Explanation
Who approves what: the approval rule
Choose which posts wait for a look before they go out, and see what each role can approve, plan and publish.
Your workspace has one approval rule. It decides which posts wait in the Approval queue until an admin or the owner approves them, and which go straight onto the plan. A post that waits is never published: approving it gives it its time.
The three options
The rule is on the Posts page, in the Approval and planning card, under Posts that wait for approval.
| Option | What waits for approval |
|---|---|
| Only what the AI and automation write (recommended) | Posts made with Generate from products and by automation rules, whoever started them. What the team writes by hand on the Posts page is planned right away. |
| Also what editors write | The same, plus what editors write by hand. What admins and the owner write by hand doesn't wait: they are the approvers. |
| None | Nothing waits because of the rule, not even what the AI and automation write. We don't recommend it. |
A post written on the Posts page counts as written by hand, even when you let the AI draft its text with AI writes it: you read it before you plan it. Your choice is saved as soon as you pick it. Posts already in the queue stay there until someone approves or rejects them. Each change is written to the Audit log.
What waits whatever the rule says
- Every post you send from the Studio goes to the approval queue.
- Automation posts for Pinterest and LinkedIn always wait for approval, because those networks' terms ask for a person's approval. They go to the queue even with None, and so does such a post sent on from the drafts.
- Automation posts for TikTok reach TikTok as drafts: you publish them in the TikTok app.
Who can do what
- Owner and Admin approve and reject posts and change the approval rule. What they write on the Posts page never waits.
- Editor writes, generates and edits posts, sends them for approval and deletes them, but can't approve. Under the recommended rule, what an editor writes on the Posts page is planned without approval.
- Viewer sees the queue, the calendar and the posts, and can't change anything.
On the Posts page, the button under a new post shows which way it goes: Send for approval when it will wait, Plan when it won't.
Changes after approval
An approver's own edits and moves keep the approval. When an editor changes the text, the picture or the time of a planned post that the rule sends for approval, the post goes back to the queue and SemPost says: "Your change went for approval; the post is planned again once approved."
Reminders for approvers
Admins and the owner see how many posts are waiting next to Approval queue in the menu. When a waiting post's time is less than 24 hours away, they get an email, "Posts are waiting for your approval"; each post is in one such email at most. A post that isn't approved doesn't go out.