Approval workflow · review first, then go live

The approval workflow separates editing from publishing. Products only go live once someone has approved them, and every decision stays traceable.

Activate

The workflow is switched on in the config matrix in the Approval tab with "Enable approval workflow". From then on, products must be approved by an authorised user before they are active in the shop. While the workflow is active, the active switch in the detail view can only be toggled for approved products and only by approvers - a product becomes active through approval.

Who may approve

Approving and rejecting is allowed for:

• the users whose user names are listed under "Approvers" in the Approval tab (one per line or comma-separated; your own user name is shown below the field)
• all PIM superadmins

If the list is empty, all users may approve. There is no separate Shopware role or permission for approval. More about superadmins on the Permissions & superadmin page.

The flow

1. Draft: products without an approval entry are drafts.
2. In progress: while the team is working on it, the product is set to "In progress".
3. Submit for review: once maintenance is done, the product is submitted. It is deactivated in the process.
4. Approve or reject: if there are issues, it goes back for revision with an optional reason - the product is deactivated here as well. After approval it is active in the shop immediately.
5. Revoke approval: an approved product can be set back to draft; it is deactivated in the process.

Status "In progress"

In addition to submit, approve and reject there is the status "In progress", which editors set themselves. It signals to the team that someone is currently working on the product and prevents duplicate maintenance rounds. "Reset status" sets the product back to draft.

Where the status is visible

• Detail view: status badge with the matching buttons, with the reason after a rejection
• Product list: coloured status indicator and a dedicated filter, e.g. for everything still awaiting approval
• Config matrix, Approval tab: statistics with number of entries, distribution by status and oldest entry

Approve many products at once

Approvers find the "Approval" action in bulk edit in the master data tab with approve, send back for revision (optionally with a reason) and reset - visible while the workflow is active. The statuses are written in batches with one request per 200 products, so even a batch of several thousand products stays fast.

Proof in the change history

Submit, approve, reject (with reason), revoke approval and "In progress" are recorded with user name and timestamp in the product's change history (audit log). This way it is traceable who approved what and when. How long the history is kept is set in the Change history tab.

Log, retention and clean-up

• Approval logging: approval entries are stored in a dedicated table. If logging is off, no new entries are stored on status changes; existing ones are kept.
• Automatic clean-up: optionally after 30, 60, 90 or 180 days, 1 or 2 years. Cleaned entries disappear and the status falls back to draft.
• Clean up data: delete drafts, clean up older entries (older than 30, 60, 90 or 180 days) or delete all approval entries - afterwards all products have the status "draft" again. This cannot be undone.

Deactivate the workflow

If you switch "Enable approval workflow" off, products no longer need approval and the approval action disappears from bulk edit. Existing approval entries remain in the database until you clean them up or delete them in the Approval tab. Resetting PIM to defaults deletes them as well.

What's next

Access to individual functions is controlled by the permissions from getting started and the config matrix. For large imports also see the CSV import.

Frequently asked questions