Approval Workflow

How It Works

The approval workflow adds a review step between scheduling and publishing. When enabled, scheduled posts wait for an external person to approve them before they go live.

Enabling Approval

1. Create or edit a post as usual
2. Toggle Require Approval in the post editor
3. Enter up to 5 approver email addresses — approvers can be anyone (client, manager, colleague), they don't need a PostRite account. Every approver receives their own review link and any one of them can approve or reject — the first response decides. If your organization has a default approver email configured (Settings → Organization), it is prefilled automatically
4. Set your desired schedule date and time
5. Click Schedule Post

The post will be saved with Pending Approval status instead of going directly to Scheduled. The scheduled time must be more than an hour in the future — approval links expire one hour before publish, so a closer schedule would leave no time to review. Turning the approval toggle off on a pending post re-schedules it directly and invalidates any outstanding review links.

Sending a Batch for Approval

Instead of enabling approval on posts one at a time, you can send several scheduled posts for review as a single batch — ideal for getting a client or manager to sign off on a whole week or campaign at once.

1. On the Posts page, switch to card view and click Select
2. Tick the scheduled posts you want to bundle (up to 20)
3. Click Request approval, enter one or more approver emails, and send

Every approver receives one link that lists all the posts. They can approve, request changes, or reject each post individually, or use Approve all to clear the whole set in one click. You receive a single summary once the batch is fully reviewed — not one email per post. Only posts scheduled more than an hour in the future can be added to a batch.

The Approver Experience

The person you designate as approver will receive an email with:

• A summary of the post content
• Which platforms it will be published to
• The scheduled date and time
• A preview of attached media (images/videos)
• Your organization name and who created the post

The email contains a secure link that opens a review page — a branded PostRite page that adapts to the approver's browser language (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, or Greek) and shows:

• The full post content, hashtags, and media gallery
• Per-network previews — the post rendered exactly as it will appear on each connected platform (Instagram feed/Reel/Story, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and so on), switchable between phone and desktop mockups
• The scheduled date and time, including the timezone it refers to

From there the approver can take action:

• Approve — The post moves to Scheduled status and will publish at the planned time
• Request changes — The post goes back to the creator with a note describing what should change; the creator edits and resubmits it on the same approval timeline
• Reject — The post moves to Rejected status, with an optional note explaining why

Post Statuses

When using the approval workflow, your post will go through these statuses:

After a Rejection

If your post is rejected, you'll receive an email notification with the approver's feedback (if they provided a note). You can then:

1. Open the rejected post
2. Review the rejection note
3. Edit the content, media, or platforms as needed
4. Click Resubmit for Approval to send a new approval request

Each resubmission generates a fresh approval link — previous links are automatically invalidated.

Approval History

Every step of the approval workflow is recorded and shown as a timeline in the post detail view: when the request was sent, each time it was resent, and when it was approved, rejected (including the rejection note), or expired. This gives you a complete audit trail of who reviewed what and when.

Token Expiration

Approval links expire automatically for security:

• Links expire 72 hours after being sent by default — configurable per organization from 24 to 168 hours in Settings → Organization — or one hour before the scheduled publish time, whichever comes first
• When a pending link is about to expire (roughly 24 hours before), the approver automatically receives a reminder email with the same link
• If the link expires without action, the post is marked as Rejected with its approval state shown as Expired — it will not publish
• You're notified by email whenever an approval request expires — a batch that expires sends one summary instead of one email per post
• You can resend the approval email at any time — even after the link expired — and a fresh link replaces the old one. The post detail also shows when the current link expires

Notifications

Both the post creator and the approver receive email notifications at key moments:

Security

The approval workflow is designed with security in mind:

• Private links — Each approval link is unique and unguessable, so only the person you emailed can open the review page.
• One-time decision — Once the post is approved or rejected, every approver's link stops accepting actions and shows the outcome instead. With multiple approvers, the first response decides.
• Auto-expiration — Links expire after your organization's configured lifetime (72 hours by default) or before the scheduled time, so old requests can't linger. Media preview links are capped to the same lifetime.
• No account required — Approvers don't need to create an account or log in to review a post.
• Content privacy — The review page shows only the post content and media previews — nothing else from your workspace.

Use Cases

• Client approval — Social media agencies can send posts to clients for sign-off before publishing
• Manager review — Team members can route posts to managers for approval
• Compliance — Regulated industries can require legal or compliance review before posting
• Brand consistency — Ensure all content meets brand guidelines before going live

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I approve my own posts?

Yes. You can enter your own email as the approver. You'll receive the approval email and can approve from there. This is useful for a "review before publish" workflow.

Can I change the approvers after submitting?

Yes. Open the post, change the approver emails, and click Resend Approval. The previous links are invalidated and fresh ones are sent to the new list.

Can several people review the same post?

Yes — add up to 5 approver emails. Each one receives their own private link, and the first response decides: as soon as one approver approves or rejects, the other links show the outcome and no longer accept actions.

What if the approver never responds?

The approver gets an automatic reminder before the link expires. If it still expires, the post is marked as Rejected with its approval state shown as Expired — it will not publish, and you'll receive an expiration notification by email and push. You can then click Resend on the post to send a fresh link, edit the post and resubmit it, or remove the approval requirement.

Does the approver see my media files?

Yes, the review page shows image and video previews — including platform-accurate post previews — so the approver can see the complete post. Media is served through secure, time-limited links that expire with the approval request.

Is approval required for all posts?

No. Approval is opt-in per post. You toggle it on only when you need external review. Posts without approval enabled are scheduled immediately as usual.