Within Approvals, while Reviewers ultimately provide the final review on an the item, sometimes other users are needed to just provide their feedback.
The Collaborators feature allows users to be added as "Collaborators" to pending requests for Resources or Record File Requests. They can leave markup comments & annotations within the request, without needing to actually approve/decline the request. This can save you from adding unnecessary Reviewers to a request, yet allows key stakeholders the chance to collaborate and provide key insights.
Click below to jump to read more about a specific part of this Collaborators feature:
- Collaborator Overview
- Configuring Collaborators on a Workflow
- How to Add & Remove Collaborators to a Request
- Collaborator Markup Actions & Markup Alerts
- Collaborator Filter
- Collaborator Usage & Tracking
Collaborator Overview
What is a Collaborator?
A Collaborator is a user that can be added to supported workflow requests, that can then add their feedback via Markup Comments. A Collaborator should not be a user you need to formally approve/decline the request - those users should remain as Reviewers - but Collaborators can influence that end request result via the feedback that they provide.
What Workflow Types are supported for Collaborators?
Collaborators can be configured for any request type that supports Markup Comments: Publish Resource Requests, Resource Feedback Requests, & Record File Approval Workflows.
This can be configured on a Workflow-by-Workflow basis. Once enabled, the feature will apply to all pending requests tied to that Workflow.
Who can add Collaborators?
- The current participants (ie, the Requester, and Reviewer(s) of current stage) as well as Workflow Admin & Main Admins can add Collaborators to a request.
- Existing Collaborators can extend that invitation to other users, depending on the below.
Who can be added as a Collaborator?
This will depend on how the Workflow Template has been configured (read more below). The three options are:
- Only users who can already see the request. This ensures that no one who can't already see the request details is involved, ensuring the request is kept contained and secure.
- The users above + plus additional users from nominated Groups and/or Divisions.
- ‘All’ platform users to be added
What happens if a Collaborator does not have permission to the pending request or request item?
They are granted a temporary ‘bypass permissions’ so they can see the request item in their Approvals List, open the Request Details page - and for Record File requests also View the record (to provide greater context to the asset they are providing their feedback on).
If such a user is removed as a Collaborator, or when the request/stage is completed, they will lose this access.
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Configuring Collaborators on a Workflow
Admin users can configure this on a workflow-by-workflow basis for Publish Resource, Resource Feedback, & Record File Approval Workflows via the Admin > Workflows location.
To add this to existing Workflows, simply click in to Edit this Workflow and scroll down to the 'Allow Collaborators' setting and enable this checkbox.
As you can see above, enabling this setting will open more options, which will control what users can be added as Collaborators to requests tied to this Workflow.
- All users: Any active user on your platform can be added as a Collaborator
- Basic (any user who can see this request). This is the default option and useful for Staged Requests to allow Reviewers of previous stages to be able to answer questions about their feedback.
- Configure by Group(s) and/or Division(s). When this option is selected, a 'Configure Collaborators' button & popup appears, allowing users to select which Groups or Divisions users can select from. Any user from either a Group or Division added can then be added as a collaborator. Note that you may need to save the Workflow Settings for this to appear for new workflows.
Permissions and Collaborators
If a Collaborator user does not have access to the request or item tied to the request (ie the Resource, or asset), then we will apply a temporary 'Bypass' level of permission.
This allows the Collaborator to view the Request and the item they're being asked to collaborate on.
If the user is removed as Collaborator, or the request they are a Collaborator on is competed, these bypass permission will be revoked and the user will return to the level of permission they held on these items prior to being added as Collaborator.
How to Add & Remove Collaborators to a Request
When Collaborators has been enabled on a Workflow, a new Collaborators action will display for all pending requests tied to that Workflow.
Users can be added or removed via this Collaborators popup:
A Collaborator can remove themselves when they are done adding feedback, and may no longer want to receive related alerts to that request.
Users will also be auto-removed as Collaborators under the below circumstances:
- The stage or request they are a Collaborator on is completed
- They are a Collaborator but then are Suspended or Deleted as a User
If you want a user to Collaborate on multiple stages for a stage request, they will need to be added to each stage of that request.
Once a User is added as a Collaborator, an email alert is sent to that user to notify them of this.
Collaborator Markup Actions & Markup Alerts
Once they are added as a Collaborator, that user can do the same actions as they could if they were a Reviewer within the Markup space, such as:
- See other user’s Comments
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Add Annotations and Comments
- Can be @mentioned and can @mention other participants, admins and collaborators
- Can create new Threads and be added to other new and existing ones
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Resolve/Unresolve Comments
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See previous Versions/Revisions in that tab
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Receive instant, digest, session alerts the same as other participants (based on their settings configurations)
- See the Item Details, Request Details, and Request Status info in the Request Details page
NOTE that the user will only receive markup alerts when they're a Collaborator (not when removed) and only based on their personal Markup alert settings. Any other actions are dependant on their permissions.
Collaborator Filter
Users can keep track of items they are a current Collaborator on via their Approvals List Filters.
Configuring a filter as shown below will filter Approval List items to show requests they are a Collaborator on.
Click here to read more about configuring Approvals List Filters.
Collaborator Usage & Tracking
Tracking around when or who has added/removed Collaborators can be found in the User Usage reports (located in Admin > Users).
Additionally a "(Show Details)" link can be clicked to display the details of that change; which users were added and/or removed:
Please note that the 'Workflow' and 'Approvals' terminology referenced in this article may appear differently in your platform as these are customisable terms. You can view common alternative names for this here.
Related:
Proofing - Markup Comments Overview
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