Approve or reject a pending submission

When a Web page is created in a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 site, items that are included on that page may require approval to be published. Items that have been submitted for approval but have not been approved or rejected are said to be pending. If the items are not approved, they may be displayed incorrectly or not at all. You can use the Unpublished Items Report to discover which items that are on a page are not displayed correctly because they have not been approved.

You can also approve pending submissions that are in a list or library, without using the Unpublished Items Report. For more information about approving or rejecting a submission that is in a list or library, see the article Approve or reject items or files in a list or library.

What do you want to do?

Check a page for pending submissions

Approve a pending submission

Reject a pending submission

Check a page for pending submissions

To check a page for pending submissions, do the following:

1. With the page open in your Web browser, click Check for Unpublished Items on the Page Editing toolbar. If the Check for Unpublished Items link is not visible, click Tools on the Page Editing toolbar, and then click Check for Unpublished Items.

2. If there are unpublished items on the page, a warning appears on the Page Editing toolbar. Click the full report link that appears in the warning. The Unpublished Items Report opens in a new window.

3. Items that are in the Unpublished Items Report each have an issue type. Items that refer to pending submissions belong to one of two issue types:

   • Old Version      Items that have this issue type refer to submissions that have been approved and published in the past but have changed. The new versions of these submissions have not been approved or published. The previously published versions are still available.

   • Not Approved      Items that have this issue type refer to submissions that have not been approved and published.

4. Click the address (URL) of an item in the report to open the corresponding pending submission in a new window that allows you to approve or reject it.

Approve a pending submission

A pending submission can be either a page or an item or file that is in a list or library. When you click the URL of an item that is in the Unpublished Items Report, the window that opens provides a slightly different method for approval or rejection, depending on whether the submission is a page or is a file or list item.

Approve a pending page

1. On the Web page that you opened by clicking the URL in the Unpublished Items Report, click Approve on the Page Editing toolbar.

   Note: If the Page Editing toolbar is not visible, on the Site Actions menu, click Show Page Editing Toolbar.

2. The page is approved as a new major version. If the page is scheduled for immediate publication (by default, this is the case), it is also published.

Approve a pending file or list item

1. On the Web page that you opened by clicking the URL in the Unpublished Items Report, click Approve/reject Item on the toolbar. The Approve/reject Item Web page for the file or item opens.

2. In the Approval Status section, click Approved.

3. You can optionally type comments in the box provided in the Comment section.

4. Click OK. The file or item is approved, and the library or list that contains the file or item is displayed.

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Reject a pending submission

A pending submission can be either a page or an item or file that is in a list or library. When you click the URL of an item that is in the Unpublished Items Report, the window that opens provides a slightly different method for approval or rejection, depending on whether the submission is a page or is a file or list item.

Reject a pending page

1. On the Web page that you opened by clicking the URL in the Unpublished Items Report, click Reject on the Page Editing toolbar.

   Note: If the Page Editing toolbar is not visible, on the Site Actions menu, click Show Page Editing Toolbar.

2. The page is rejected. The page version number does not change, and the page is not published.

Reject a pending file or list item

1. On the Web page that you opened by clicking the URL in the Unpublished Items Report, click Approve/reject Item on the toolbar. The Approve/reject Item Web page for the file or item opens.

2. In the Approval Status section, click Rejected.

3. You can optionally type comments in the box provided in the Comment section.

4. Click OK. The file or item is rejected, and the library or list that contains the file or item is displayed.

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