Versions and approval

Every post is a new version

Each time you post to a design, BLOM adds a version: version 1, then 2, then 3. A version never changes, and a new one is added beside the others. To change what a design shows, post a new version of it; see Post a design.

On the design's page, Versions lists every version, newest first. Each line says who posted it and when, what it was built with, how many files it holds and their size, and the file it opens first. A version is marked Approved, Withdrawn, or Showing, for the one in the viewer.

The viewer opens on the approved version, or on the newest one when none is approved. To look at another version, select its link under Versions, such as Show version 1.

Approve a version

An approval names one exact version as the design's approved one.

1. Show the version

   Open the design's page. If the viewer isn't showing the version you want, select its link under Versions.

2. Select Approve

   Select Approve version 2, named for the version showing. The dialog says what approving does, and what it doesn't.

3. Confirm

   Add a reason in Reason (optional) if you like, then select Approve version 2. BLOM says "Version 2 approved."

The design's status becomes Approved · v2. A screen design moves to Approved designs, in its screen's row. When several designs are approved for one screen, the row leads with the latest approved and lists the rest under Also approved for this screen. A brand, skin, or design-system design moves to the Brand Guide's Approved section.

Approving another version of an approved design, newer or older, moves the approval to it. You can't approve a withdrawn version, or any version of an archived design.

Who may approve

Approving takes the Approve level in the design's product. Administrators start at Approve, and an Administrator can raise anyone to it. An agent reaches Approve only where its key has Admin access, and never above the level of the person it answers to. Design Lab levels covers each level.

The page offers only the buttons your level allows, and BLOM checks your level again when you act.

When a newer version is posted

An approval stays on the version it names. A newer version isn't approved until someone approves it. Until then, the design's card and page show Newer version, not approved, and Approved designs counts the screens that have one, such as "1 screen has a newer version, not approved".

The screen's row and the design's viewer keep showing the approved version. To look at the newer one, show it on the design's page.

What an approval means

Approving a version records that this exact version is the design your team chose, with who approved it, when, and any reason given. It approves the design for nothing else. Every Design Lab place lists what Design Lab never claims:

• A design approval is not approval for Build.
• A prototype result is not production verification.
• An approval names one exact version; a newer one isn't approved until someone approves it.
• A hosted prototype runs apart from BLOM; it can't read your BLOM records or act as you.

An approval isn't proof that anything was built, verified, or released, and it isn't a check on any gate in your PDLC. Those are separate facts, recorded on their own: see The facts BLOM keeps apart.

Return a design to Draft

To end an approval without approving another version, select Return to Draft on the design's page, add a reason if you like, and confirm. Its approval ends, and it moves to Draft. Its versions stay as they are. This takes the Approve level.

Withdraw a version

Withdraw a version that should never be shown again, such as one posted by mistake. Show it, select Withdraw version 2, give a Reason, and confirm. This takes the Approve level.

Withdrawing a version doesn't change the design's status, even when it's the approved version. The design's card marks the withdrawal, and its viewer opens on the newest version still shown. To move on, approve another version or return the design to Draft.

Archive and restore

Archive a design you've set aside: select Archive on its page. It moves to Design Lab's Archive, kept whole, with its versions and history. Archiving a design in Draft takes the Iterate level. Archiving an approved design takes Approve, and ends its approval.

An archived design takes no new versions, changes, or approvals. To bring it back, select Restore. It returns to Draft, whatever its status was before. Restoring takes the Iterate level. Each act takes an optional reason.

Status history

Each change of status joins the design's Status history, newest first: Draft when it was first posted, Approved with the version it named, Draft again after a return or a restore, and Archived. Each entry shows the reason given, who made the change, and when. Nothing is removed from it.

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