# Content approval Coordinate a content brief through drafting, accountable review, final approval, publishing, and live verification. > This public artifact is plaintext. After import, readable project content is encrypted on your device; operational metadata such as identifiers, relationships, priority, state, timing, and counts remains visible to the service. > This template is general operational guidance, not legal, medical, tax, security, employment, compliance, or other professional advice. It does not establish compliance, and its publication is not evidence of outside professional review or approval. Review and adapt it with the responsible organizational owners, and obtain appropriate professional advice before regulated use. **Template ID:** content-approval-workflow **Template version:** 1 **Source:** https://sealtask.com/templates/content-approval-workflow/ **Reuse license:** https://sealtask.com/terms/#public-templates **Planning anchor:** Publication date — The planned date content should go live; drafting, review, approval, and QA are scheduled backward from it. ## Brief Define the audience, outcome, source material, ownership, and approval path. - [ ] **Define the audience, objective, and channel** — High priority · Due 14 days before the planning anchor State who the content serves, the observable response it should support, and where the final version will be published. - [ ] Audience is specific enough to guide choices - [ ] Objective has an observable success signal - [ ] Publication channel and format are confirmed - [ ] **Name the content owner and required approvers** — High priority · Due 13 days before the planning anchor Identify one accountable content owner and only the reviewers needed for factual, brand, specialist, or policy decisions. - [ ] One content owner is accountable for the final candidate - [ ] Each approver has a defined review domain - [ ] **Assemble the source brief** — Medium priority · Due 12 days before the planning anchor Link the approved message, claims evidence, examples, constraints, and prior decisions from their authoritative repositories. - [ ] Claims point to authoritative current sources - [ ] Required constraints and exclusions are visible ## Draft Create the working version and verify its claims, sources, and asset status. - [ ] **Create the working draft in the source system** — Medium priority · Due 10 days before the planning anchor Draft in the approved CMS or document repository and record a neutral reference to the current candidate version. - [ ] Draft lives in the approved authoritative system - [ ] Reviewers can locate the current candidate version - [ ] **Verify facts, claims, and source links** — High priority · Due 8 days before the planning anchor Check material statements against current primary sources and flag every claim that requires specialist substantiation. - [ ] Material claims are checked against current sources - [ ] Uncertain or unsupported claims are removed or escalated - [ ] **Verify asset readiness and rights status** — Medium priority · Due 7 days before the planning anchor Confirm that images, video, quotes, data, and other assets are ready and backed by the required usage evidence. - [ ] Required assets meet channel specifications - [ ] Rights, consent, and attribution evidence is recorded appropriately ## Review Route one candidate version through necessary editorial and specialist decisions. - [ ] **Complete editorial and audience review** — Medium priority · Due 6 days before the planning anchor Review structure, clarity, usefulness, voice, and whether the candidate fulfills the original audience objective. - [ ] Candidate fulfills the stated audience objective - [ ] Material editorial issues are resolved in the source draft - [ ] **Complete subject-matter review** — High priority · Due 5 days before the planning anchor Ask the accountable expert to review technical meaning, material omissions, and claims within the defined specialist scope. - [ ] Named expert reviewed the agreed subject area - [ ] Material accuracy issues are resolved or documented - [ ] **Complete required legal, brand, or policy review** — High priority · Due 4 days before the planning anchor Route the candidate only to specialists required by policy or content risk, and preserve their authoritative review record. - [ ] All policy-required review domains are identified - [ ] Authoritative approval or conditions are preserved - [ ] **Consolidate feedback into one candidate version** — Medium priority · Due 3 days before the planning anchor Resolve conflicting comments through the appropriate decision owner and route reviewers back to one updated source version. - [ ] Conflicting feedback has an accountable decision - [ ] One candidate version contains accepted changes ## Publish Approve, schedule, quality-check, and verify the live content. - [ ] **Record final approval and schedule publication** — High priority · Due 2 days before the planning anchor Confirm the exact candidate, required approvals, destination, publication time, and owner before scheduling the source version. - [ ] Exact candidate version has final approval - [ ] Destination, time, and publishing owner are correct - [ ] **Complete accessibility, links, and tracking QA** — Medium priority · Due 1 day before the planning anchor Check the rendered candidate for accessibility basics, working destinations, metadata, tracking, and channel-specific presentation. - [ ] Required accessibility checks are complete - [ ] Links and calls to action reach intended destinations - [ ] Approved measurement and metadata are configured - [ ] **Verify the live content and first response** — High priority · Due on the planning anchor Inspect the published destination, confirm the expected version is live, and record any immediate correction or follow-up action. - [ ] Correct approved version is publicly visible - [ ] Assets, links, accessibility, and tracking work live - [ ] Any correction or monitoring follow-up has an owner ## Done Verified content operations move here after the live result is checked. _Move completed work here._ --- Source: https://sealtask.com/templates/content-approval-workflow/ License: https://sealtask.com/terms/#public-templates Privacy notice: This public artifact is plaintext. After import, readable project content is encrypted on your device; operational metadata such as identifiers, relationships, priority, state, timing, and counts remains visible to the service. Usage notice: This template is general operational guidance, not legal, medical, tax, security, employment, compliance, or other professional advice. It does not establish compliance, and its publication is not evidence of outside professional review or approval. Review and adapt it with the responsible organizational owners, and obtain appropriate professional advice before regulated use. Template version: 1