Approval rules let you decide how content gets signed off before it goes live: how many reviewers need to approve, whether a review is required, and when someone can publish without waiting. The result is a review process that works the same way every time, instead of one that depends on someone remembering to chase feedback.
Set your rules once for your workspace. They apply whenever content is sent for review or published, so your team always knows what has to happen before something goes out.
In this article
1. How approval rules work
Approval rules combine four controls. You can use them together or individually.
Rule | What it does | Who sets it |
Any or all approvers | Decides whether one approval is enough, or everyone you asked needs to approve | Admin, in workspace settings |
Required reviews | Content has to be reviewed before it can be published or scheduled | Admin, in workspace settings |
Due date | Tells reviewers when you need their feedback and flags overdue reviews | Whoever requests the review |
Bypass | Lets you publish or schedule without waiting for approval, on purpose | Whoever publishes |
2. Set your approval rules
Choose how many approvers are needed
Step 1. Click your avatar at the top right and select Settings. Then click "Content" and open the Approval rules section.
Step 2. Choose how approval works for your workspace:
Any: content counts as approved as soon as one reviewer approves it.
All: content counts as approved only when every reviewer you asked has approved it.
Step 3. Click Save.
🔔 Note: StoryChief shows a warning before you change this setting, because it affects how all content in your workspace gets approved.
Make reviews required
Step 4. In the same section, turn on the option to require reviews.
Step 5. Click Save.
Content now needs review before it can be published or scheduled.
💡 Tip: Required reviews work best with due dates. Reviewers know when you need them, and nothing slips past a deadline unnoticed.
3. Add a due date to a review request
Step 1. Open your article and click Collaborate at the top right of the editor.
Choose Ask someone to review.
Step 2. Pick the reviewers and set a due date.
Step 3. Reviewers see the due date in their review request email, in reminders, on their dashboard and on the review label in the editor. On your dashboard, the overdue tab shows reviews that are past their due date, so you can see who you still need to nudge.
Step 4. In the content, the review sidebar shows a full history of the approval requests, including the messages. To keep everything clean, the history is collapsed by default. When opening it, a full timeline is shown.
For the full review flow, see Ask someone to review your article.
4. Bypass approval when publishing
When a deadline can't wait, or a reviewer is out, you can publish without waiting for approval. The bypass is always a deliberate choice, and it is recorded so your team can see when it was used.
Step 1. Open the content and click Publish or Schedule.
In the confirmation window, tick the "Publish without approval" checkbox to bypass approval.
Step 2. Click "Confirm without approval".
🔔 Note: Bypasses show up in the activity log of the content.
5. Troubleshooting
Why can't I publish my content?
Your workspace requires a review and it isn't complete yet. Ask your reviewers to approve, or bypass approval if you have permission.Why is a review marked overdue?
The due date has passed without a response. Open the review sidebar and click Resend next to the reviewer to send a reminder.Why do I need all reviewers to approve?
Your workspace is set to All. Ask an admin to switch it to Any if one approval should be enough.
🎉 You're done, grab a coffee, you deserve it!
Check out the next steps below for more in-depth guides or follow-up actions.