Approval workflows let you require sign-off before posts go live. They're useful when an editor writes content but a manager, executive director, board member, or client needs to review it first — so nothing publishes by accident or off-message.
PostPlanify supports multi-approver workflows: you can designate specific people who all need to approve before a post is published.
Plan availability
Approval workflows are available on Premium and higher plans (Premium, Scale, Enterprise). Growth users can see posts requiring approval but can't enable approval workflows for new posts. To use them, upgrade from Settings → Subscription.
Two ways to require approval
Approvals can be set up at two levels:
1. Workspace-wide: the workspace owner can turn on "Require approval for all posts" and set default approvers. Once enabled, every new post in that workspace requires approval automatically — the per-post toggle is locked on.
2. Per-post: when creating a single post, the creator can toggle Request Approval and choose specific approvers just for that post. This is helpful when most posts don't need review, but a particular campaign post does.
You can also combine the two: a workspace owner can set default approvers, and individual posts will use those defaults unless the creator picks different ones.
Choosing approvers
When approval is requested for a post, you'll see a Select Approvers picker. Inside, you'll see the workspace owner and team members eligible to approve.
The picker description reads "All selected members must approve" — meaning every approver you pick has to sign off before the post can publish. Pick one approver for a single sign-off, or several for a multi-step review chain (for example, marketing manager + executive director + client).
Eligible approvers come from people in the workspace with the right role. Only Owners and Clients have permission to approve posts. Editors and Viewers can't approve, regardless of whether they're selected.
The approver experience
When a post requires approval and approvers are designated:
- Each approver gets a notification and email about the pending post
- The post appears with an orange "Pending approval" indicator on the calendar and post list
- Approvers see how many people have approved so far (e.g. "1/2 Approved") right on the post card
To review, approvers open the post and see two buttons:
Approve (green) and Reject (red).
When rejecting, approvers can optionally add a reason in the "Reason for rejection" field. The placeholder reads "Let the author know why this post was rejected..."
What happens when a post is approved
The system tracks each approver's status individually. As approvers sign off, the count updates ("1/2 Approved" → "2/2 Approved").
Once every designated approver has approved:
- The post is fully approved and ready to publish
- It will publish automatically at its scheduled time
If even one approver hasn't approved yet, the post stays in pending state and won't publish — even if the scheduled time arrives.
What happens when a post is rejected
Any approver can reject the post. When that happens:
- The post is moved to Cancelled status
- The rejection reason (if provided) is shown on the post in red
- The original creator gets a notification and email letting them know it was rejected and why
- A comment is added to the post's internal thread noting the rejection
The creator can edit the post and resubmit it for approval, or duplicate it and start fresh. A rejected post doesn't auto-resubmit — the creator decides what to do next.
Filtering and finding posts that need approval
On the Posts page, use the Approval filter at the top to narrow the calendar or list:
All Approvals (default)
Pending Approval — every post waiting on someone
Awaiting My Approval — posts where you're a designated approver and haven't responded yet
Awaiting My Approval is the fastest way for an approver to see only their queue.
Things to know
Workspace owners always have approval permission — they can approve any post that requires it.
Clients have approval permission too. This makes the Client role ideal for agencies — clients can approve their content but can't create or edit it.
Editors create posts but can't approve them, even if selected.
If an approver is removed from the workspace, their pending approval is automatically removed and the post recalculates whether it has all required approvals.
The post creator can be one of the approvers if they have the right role (Owner or Client).
Comments left during rejection are saved as part of the post's internal history so you can see why something was rejected later.
Need help setting up your first approval workflow? Tap the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner — we'll walk you through the right setup for your team or client review process.