How do I set up a document approval workflow in zipBoard?
An approval workflow answers three questions for every document: who has to review it, by when, and is it approved yet? In zipBoard you set this up per file with reviewers, a due date and stages (boards). The walkthrough below works for drawings, submittals, technical documents, marketing material and courses.
Plan note: project boards, and downloading tasks as a CSV, are available on Enterprise and custom plans. See the Pricing FAQ.
1. Decide your stages
Create one board for each stage your documents go through, for example Draft → SME review → Final approval → Approved. Move a file to the next board when a stage is done. See How to set up review cycles. If you run the same process on every project, save it as a project template.
2. Add the people who must sign off
Open the file and add people under Reviewers. They become mandatory reviewers: they get an email, and the file appears in their Needs my review list. People who can comment but don't have to sign off can stay as collaborators. See Mandatory reviewers vs collaborators.
3. Set a due date
Give the file a due date. The date turns amber when it's within 7 days and red when it's overdue and not yet approved. See What the due-date colors mean.
4. Reviewers give their decision
Each reviewer marks up the file and then picks a decision:
| Decision | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Approved | No changes needed |
| Changes Requested | The document must be revised and sent back |
| Feedback Given | Comments are advisory, with no formal decision |
| Review Complete | The reviewer is done with their part |
See How to complete your review. On PDFs, reviewers can also add a signature, check-mark, timestamp or custom stamp. See Drawing and stamping on PDFs.
5. Track who's done
The file card shows progress (for example "1 of 3 reviewers done"), and the owner gets an email whenever a reviewer changes their decision. See Track reviewer progress. To see everything still waiting across all projects, use My Work (Find pending reviews and approvals).
6. Upload the revised version
When changes are requested, upload the revision as a new version of the same file. Earlier approvals reset, reviewers see it in New version since you reviewed, and the previous version keeps its comments. Reviewers can compare the two versions side by side to check what was addressed. See Version control and Compare versions.
What about reviewers outside my company?
Send a share link with the permissions you need (sign-in required, password or expiry date). See Share link settings.
How do I keep a record of the approval?
Download the PDF with annotations (how), export comments and tasks to CSV (how), or download a project report (how). See also Export review comments for records.