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Approval Cycle

The Approval Cycle protects your analyses from accidental changes, ensuring that all modifications to visualizations and dashboards go through a review process before being published.

Features​

📝 Drafts

Edit in isolation without affecting the published version

🔍 Review Requests

Submit changes for approval

✅ Approvals

Peer validation before publishing

📚 Version History

Complete audit of all changes

Why Use It?​

  • Error protection: Changes go through review before affecting users
  • Governance: Control who can approve critical changes
  • Collaboration: Discussions and comments during review
  • Auditing: Complete history of who did what and when
  • Reversibility: Restore previous versions with one click

Key Concepts​

Drafts​

A draft is an isolated working copy of a visualization or dashboard. While you edit the draft, other users continue seeing the published version. This allows you to make changes without interrupting those using the analysis.

Draft characteristics:

  • Complete isolation from the published version
  • Only the author can view and edit
  • Can be discarded at any time
  • No time limit for working on them

Review Requests​

When your draft is ready, you create a review request. This notifies reviewers that there are changes awaiting approval. The request includes:

  • Descriptive title of the changes
  • Detailed description (optional)
  • Comparison between current and proposed versions
  • Space for comments and discussion

Request Status​

StatusDescription
PendingAwaiting review
ApprovedReviewed and approved, ready to merge
RejectedChanges requested
MergedPublished to main version
CanceledDiscarded

Versions​

Each time a request is merged, a new immutable version is created. Version history allows:

  • View all previous versions
  • Compare versions
  • Restore old versions
  • Audit who made each change

Standard Flow​

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│  1. CREATE        2. EDIT          3. REQUEST              │
│  ┌─────────┐      ┌─────────┐      ┌─────────┐             │
│  │  Draft  │ ───► │  Edit   │ ───► │ Review  │             │
│  └─────────┘      └─────────┘      └─────────┘             │
│                                         │                   │
│                                         ▼                   │
│  6. PUBLISHED     5. MERGE         4. APPROVE              │
│  ┌─────────┐      ┌─────────┐      ┌─────────┐             │
│  │   New   │ ◄─── │  Merge  │ ◄─── │Approval │             │
│  │ Version │      └─────────┘      └─────────┘             │
│  └─────────┘                                                │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

How to Use in Practice​

Creating a Draft​

  1. Open the visualization or dashboard you want to edit
  2. Click Edit
  3. In the window, choose Create new draft
  4. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Add date filter")
  5. Make your changes normally
Existing Drafts

If an active draft already exists, you can continue working on it instead of creating a new one.

Editing the Draft​

  • Your changes are isolated from the published version
  • Other users continue seeing the main version
  • You can switch between draft and main version to compare

Submitting for Review​

  1. With the draft open, click Submit for Review
  2. Fill in:
    • Title: What changed (e.g., "Adds period filter")
    • Description (optional): Details of the changes
  3. Click Submit
AI Generation

Use the AI buttons to automatically generate title and description based on your changes.

Reviewing Requests​

  1. Access Review Requests in the menu
  2. Select a pending request
  3. Analyze the changes in the Changes tab
  4. Add comments if necessary
  5. Click Approve or Request Changes

Merging (Publishing)​

  1. With the approved request, click Merge
  2. Add a change description (optional)
  3. Confirm the merge

The new version is now published and visible to everyone.

Direct Promotion​

In exceptional cases (urgent fixes), administrators can publish directly:

  1. In the draft, click Submit for Review
  2. Select the Promote Directly tab
  3. Enter the reason (minimum 10 characters)
  4. Click Publish without Approval
Use with Moderation

Direct promotion bypasses the approval cycle. Use only for critical and urgent fixes. All direct promotions are recorded in history.

Comments and Discussion​

During review, authors and reviewers can exchange comments:

  • Add comment: Type in the text box and submit
  • Reply: Click "Reply" on an existing comment
  • Edit: Edit your own comments (marked as "edited")
  • Delete: Remove your own comments

Comments are disabled after the request is merged or canceled.

Version History​

Each merge creates a new immutable version. To access:

  1. Open the visualization or dashboard
  2. Click the History icon (clock)
  3. See all versions with:
    • Version number
    • Date and time
    • Author
    • Change description
    • Whether it was a direct promotion

Restoring Versions​

  1. In the history, locate the desired version
  2. Click View to review
  3. Click Promote to restore it as the current version
New Version

Restoring an old version creates a new version. History remains intact.

Governance and Compliance​

Required Approvals​

  • All changes go through review before being published
  • Configurable: minimum number of approvals
  • Configurable: required approvals from owners

Audit Trail​

All events are recorded:

  • Draft creation
  • Review submission
  • Approvals and rejections
  • Merges
  • Direct promotions
  • Cancellations

Traceability​

Each version records:

  • Who created it
  • When it was published
  • Which review request originated it
  • Whether it was a direct promotion and why

For Small Changes​

Author → Draft → Request Review → 1 Approval → Merge

For Significant Changes​

Author → Draft → Request Review → Discussion → 2+ Approvals → Merge

For Urgent Fixes​

Admin → Draft → Direct Promotion (with justification)

Best Practices​

For Authors​

  • ✅ Use descriptive names for drafts
  • ✅ Write clear descriptions in the request
  • ✅ Respond to reviewer comments
  • ✅ Test your changes before submitting
  • ❌ Don't accumulate many changes in a single draft

For Reviewers​

  • ✅ Review changes carefully
  • ✅ Leave constructive comments
  • ✅ Approve only if confident
  • ✅ Use "Request Changes" when necessary
  • ❌ Don't approve without reviewing

For Administrators​

  • ✅ Set minimum number of approvals
  • ✅ Monitor direct promotion usage
  • ✅ Review audit trail periodically
  • ❌ Don't use direct promotion routinely

Additional Resources​