Approve a component from a project

When you're working in a project where you've collected components, you can easily let other reviewers know that a component is ready to work on by giving it an approved state.

Approval requirements:

To approve components, you must have at least one of the following roles or permissions:
- Be an administrator.
- Non-admins must be added to the Content Browser's can_approve module property. Follow the steps in: Control who can approve components.
- You must have permissions to update the component.
  Otherwise, the Approve option is greyed out and unavailable.
Permissions can't be blocked. A content owner or administrator can set permissions to deny access to components or folders. If your permissions to content have been blocked, and you are not an administrator, you cannot use the Approve option in a project's Content pane.
The component must be unlocked .
You may be prevented from selecting a component to approve if the ApprovalNotRequired tag has been attached to the component. For more details, read Exclude a file from approval using a tag.
Before you approve a component, do all the following to prevent seeing errors:
- Remove all tracked changes or comments. Work in the Oxygen editor
- Correct any errors. Validate XML in the editor
After you approve a component in Inspire, to help avoid accidental editing of approved content:
- The approved component may be locked with a green system lock.
  An administrator can control if a system lock is placed on the component after a user approves it. By default, this optional feature is set to false, and a lock is not placed on a component after approval.
- This action happens regardless of whether the approval requires a signature or not.
- To edit an approved component, you must unlock it by Unapproving it.

To approve one component

Click Projects.
On the Project Management tab, all projects in your organization are listed.
To find a specific project, you can:
- Filter the list of available projects by words in the project name. In the Search text box, enter a keyword, and then click the magnifying glass.
- Filter the list of available projects to include only those you own or are participating in. In Type, select an option to filter the list by that criterion.
- To include completed projects in the list, select Include Completed and then click the magnifying glass.
To open one project, select the project and double-click it.
You can also open a project by:
- Right-clicking the project and then selecting Open.
- Clicking the Options menu and then selecting Open.
In the Content pane, select the component you want to approve.
To see the complete name of the components and use advanced search to search through all folders within a project, click the Select Project Components option.
- To see more text in the Components pane, collapse the Folders panel by clicking the arrow that's pointing left.
- To quickly expand or collapse the folders, use the expand all and collapse all buttons.
- To find a component by keyword, in Search, enter words or phrases used in the component's name. In Within, select where in the project you want to search (Current Folder, Current and Subfolders, All Folders). Click Search .
- To find a component by creating a query, click Advanced Search.
  - Fields correspond to the columns in the grid. In the Field list, select the column you want to search in, such as Component State.
  - After you select a Field, you must describe the relationship it has with the Value. In the Operator list, to include or exclude some or all of the values that you want to use, select an operator, such as <> (not equal to).
  - The options in the Value list change depending on what you selected in Field. In the Value, select or enter the word, phrase, or number you are searching for in relation to the Field. For example, Component State (Field) <> (Operator) Invalid (Value).
  - In Within, select where in the project you want to search (Current Folder, Current and Subfolders, All Folders).
  - Optionally, to enter another clause to your query, click Add. Select whether you want to narrow your search by requiring that all statements must be true (And), or expand your search by requiring that any of the statements can be true (Or).
  - Click Search .
- To select multiple components to manage, select the checkbox for each component.
  Result: The components are listed on the Selected Components panel.
- To close the Select Project Components screen, click Select.
Click the Options menu, and then select one of the following options:
- Approve (if an electronic signature is not required)
- Approve... (if an electronic signature is required)
On the confirmation screen, click Yes.
If an electronic signature is required, On the Electronic Signature screen, enter your Full Name and click Submit.
- Do not include underscores or email addresses.
- You must use the name as it appears in your user profile.
- To see what this is, click the Profile icon.
- For example: Jane Doe.
- You only have to enter your name once to sign all selected components.
If you are required to authenticate your account:
1. On the Sign in screen, next to the lock, enter your password.
  Notes:
  - You don't have to re-enter your username. Inspire displays your account's email address for you.
  - You must use the same password that you use to sign in to Inspire.
2. Click Sign in.
If there are references to other components from the ones you're approving, you're asked if you want to include them in the approval process. Do one of the following:
- To approve referenced components along with the selected source components, select Yes.
- To approve only the selected source components, select No.
The components are approved.
Results:

