Publishing and approval process

By default, there is no in-built approval step when publishing org unit intranet pages. Editors can publish their new and updated pages directly to the live intranet site.

• SharePoint page lifecycle explains the standard page publishing processes in SharePoint Online.

Page approval options

As part of their planning process, each org unit should determine:

• what approvals are needed for what content 
• whether approvals should be an in-built step in the publishing process or happen outside of SharePoint (e.g. by email, Teams or in person)

We recommend the following for most org unit intranets:

• no in-built page approval step in the publishing process, so that page updates are as quick and easy as possible
• editors ask a colleague to check their page before it is published, to ensure it is clear, correct and complete
• content owners regularly review the published content in their section or topic to ensure it is clear, correct, complete and consistent.

For more sensitive pages, a page approval process can be added.

Adding the standard page approval process

SharePoint Online comes with a standard page approval process which can be enabled by intranet coordinators and super users.

The approval process is enabled on a page library and applies to all pages in the library. The designated approvers will have permission to approve all pages in the library. Local processes may be needed to identify who should approve what content.

• How to configure page approval

If you enable page approval, always add the intranet coordinator and super users as owners of the page approval flow. This allows them to monitor and update the process.

This standard process is supported by ITS.

Custom approval processes

It is possible to add approval processes for document publishing, and also to create more customised content approval processes in SharePoint. However, this is not yet supported by ITS. 

If the standard approval process doesn't meet your needs, contact ITS to discuss your options.