For the normal approvals process, there can be up to 10 levels of approvers. Each level supersedes the next so a level 1 approver will need approval from a level 2 approver. Only one person of a specific level needs to approve an order, so for level 1 if you have two approvers only one of them needs to approve the order. The Approval workflow is explained below:

Cart Created > Approval Requested > Approval Email Issued > Approval Granted > Checkout > Begin Production

Keep in mind the cart need to be manually checked out after the approval is granted and this action can be done by the approver. To begin setting this up we need to first create a Group within the Users & Groups page of MyOrderDesk's Admin Menu. Then, we need to set up our products for approval.

Assigning User(s) as Approver(s)

Which users can approve is controlled from within User & Groups so create a group and add your users to it. To do this, locate their accounts within the Everyone group and select individual people to assign, or select multiple users (Use the Shift Key or Shift + Command) and assign them to the group you created for Approvers (or Viewers) from the popup dialog window. 

Now that you have people in the group, you need to assign certain users as Approvers. Find the users within the group and select to highlight their information. Then use the drop-down menu to assign them as approvers. In this drop-down menu, you will see several levels of Approvers. Each level supersedes the previous level. This is used for multi-level approvals. 

Setting which Users will require Approval

As you did with Approvers, you will also need to select users from the Everyone Group and assign them to your Approval Group. 

Setting products to require approvals

An approver can only approve orders that contain items that require/allow approvals. To indicate an order needs to go through approval go to User & Groups and select the Order Forms tab.  Find the order form from the list and select in the row to highlight it, then select the Assign button, and choose On from the dropdown menu. This has to be On and not Default to work. 

Now when users order this Form, they will need approval from the person assigned as the Approver.

What is a Viewer and how to use this option

Viewers are assigned using the same method outlined above except you select Viewer instead of Approver. Viewers are users within a group that are permitted to see other user's orders. This is typically done for supervisors within an organization. You can also select the option to have the Viewer be sent the same New Job email notifications that the customer is sent so they are aware whenever a new job has been placed. 

Once this is set up, the orders can be viewed by the user navigating to Order History and selecting the search filter, to do so change the default filter from Mine to Everything. 

Cart Collaboration Approval Process

Every group has a setting available called Cart Collaboration. This will allow the buyer/end-user to indicate who should be approving a cart item based on an email address. This is useful when you would like buyers to be responsible for indicating who should approve the items they are ordering. An example could be a manager or print buyer at the company completes an order for another employee. They need that employee to view the order created on their behalf. Once the item is approved, the original print buyer/manager can return to the cart and complete the order. Unlike Approvers and Viewers, Collaborators do not need to be users in the storefront. In this scenario, they will receive an email with a link to the requesting users shopping cart where they will be able to approve or deny the cart and add any notes if they would like. Collaborators are also not able to advance past the Shopping Cart and complete the order for the original user who placed the order. 

To enable this feature, select the Group you want this turned on for in the Group dropdown menu (Admin > Users & Groups) and then select the "pencil" icon. Select the option for Cart Collaboration. 

From there the end-user can use the Collaborator tab and add people to approve their orders. This feature has been made as simple as possible but it's still possible that training will be needed by those who wish to use this feature.

Requesting approvals will send an email and allow that user to approve their order without needing to create an account. Another big difference between Collaborators and Approvers is the fact that the request for approval happens on the Cart page, and not at the end of the Checkout process. 

Approval Status in the Order History

Below is a list of possible statuses you may see in the approval status window.