Approvals View provides information about the approval status of assets that have been distributed using Approval Messengers. (For more details, see Approvals View.)
When approvals are reset, the approval status indicator in the background of an asset’s card will be reset to its default state (no color). Accordingly, any recipients of Approval Messengers who were listed in the Approval Status section of the Asset Inspector’s Info tab will be removed. As noted above, any future approvals created or submitted through the same Messengers will be ignored by Approvals View.
However, if any Approval Messengers are in “pending” state at the time approvals are reset, they will remain in that condition, since no approval decision has yet been submitted. In this case, the approval status indicator will display a yellow background, and any recipients whose Approval Messengers are unsubmitted will remain in the Approval Status section of the Asset Inspector.
If this is the desired outcome, there is no need to circulate an additional Approval Messenger to those recipients who have not yet returned their original Messengers. If instead it would be preferable to have all Approval Messengers removed when resetting the approval state, first expire any pending Approval Messengers, then reset approvals.
Asset History
Resetting the approval state of an asset restores its appearance in Approvals View as described above. It does not, however, remove the original approval decisions from the asset’s history. These are still viewable in the History tab of the Asset Inspector for each asset, and can be expanded to display which Messenger recipient submitted the decision and when.
Also visible in the asset history will be the date and time the approval state was reset, which user performed the reset, and the reason given (see step 3, above).
If necessary, the listing in the History tab can be filtered to display only those actions related to asset approvals. Click the filter menu and select “Approvals” to filter.