Document Approval Process in WSS3.0/MOSS 2007

We can enable approval process on the documents stored in SharePoint document libraries. We require approval of the documents or of changes to the documents that are submitted to the document library. When this content approval setting is applied, a document that has been changed remains in a pending state until it is approved or rejected by someone who has permission to approve it. If the item or file is approved, it is assigned an ‘Approved’ status in the library, and the approved document can be viewed by anyone with permission to view the items in library. If the document is rejected, it remains in a pending state and is visible only to the people with permission to view drafts.

How to enable the document approval process?

When we create a new document library, the document approval is not enabled by default. To enable document approval, please follow the below steps;

1	On the Settings menu, click Document Library Settings, or click the settings for the type of library that you are opening.
2	Under General settings, click Versioning settings.

Note: When you click on the Yes, the content approval is turned on. SharePoint by default maintains only the latest version of the document. If you need multiple versions of the document stored in the document library, versioning has to be turned-on in Document Version History.

Document Versioning

Versioning in document libraries enables you to track and manage information as it evolves and to view and recover earlier versions if necessary. You can specify whether to track all versions in the same way or specify that some versions are major (major version: A numbered copy of a file that has changed significantly since the previous major version. Each major version is identified by a whole number 1, 2, 3 …), and some are minor (minor version: A decimal-numbered copy (0.1, 0.2, 1.1 …) of a file that is in a stage of revision or that has changed only slightly since the previous version. A minor version is not published for a wider group to view.), such as those in which a spelling error is corrected.

Other settings that affect versioning

You can configure other settings that affect versioning. You can require content to be approved — this setting is sometimes referred to as content moderation. You can also require files to be checked out, which help to avoid conflicts over changes and prompts people to enter comments about files when they check them in.

Content approval

When content approval is required, a document remains in a draft or pending state until it is approved or rejected by someone who has permission to approve it. If the document is approved, it is assigned an Approved status in the library, and it is displayed to anyone with permission to view the library. If the document is rejected, it remains in a pending state and is visible only to the people with permission to view drafts.

When you enable major and minor versioning in a library that requires Content Approval, you can also add a workflow to the document library. A workflow controls how your document move through business processes, such as review or approval. You can use a workflow to manage the approval process when major versions are checked in.

Requiring check-out

Requiring check-out can help you make the most of versioning, because people specifically designate when a version is to be created. A version is created only when someone checks out a file, changes it, and then checks it back in. When check-out is not required, a version is created when someone first saves a file and this version is updated when the person closes it. If that person or someone else then opens and saves the file again, another version is created. Depending on the situation, you might not intend for multiple versions to be created.

When check-out is required, people cannot add files, change files, or change the file properties without first checking out the file. When people check in files, they are prompted to provide comments about the changes that they made, which helps to create a more meaningful version history. This is the best practice to be followed while creating a document library no matter whether, you need content approval, versioning or not.

How to enable document versioning?

1	On the Settings menu, click Document Library Settings, or click the settings for the type of library that you are opening.
2	Under General Settings, click Versioning settings.
3	Do one of the following: Specify that only one type of version is tracked; click Create major versions in the Document Version History section. Specify that both major and minor versions are tracked; click Create major and minor (draft) versions in the Document Version History section.
5	Click OK

Who can view the draft versions?

You can control which groups of people can read drafts of the documents. Drafts are either the minor versions of a document that is in a stage of revision or that has changed only slightly since the previous version. Typically, a minor version is not published for a wider group. A draft can be a new item or an item that has changed.

A draft is created in two situations:

1. When a minor version of a file is created or updated in a library that tracks major and minor versions
2. When a document is created or updated but not yet approved in a list or library in which content approval is required

To specify who can view the draft versions, you must have permission to design the particular library. To make changes, go to versioning settings pages (as specified above). In the Draft Item Security section, under Who should see draft items in this list or under Who should see draft items in this document library, click the group of users whom you want to enable to view drafts.

Note: The option for users who can approve items is available only if your library requires content approval.

To view the various versions of the documents

Now that we turned on the versioning in the document library, we can always view and retrieve the document from previous versions. Follow the steps below

1. Click on the small downward facing arrow. A drop down appears as shown in the figure below. Select Version History from the options available.

1. The following page with the version history of the document is displayed. Here you can either delete a particular version of the document or even delete all draft version.
2. To restore a particular version, hover the mouse pointer on the modified date of the particular version. You will see the arrow appear next to the document’s modified date.
3. When you click on the arrow, you will get dropdown as soon in the image below with options to restore, view, un publish (if publish version) or delete (if draft version)
4. When you click on the restore for the previous published version, you get a prompt saying, the existing version will be replaced with this version.
5. Click on OK to replace the current version with the selected version. Note that, before you restore a document, the document has to be checked out by you.

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