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Approval Queue

This guide explains how to review and approve or reject pending asset uploads from the portal. The Approval Queue is available to users who have been granted the DAM Client Approvers permission by their administrator.

1. What Is the Approval Queue?

When a portal user uploads an asset without moderator bypass permission, the upload enters a Pending Approval state. It does not appear in the asset library until someone with approval rights reviews it.

The Approval Queue gives you a dedicated page to review these pending assets, preview their details, and either approve or reject each one.

Note: The Approval Queue is a separate permission from moderation bypass. A user can be a moderator (their own uploads skip the queue) without being an approver, or an approver without moderation bypass, or both. The two roles are deliberately separate.

2. Accessing the Approval Queue

If you have approval permission, you will see an Approval Queue link in the user menu -- click the user icon in the top-right corner to open the user panel, where the Approval Queue link appears with a count badge.

The count badge shows how many assets are waiting for review. It updates every time a portal page loads, so you always have an up-to-date number. When the count is above zero the badge turns red.

3. Reviewing Pending Assets

The Approval Queue page displays a table of all pending uploads for your organisation. Each row shows:

  • Thumbnail -- a small preview of the asset (or a file-type icon if no preview is available).

  • Asset name -- the display name and original filename.

  • File type -- the file extension (e.g. JPG, PDF, MP4).

  • File size

  • Upload date

  • Actions -- Approve and Reject buttons.

The table displays 25 assets per page. If there are more than 25 pending assets, use the Previous and Next buttons at the bottom to navigate between pages.

4. Viewing Asset Details

Before making a decision, you can expand any row to see the full details of the asset:

  1. Click the arrow icon, the thumbnail, or the asset name on any row.

  2. A detail panel expands below the row showing:

    • A larger preview of the asset (images, videos, and audio files can be previewed directly).

    • All metadata fields and their values.

    • Tags applied to the asset.

    • File dimensions, MIME type, and uploader name.

  3. Click the arrow icon again to collapse the detail panel.

5. Approving an Asset

  1. Click the green Approve button on the asset's row.

  2. The asset is published immediately and becomes visible in the asset library.

  3. A success message confirms the approval and the table refreshes automatically.

Once approved, the asset is available to all portal users with the appropriate viewing permissions.

6. Rejecting an Asset

  1. Click the red Reject button on the asset's row.

  2. A dialog box appears where you can optionally enter a reason for the rejection.

  3. Click Reject Asset to confirm.

The rejected asset is removed from the queue and does not appear in the library. The person who uploaded the asset will receive an email notification with your reason for rejection, so they know why it was not accepted and can try again if needed.

Tip: Providing a rejection reason is optional but recommended -- it helps the uploader understand what to change before re-uploading.

7. Empty Queue

When there are no assets waiting for review, the page displays an "All clear" message with a checkmark icon. The count badge in the navigation will show zero.

8. Notifications

The Approval Queue is supported by email notifications to keep everyone informed:

  • New upload pending -- when a user submits an asset for approval, approvers for that organisation receive an email with a link to the Approval Queue.

  • Asset approved -- the original uploader receives an email confirming their asset has been approved and is now live.

  • Asset rejected -- the original uploader receives an email with the rejection reason (if provided).

9. Tips

  • Keep an eye on the count badge -- it updates on every page load so you can see at a glance whether anything is waiting.

  • Expand the detail panel to check metadata and tags before approving -- this helps maintain quality and consistency in the library.

  • Use the Refresh button on the Approval Queue page to check for new submissions without reloading the entire page.

  • If you cannot see the Approval Queue link, contact your administrator to request the DAM Client Approvers permission.