Set up an approval workflow

This article shows you how to use “Reviewer Only” field property to configure project approval workflows in ActivityInfo.

In some cases, you may want one group of users to approve the submissions of another group of users. A supervisor may need to approve case closure, or a M&E officer may need to approve submissions of reporting partners.

Follow this tutorial to set up an approval workflow like that in ActivityInfo.

Phase 1: Creating a new “Monthly reports” Form

Let us start by creating a new Form titled “Monthly reports” with the following Fields types:

• Month to track the date
  
• Quantity to indicate how many beneficiaries were reached
  
• Single-select for the approval status of the report

To do so, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to your Database.

2. Click “Add Form.”

3. Name the Form as “Monthly reports.”

4. Click the “Add a field” button

5. Select the “Month” Field type.

6. Fill out the Month Field card with the following information:

7. Type in “Reporting Month” as the label.

8. Fill out the Code Field.

9. Check the “Key” setting. This automatically makes the Field Required as well.

10. Click Done.

11. Add the next Field by clicking the “Add Field” button or by moving your mouse cursor to below the first Field and click the “+” button.

12. Select the “Quantity” field type.

13. Fill out the Quantity Field card with the following information:

14. Type in “Number of beneficiaries reached” as the label.

15. Fill out the Code Field.

16. Check the “Required” setting.

17. Click Done.

18. Add the next Field by clicking the “Add Field” button or by moving your mouse cursor to below the first Field and click the “+” button.

19. Select the “Single-selection” Field type.

20. Fill out the Single-select Field card with the following information:

21. Type in “Approval status” as the label.

22. Fill out the Code Field.

23. Check the “Required” setting.

24. Check the “Reviewer-only” setting.

25. Add three options: “Approved”, “Rejected” and “Pending.”

26. Make the “Pending” option Default.

13. Check if your Form looks as follows:

14. Click “Save” to save the new Form.

Step 2: Defining Submitter and Approver Roles

To set the roles and permissions, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Database you wish to enrich with such a feature.
2. Click “Database settings.”

3. Select “Roles” on the left navigation panel.

4. Select the Submitter role.
5. On the right side panel, scroll down to “Grant resources.”
6. On the “Select resource” pop-up page, select the Form to which you want to associate this Role with.
7. On the right side panel, tick the following checkboxes under “Permitted operations”:
   

• View all records
  
• Display in the list of forms
  
• Add any record
  
• Edit all records
  Do NOT check the “Edit 'Reviewer only fields” box.

8. Scroll down to the bottom of the right side panel, and click “Save.”

9. Select the Administrator/Reviewer role from the list of Roles.
10. On the right side panel, scroll down to “Grant resources.”
11. On the “Select resource” pop-up page, select the Form to which you want to associate this Role with.
12. On the right side panel, tick the following checkboxes under “Permitted operations”:
    

• View all records
  
• Display in the list of forms
  
• Edit all records
  
• “Edit ‘Reviewer only’ fields”

13. Scroll down to the bottom of the right side panel, and click “Save.”

Step 3: Submitting a Monthly Report as a Reporting Partner

Time to test the workflow. For this, your Database needs to have a user with the Submitter role. In this example, you can add a user with the Submitter role using your personal Gmail account to complete the test.

1. Log in as the user with the Submitter role.
2. Navigate to the “Monthly reports” Form.
3. Click “Add record.”
4. Fill out the “Month” and “Number of beneficiaries” Fields.
5. Check if the “Approval” Field is visible in the Data entry Form. Users without the “Edit ‘Reviewer only’ fields” permission do not see Fields marked as “Reviewer only.”

4. Click “Save record”.
5. Check the Report in the Table view. Note that the “Approval status” Field is visible, but cannot be edited by the user with the Submitter role.

Step 4: Approving the Monthly Report

Test the approval part of the workflow as well.

1. Logout from the Submitter role.
2. Log back in with the “Administrator” role, or as the Database owner.
3. Navigate to the “Monthly Reports” Form.
4. Select the Monthly report you added as the Submitter and click “Edit.”
5. As the Administrator role has the “Edit ‘Reviewer only’ fields” permission, you can now change the status of the Record to “Approved.”