Managing and Approving Draft Posts in Publlish

The approval workflow in Publlish creates a quality gate between content creation and publishing. Contributors create drafts, managers review and approve them, and only approved posts make it into the scheduled queue. This guide covers how to set up and use the workflow from both sides.

How the Approval Workflow Works

The flow has three stages:

Contributor creates draft ↓ Contributor submits for approval ↓ Manager/Admin reviews draft ↓ ↓ Approve Reject with feedback ↓ ↓ Post moves Draft returns to contributor to queue with Notes explaining why ↓ Post publishes at scheduled time

Setting Up the Approval Workflow

For the approval workflow to function, you need:

1. At least one Contributor — a team member whose role requires approval before publishing
2. At least one Approver — a Manager or Admin who reviews and approves drafts

No special "workflow mode" needs to be turned on — the workflow is activated simply by having Contributors and Managers with the right roles. A Contributor cannot publish directly, so any post they create automatically goes through the approval step.

Setting up team roles →

For Contributors — Submitting a Draft for Approval

1. Create your post in the Publlish composer as normal
2. Write your caption, add media, select channel(s)
3. Instead of scheduling directly, click Save as Draft
4. From the draft, click Submit for Approval (or Request Review)
5. Optionally add a note to the approver explaining context, questions, or specific feedback requests
6. Submit

The draft moves to the Pending Approval queue, visible to Managers and Admins. You'll be notified when it's approved or rejected.

For Managers and Admins — Reviewing Drafts

Where to find pending drafts:

1. Go to Queue and look for the Pending Approval tab or filter
2. All drafts awaiting your review will appear here

Reviewing a draft:

1. Click on the pending draft to open it
2. Read the caption, check the media, review the channel and timing
3. Check any Notes the contributor left

Approving a draft:

• Click Approve
• The draft moves to the scheduled queue with the time the contributor set (or you can adjust the time before approving)
• The contributor is notified of approval

Rejecting a draft:

• Click Reject (or Request Changes)
• Add a Note explaining what needs to change — be specific
• The draft returns to the contributor with your feedback
• The contributor will be notified

Giving Feedback with Notes

Notes are the communication layer inside Publlish — you can leave comments directly on a draft post rather than communicating via Slack or email.

When rejecting a post:

• Be specific: "The first line of this caption doesn't work for this brand — it's too casual. Rewrite as [example]."
• Reference specific elements: "The image needs to be cropped to 4:5 — it will get cut off on Instagram feed."
• Set clear expectations: "Once revised, resubmit for review by EOD Thursday."

When approving but noting improvements:

• Approve the post but add a Note with suggestions for future posts
• This builds the contributor's skills without blocking the current post

Full guide to collaborating with Notes →

Approval Workflow for Agencies

For agencies, the approval workflow is especially valuable. A typical agency structure:

Running a two-stage approval (internal review + client review) in Publlish is cleaner than email chains and gives you a documented record of what was approved and when.

Agency client onboarding →

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the approval workflow apply to all posts or just drafts from Contributors? It applies to Contributors specifically — their role requires approval. Managers and Admins can publish directly without approval.

Can a Manager approve their own drafts? Yes — Managers can publish directly without needing approval. If you want Managers to go through approval too, use Contributor roles for everyone and Admin for the approver only.

What if an approver is unavailable and a time-sensitive post needs to go live? An Admin can approve. If there's no approver available at all, an Admin can also edit a post and publish it directly.

Can I see a history of all approvals and rejections? Approval history may be available depending on your plan. Notes left during review are always preserved on the post.

Can clients approve posts through Publlish? Yes — give the client an Approver or Manager role (restricted to their channel group) and they can review and approve directly in Publlish without emailing PDFs back and forth.

Related Guides

• Adding users and setting permissions →
• Collaborating with Notes →
• Saving and scheduling draft posts →
• Getting started as a team user →
• Agency client onboarding →