# Approval settings that change behavior

The reference layer behind every approval process: the system-wide switches — checkout during approval, hiding routed documents, PIN requirements, button relabeling — and the per-process options that tune one process without touching the rest.

Product: content-central · Versions: 7.x · Audience: catalog-administrator · Time: 15 minute read · Last verified: 2026-09-05

Canonical: https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/approval-settings-that-change-behavior

**By the end of this page you'll know which lever changes which approval behavior — and, just as useful, which layer it lives on: the system-wide settings that govern every process, or the per-process options that tune just one.**

## Layer 1 — System Settings (every process at once)

**Administration** > **System Settings** > **Approval-Process Settings** (in the **Queues & Workflow** group):

| Setting | What it changes |
| --- | --- |
| **Allow documents to be checked out while on an approval process** | Off by default — which is why "This document is on an approval process and cannot be checked out." is the message most admins meet first. Turning it on unlocks editing mid-route, plus the dependent setting below |
| **Hide checked-out documents in the Approval Queue from other users of the same group** | With checkout allowed, keeps two group members from working the same document |
| **Hide documents from Search & Catalog Browser when on an Approval Process** | Routed documents vanish from casual view until the process ends — for content that shouldn't circulate before it's approved |
| **Require PIN for Approval** + **PIN Length** | Approvals demand a personal PIN — a signature-grade confirmation. Heed the setting's own warning: "Changing PIN length resets all users' PINs" |
| **Allow limitations on field editing** | Unlocks the per-process field-permission options in layer 2 |
| **Allow content deletion in Approval Queue** | Lets queue workers delete documents from the queue — off unless your process genuinely culls |
| **Approve Button Label** / **Reject Button Label** | **Approve (Default)**, **Move to [Stage Name]**, or **Custom** with your own text — so a review pipeline can say "Send to Legal" instead of "Approve" |

> **NOTE:** The PIN is the only credential approvals ask for — approve/reject never prompts for a password. And a related switch lives elsewhere: **Allow user substitution** ("Valid for Work Queue and Approval Queue") is under **User Settings**, not here.

## Layer 2 — the process editor (one process at a time)

Each approval process (**Administration** > **Catalogs & Document Types** > the type > **Approval Processes** > open one) carries its own **Options** panel. The ones that answer real questions:

- **Automatically start this process on all captured content of this document type** — the difference between a process people must remember to start and one that just runs.
- **Notify member of new arrivals**, with **Attach document to arrival notification** and **Include Approve and Reject links in arrival notification** — approvals handled from the email itself.
- **Require note on all assignments and stage changes** — an audit-grade paper trail, at the cost of a required box on every action.
- **Allow rejections by first member** / **Allow custom rejection path** — who can bounce a document, and where it bounces to.
- **Remove from this process when assigned to any other process** — prevents a document riding two routes at once.
- **Enable system field** — surfaces the process's status as a searchable field.
- **Allow selective field editing by active member only** / **Prevent field editing by all non members when document is on this process** — the field-locking pair (the first appears only when layer 1's **Allow limitations on field editing** is on), with a **Field Permissions** grid deciding field-by-field.

The same editor holds the **Deadlines** panel — **Enable Deadlines**, a process deadline with **Divide Process Deadline Among Members**, and **Deadline Messaging** on a repeating schedule to members and the admin tiers you choose.

## The questions that land on this page

| "Why can't…" | The lever |
| --- | --- |
| …anyone check out a routed document? | Layer 1, **Allow documents to be checked out…** — off by default, on purpose |
| …I find a document I know exists? | Layer 1, **Hide documents from Search & Catalog Browser…** — it's mid-route |
| …people just approve from the email? | Layer 2, **Include Approve and Reject links in arrival notification** |
| …we tell who approved what, and why? | Layer 1 PIN for the *who*; layer 2 required notes for the *why* |

**Success check:** change one behavior deliberately — say, approval-from-email — and run a test document through: the arrival email carries the links, and the approval lands with the right identity attached.

## What's next

- [Set up an approval process](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/set-up-an-approval-process)
- [Document stuck in approval](https://help.ademero.com/content-central/workflow/document-stuck-in-approval)