Document approvals macro
- Robert Alexander Marshall
Overview
One or more document approvals macros can be added to a page to display information on the approvals for the workflow on a page. Each macro can be configured to display the approval information for a different state in the workflow.
The document approvals macro information for a workflow state is shown as a table, with one header row per approval and one row per reviewer of each approval.
The macro can be configured to display
the approval(s) in a state
the overall status of the approval
the assignees for each approval
details of the assignee decision
Several separate document approval macros can be added to content to display information for different approvals in different states. If the named approval does not exist (mis-spelt, renamed or removed) the macro will ignore that approval.
When there is no workflow applied to the page, the document approvals report macro displays the following message when the page is being edited and on the published page.
Adding the macro to a page
Edit the page and type /doc and select the document approval macro option.
Choose Document Approvals to add the macro to the draft page.
By default the macro displays the current workflow state name and the approvals in the state.
Select the macro and choose the pencil icon to open the macro editor.
The State dialog box is empty by default and the macro will display the approval information for the current workflow state
With no checkboxes completed the macro only lists the name of the approvals for the state.
Select the Show status checkbox in the macro editor to display the overall status of the approval.
If a reviewer has been assigned, the information for each reviewer will be displayed in a separate row.
A separate column is added for each selected checkbox in the macro editor to display information for each approval.
When the approval is configured to require a minimum number of reviewers, a separate unassigned reviewer row is displayed for each required reviewer. These are populated as a user(s) is assigned or undertakes a review decision.
Transitioning the content
The information displayed by the macro is dynamic.
No state specified
If a state is not specified in the macro editor, transitioning the workflow to a different state will display the approval information for the new current state.
No approval in state
If there is no approval in the current state the document approvals macro will display the following message for the state.
State specified
Setting a state in the document approvals macro editor displays the approval information for that state, irrespective of the current state.
Configuring the macro
The macro can be configured to display approval information on the page.
Display approvals in a named state
Approval information can be displayed for a single named state added to the macro editor.
The macro will display the current approval information for this state irrespective of the current workflow state for the content.
Check the macro editor checkboxes to display one or more of the following
the overall status for each approval in the state (Pending, Rejected, Approved or Approved and Signed) - Show status
the reviewers for each approval by checking one or both
Show reviewer avatar
Show reviewer name
the current status of each reviewer’s decision for the approval (Pending, Rejected, Approved, Approved and Signed, Unassigned) - Show status
the date each reviewer’s last action (if any) - Show date
any comment added by the reviewer on undertaking their last recorded action
If Show status is checked, both the status of the overall approval and (if reviewer avatar or reviewer name is checked) the current decision for each reviewer is displayed.
Display approvals reviewer and status information for the current workflow state
Leave the State dialog box empty to display approval information for the current workflow state.
The approvals for the current workflow state are displayed.
If a workflow transition occurs the approvals macro displays approval information for the new workflow state.
Multiple approvals in a state
If there is more than one approval in a state each approval is listed in a separate row.
Approval information is displayed for multiple approvals in a state by alphabetical order of approval names.
Each reviewer(s) for an approval is displayed in a separate row.
To limit or set an order for the display of selected approvals in a state, add the name of each approval as a comma-separated list (with no spaces) in the Approvals order dialog box.
Approvals are displayed in the order that they are added in the comma-separated list.
Use with other macros
The document approvals macro is compatible with the Confluence Page Properties macro and the Page Properties Report macro.
On the draft page, add one or more document approvals macro as a table value in the page properties macro.
The page properties report macro can then be added to a page to report on the added values.
Exporting pages to pdf and Word
The approvals macro table of information is included when exporting to pdf or Word.
Reviewer avatars are not included in the pdf or Word export.