In the Content pane's components list, you see:
- One of the following approved icons next to the approved component:
  - If no signature is required: a green checkmark .
  - If a signature is required: an e-signature icon .
- The state of the component is changed to one of the following:
  - If no signature is required: Approved displays if you hover over the green checkmark.
  - If a signature is required: Signed displays if you hover over the e-signature icon.
- The approved component may be locked with a green system lock. An administrator can control if a system lock is placed on the component after a user approves it. By default, this optional feature is set to false, and a lock is not placed on a component after approval.
Go to the Notifications module and check for any Issues.
For example, referenced components might be skipped and not approved if they are:
- Locked
- In review
- Tagged with ApprovalNotRequired
- Already approved
To see the name of the user who signed the approval and the date:
1. Right-click the component and select Details...
2. On the Component Details screen, select the History tab.
3. You can see the e-signature details in the two columns: eSigned By, and eSigned Date.
  After you approve a component, if your electronic signature was required:
  - Your signature is attached to the component's history. Even if you or another user then unapproves the component, it returns to the Draft state, but the information about any previously attached e-signatures for approval remains part of the component's history. For more information, read: View a component's history.
  - If you export a list of components, the exported CSV file includes all e-signatures.

To approve multiple components

Click Projects.
On the Project Management tab, to open a project, double-click it.
You can also open a project by clicking the Options menu and selecting Open.
In the Content pane, click Expand All .
Select the checkboxes for the unlocked, draft components you want to approve.
You should see the following icons before the name: Unlocked and Draft.

To see the complete name of the components included in the project, click the Select Project Components option.
You can select components to manage and search for the ones you need if the list of components is long.
- To see more text in the Components pane, collapse the Folders panel by clicking the arrow that's pointing left.
- To quickly expand or collapse the folders, use the expand all and collapse all buttons.
- To find a component by keyword, in Search, enter words or phrases used in the component's name. In Within, select where in the project you want to search (Current Folder, Current and Subfolders, All Folders). Click Search .
- To find a component by creating a query, click Advanced Search.
  - Fields correspond to the columns in the grid. In the Field list, select the column you want to search in, such as Component State.
  - After you select a Field, you must describe the relationship it has with the Value. In the Operator list, to include or exclude some or all of the values that you want to use, select an operator, such as <> (not equal to).
  - The options in the Value list change depending on what you selected in Field. In the Value, select or enter the word, phrase, or number you are searching for in relation to the Field. For example, Component State (Field) <> (Operator) Invalid (Value).
  - In Within, select where in the project you want to search (Current Folder, Current and Subfolders, All Folders).
  - Optionally, to enter another clause to your query, click Add. Select whether you want to narrow your search by requiring that all statements must be true (And), or expand your search by requiring that any of the statements can be true (Or).
  - Click Search .
- To select multiple components to manage, select the checkbox for each component.
  Result: The components are listed on the Selected Components panel.
- To close the Select Project Components screen, click Select.
In the Selected Components pane, click the More menu and then select Approve components.
On the confirmation screen, click Yes.
If an electronic signature is required, on the Electronic Signature screen, enter your Full Name and click Submit.
- Do not include underscores or email addresses.
- You must use the name as it appears in your user profile.
- To see what this is, click the Profile icon.
- For example: Jane Doe.
- You only have to enter your name once to sign all selected components.
If you are required to authenticate your account:
1. On the Sign in screen, next to the lock, enter your password.
  Notes:
  - You don't have to re-enter your username. Inspire displays your account's email address for you.
  - You must use the same password that you use to sign in to Inspire.
2. Click Sign in.
If there are references to other components from the ones you're approving, you're asked if you want to include them in the approval process. Do one of the following:
- To approve referenced components along with the selected source components, select Yes.
- To approve only the selected source components, select No.
The components are approved and removed from the Selected Components panel.
Results:

You receive one notification for all approvals.

In the Content pane's components list, you see:
- One of the following approved icons next to the approved component:
  - If no signature is required: a green checkmark .
  - If a signature is required: an e-signature icon .
- The state of the component is changed to one of the following:
  - If no signature is required: Approved displays if you hover over the green checkmark.
  - If a signature is required: Signed displays if you hover over the e-signature icon.
- The approved component may be locked with a green system lock. An administrator can control if a system lock is placed on the component after a user approves it. By default, this optional feature is set to false, and a lock is not placed on a component after approval.
Go to the Notifications module and check for any Issues.
For example, referenced components might be skipped and not approved if they are:
- Locked
- In review
- Tagged with ApprovalNotRequired
- Already approved
To see the name of the user who signed the approval and the date:
1. Right-click the component and select Details...
2. On the Component Details screen, select the History tab.
3. You can see the e-signature details in the two columns: eSigned By, and eSigned Date.
  After you approve a component, if your electronic signature was required:
  - Your signature is attached to the component's history. Even if you or another user then Unapprove the component, it returns to the Draft state but the information about any previously attached e-signatures for approval remains part of the component's history. For more information read: View a component's history.
  - If you export a list of components, the exported CSV file includes all e-signatures.
  - If you approve multiple components at once, you only have to complete the e-signature form once, and it's applied to all selected components.