5 Steps to Enhance SharePoint 2010 Approval Workflow

In my previous post, we discussed the shortcomings of SharePoint 2010 Approval workflow. Though empowering and convenient to use, the out-of-box workflow lacks a user-centered experience. To quickly recap, I highlighted five limitations in particular:

• Inability to specify workflow condition
• Potential governance concern
• Vague email notifications
• Due Date Duration not accounted for
• Rejected document marked as “Completed”

Fortunately, through SharePoint Designer (SPD) 2010, you can extend the approval workflow process. This post outlines how to configure the approval workflow using the SPD workflow designer. Though it’s certainly not the only way to customize approval workflow, I find myself coming back to this similar framework when implementing approval processes.

Step 1 – Expose “Start Approval Process” action in workflow designer

1. Open SPD 2010 and create a new List Workflow for your Document Library
2. Click Action in the ribbon. Then select “Start Approval Process” under the “Task Actions” heading
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
3. Click on “these users” to set the approval designations
4. The next screen you’ll see mimics the Approval Workflow design form in the UI. Fill in the appropriate approval details. (Note: You can add multiple approval stages by clicking this icon Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view. and selecting “Insert Assignment Stage”)
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
5. After clicking Ok, you’ve completed the 1st step. Click on “Approval” to start configuring the details of the approval workflow.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
6. Optional Step

   For every approval action you utilize in SPD, SharePoint creates a custom Approval Site Content Type. In other word, if you create 5 approval actions through SPD, you’ll end up with 5 different Approval Content Types (see screenshot below). So, it’s a good idea to rename the Approval Site Content Type and match your workflow name. Renaming to “Approval – Team A Proposal Draft,” for example, would provide better context and probably serve your well in the future.
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

Step 2 – Update email notification for the requester

1. Click on “Change the behavior of the overall task process” in the Approval editor page
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
2. Find the Step “When the Task Process Starts”
3. Then click on the Action “then Email Workflow Context: Initiator”
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
4. Change the subject line to something more descriptive
   Otherwise SharePoint would send an email with a generic subject line, i.e.: “Approval started on.” To change the subject, click on Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view. icon and replace [%Task Process: Process Name%] with something easier for your team to relate to, i.e.: RFP Approval, Draft Report Approval, etc.
5. Clean up the email body. Below is a screenshot example of my change:
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   The following Data Sources and Fields were kept same:

   • [%Task Process:Item Title (Unencoded)%]
   • [%Task Process:Item Title%]
   • [%Task Process:Participant List%]
   • View the status of this workflow
   • URL is the same
   • Changed label to “Monitor the status of the approval here”

   The following Data Source and Field were added:

   • [%Workflow Context: Initiator%]
   • Data Source = Workflow Context
   • Field from source = Initiator
   • Return field as = Display Name

Email as end result of Step 2:

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 3 – Update email for approver(s)

1. Click on “Change the behavior of a single task” in the Approval editor page
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
2. Find the Step “When a Task is Pending”
3. Then find the Condition “If Current Task: External Participant is empty,” and click on “Current Task: Assigned To”
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
4. Clean up the email body. Below is a screenshot example of my change:
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

   The following Data Sources and Fields were kept same:

   • [%Current Task: Title%]
   • This value comes from the Title field in the Select Task Process Participants screen (see #4 in Step 1 above)
   • [%Workflow Context: Initiator%]
   • [%Task Process:Item Title%]

   The following Data Sources and Fields were added:

   • [%Current Task: Assigned To%]
   • Data Source = Current Task: Approval
   • Field from source = Assigned To
   • Return field as = Display Name
   • [%Current Task:Due Date%]
   • Data source = Current Task: Approval
   • Field from source = Due Date
   • Return field as = Short Date
   • Access approval form in SharePoint
   • To create hyperlink, highlight the text then click Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view. icon
   • Assign [%Current Task:Form_URN%] on the address field:
     • Data source = Current Task: Approval
     • Field from source = Form_URN
     • Return field as = As String
   • Click OK a couple of times and you should see the following below. Then click OK.
     Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view.

Email as end result of Step 3:

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 4 – Update rejection notice

1. Click on “Change the behavior of the overall task process” in the Approval editor page
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
2. Find the Step ““When the Task Process Completes”
3. Find “Set workflow status to Rejected.” Then click below “Set workflow status to Rejected.”
4. Update email subject line to denote rejection:
   • Add “Set Workflow Variable” from Action on the ribbon
     Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view.
   • Click on “workflow variable” then select “Variable: CompletionMailTitle”
   • Click on “value” to assign a rejection tagline to be displayed in the email subject line
   • Access the String Builder by clicking this Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view. icon
   • Use the word “Rejected” combined with brief info about the rejected file
   • E.g.: “REJECTED – Draft Report: [%Task Process:Item Title%]”
   • Data source = Task Process: Approval
   • Field from source = Item Title
   • Return field as = As String

   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

5. Update email content to denote rejection:
   • Click under the action you just created to add another workflow action
   • Click “Set Workflow Variable” from Action on the ribbon
   • Click on “workflow variable” then select “Variable: CompletionMailReason”
   • Click on “value” to assign a rejection message to be displayed in the email body
   • Access the String Builder by clicking this Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view. icon
   • Include the word “Rejected” along with some context about the rejected file
     Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view.
6. At this point, your set of Rejected actions should look similar to the following
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
7. Scroll below and click on the last action – “Email Workflow Context: Initiator” under “Else”
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.
8. Clean up the email body

• Remove the first line. Otherwise, the words “Approval” and “Completed” will be included on the rejected email
• Make sure you keep both [%Variable: CompletionReason%] and [%TaskProcess:Consolidated Comments%] because they provide the rejected status and comments from the user(s) who rejected the file
• Everything else is optional. Please feel free to redesign as needed.

Email as end result of Step 4:

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Step 5 – Update notification for approved files

1. Similar to Step 4. Only this time, we’re configuring the email notification for an approved document
2. Click on “Change the behavior of the overall task process” in the Approval editor page
3. Find the Step ““When the Task Process Completes”
4. Find “If Variable: IsItemApproved equals Yes” then click below “Set workflow status to Approved.”
5. Update email subject line to denote Approval:
   • Add “Set Workflow Variable” from Action on the ribbon
   • Click on “workflow variable” then select “Variable: CompletionMailTitle”
   • Click on “value” to assign a rejection tagline to be displayed in the email subject line
   • Access the String Builder by clicking this Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view. icon
   • Use the word “Approved” combined with brief info about the approved file
   • E.g.: “APPROVED – Draft Report: [%Task Process:Item Title%]”
   • Data source = Task Process: Approval
   • Field from source = Item Title
   • Return field as = As String
6. Update email content to denote Approval:
   • Click under the action you just created to add another workflow action
   • Click “Set Workflow Variable” from Action on the ribbon
   • Click on “workflow variable” then select “Variable: CompletionMailReason”
   • Click on “value” to assign a rejection message to be displayed in the email body
   • Access the String Builder by clicking this Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view. icon
   • Include the word “Approved” along with some context about the approved file
     Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view.
7. At this point, your set of Approved actions should look similar to the following
   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

Email as end result of Step 5:

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

And there you have it! Five steps to get you started with enhancing the approval workflow. We focused mostly on emails, but there are still other system generated emails that you can configure. Furthermore, there are a slew of other functions that you can explore, e.g., Task Form Fields and Task Outcomes to extend the approval capability even further. I hope this post would get you started in the right direction.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.