With external approval, people such as an agency's clients or the legal department of a large company can review and approve scheduled posts without needing direct access to Swat.io. This feature is currently in closed beta and is for now only enabled for selected customers. If you don't see it in your workspace, it hasn't been activated for you yet.
Info: This feature is part of our Custom and Agency packages. You can find more details on the packages and the features they include here.
Setting up the approver list in your workspace
Only users with the "Workspace manager" permission can manage the approver list. If you don't have this permission, please contact a workspace manager or Swat.io admin in your organization.
Here's how to open the approver list:
Open the calendar view and click the "External approval" icon in the toolbar at the top right;
You'll then see the approver list on the right side;
Enter the email address of each person who should be given approval permission. Up to 10 approvers can be added per workspace;
Approvers can also be removed from the list at any time in the same menu.
External approvers then get direct, secure access to the approval portal as soon as the first post lands in their queue. The approver list is only valid per workspace and is thereby clearly separated from other Swat.io workspaces.
Quick Tip: Using the "Copy portal link" button in the same menu, you can try out the approval portal yourself without involving external persons. Just add yourself briefly to the approver list, copy the link and open it in a separate browser or incognito window. You can then remove yourself from the list again without any impact.
Sending posts for external approval
You can add posts to the approval queue in two ways:
Directly in the composer via the "Send for approval" button;
In any calendar view, by selecting one or more upcoming posts and clicking "For Approval" in the top menu bar.
Clicking the respective button sends the request directly to the relevant people.
Note: To send a post for approval, you need the permission "Full" or "Assigned Full". With "Assigned Full", you can only send posts that are assigned to you.
A post that has already been sent for approval can also be sent again. Doing so resets the entire approval process: All approvers will get notified again and a post that was previously approved externally would be reset back to "Awaiting external approval". To have a better overview, these actions are recorded directly in each post's activity log.
Important: A post that has been sent for approval cannot be withdrawn from the queue, since the emails are sent without delay. If a post was sent by mistake, it's best to leave a note on the post so the team is informed. Notes are visible on the approval portal as well as in the post's activity log in Swat.io.
Approval status in Swat.io
On the respective post, you'll see an additional status: "Awaiting external approval" in every calendar view as well as in the post details view in the post composer.
As soon as the first external person approves a post, the status changes to "Approved externally". Other approvers can still approve after that - and every single approval is recorded in the activity log - but it no longer changes the status that's already been set.
Note: This external approval status is for information only. It doesn't change the post's actual Swat.io-internal approval status and the post isn't published automatically as a result. Internal approvals always remain separate, additional steps.
Details in the activity log
In the activity log in the post composer, right next to the post preview on the right side, you'll see all events related to external approval: Being added to the approval queue, every individual approval with the approver's name and all comments, whether they come from Swat.io or from the approval portal.
Limitations
Approvals always run in parallel. There's no set order and no multi-step approval processes;
The magic link to open the approval portal expires after 7 days. An expired link automatically leads to the email address input, through which a new magic-link can be requested;
The session in the approval portal expires after 30 days;
The external approval status doesn't change the internal post status, publishing is only ever done by Swat.io users and never automatically;
@mentions aren't possible in portal notes;
Approval is always only possible per post, not for the entire calendar.
Frequently asked questions
Do approvers need a Swat.io account or login?
No. They open the portal link via the magic link sent in the email. No password, no account, no login needed. Their email address just needs to be on the workspace's approver list.
Can it be set so that everyone has to approve or can a specific order be set?
Approval always happens in parallel: Whoever approves first sets the status to "Approved externally". Other approvers can still approve after that, which is also recorded in the activity log, but it no longer changes the status.
The post was approved, was it published automatically as a result?
No. The approval status is shown on the post, but publishing remains a separate, manual step. There's no automatic publishing from the external approval.
Swat.io approval portal walkthrough for approvers
You have been invited from a Swat.io workspace to review and approve a post? This section explains exactly how that works. You do not need your own Swat.io account for accessing the approval portal.
How to get access:
You'll receive an email with a magic link to the approval portal as soon as the first post is ready for your approval. This link is valid for 7 days before it's opened;
The link in the email takes you straight into the approval portal, where you can comment on and approve posts.
Note: After opening the magic link, your session stays active for 30 days. After that, you'll need a new login, which you can obtain by clicking the link in the email again.
How the approval portal works:
All posts awaiting your approval appear in a queue, sorted by the next scheduled publishing date. Once a post's scheduled date has passed, it automatically disappears from your queue, regardless of whether you approved it.
To see a channel-accurate preview, open a post via the link. For posts with multiple images or a video, you can switch between the media files.
Click "Approve" to approve a post. A confirmed approval can't be undone. However, you can leave a comment at any time, instead of or in addition to approving, for example if you have questions. Your comment will appear directly in the post's activity log in Swat.io.
Note: In this version, only the "Approve" action is available. Declining or formally requesting changes isn't supported. Use the comment function for that instead.
Frequently asked questions for approvers
Do I need to register or set a password?
No. It's enough for your email address to be on file in Swat.io. You can only get access via the link in the email.
My link doesn't work anymore.
Magic links expire after 7 days. If you open an expired link, you'll automatically be redirected to enter your email address and you'll receive a new magic link to the portal per email.
Does the post get published automatically once I approve it?
No. Your approval is shown to the team, but the team in Swat.io always makes the final call on publishing.