Customize approval options for Project Web App workflows

Summary: Learn how to add additional approval options to a Project Web App workflow approval task.
Applies to: Project Server Subscription Edition, Project Server 2019, Project Server 2016, Project Server 2013

When using approval tasks in your workflows, it is often desirable to have additional options beyond Approved and Rejected. For example, you may want those submitting the proposal to do some additional groundwork on the project and then resubmit before you make the final Approved or Rejected decision.

In this article, we'll look at how to add a third option — we'll call it Revise and Resubmit — to the list of options in the workflow approval task.

Before you begin

Before starting, make sure:

Add a new task approval option

The first thing that we need to do is to add the new Revise and Resubmit option to the existing list of approval options. This is done in the site settings for the Project Web App site.

To modify the task approval options

  1. In Project Web App, click Settings, and then click Site settings.

  2. Under Web Designer Galleries, click Site content types.

  3. Under List Content Types, click Workflow Task (SharePoint 2013).

  4. Under Columns, click Task Outcome.

  5. Click the Edit site column link.

  6. In the Type each choice on a separate line box, addRevise and Resubmit on a separate line between Approved and Rejected.

  7. Click OK.

Create the workflow

We'll be using the Sample Workflow that you created in Create a sample Project Web App workflow to build a workflow that looks like this:

Screenshot of workflow in SharePoint Designer.

If you've completed the procedures in other articles in this series, you may already have part of this workflow in place. The complete steps for creating this workflow are in the following procedure.

To create a workflow

  1. Start SharePoint Designer.

  2. Connect to your Project Web App site.

  3. On the left, click Workflows.

  4. Click Sample Workflow.

  5. Click Edit workflow.

  6. On the ribbon, click Stage, and then click 1 - Propose idea.

  7. Place the orange cursor in the top section of Stage 1 and, on the ribbon, click Action, and then, under Project Web App Actions, click Wait for Project Event.

  8. Click this project event, and choose Event: When a project is submitted from the dropdown menu.

  9. Place the orange cursor below Stage 1, click Stage, and then click 2 - Request idea.

  10. Place the orange cursor below Stage 2, click Stage, and then click 3 - Execute.

  11. Place the orange cursor below Stage 3, click Stage, and then click 4 - Cancelled.

  12. Place the orange cursor in the Transition to stage area of Stage 1, and then, on the ribbon, click Action, and then click Go to a stage.

  13. Click the a stage link, and then choose 2 - Request review from the dropdown list.

  14. Place the orange cursor in the top half of Stage 2.

  15. On the ribbon, click Action, and then, under Task Actions, click Start a task process.

  16. Click the these users link.

  17. On the Start a Task Process page:

  18. Click the ellipsis ( ...) for Participants and add the name of the user to whom you want to assign the project approval task.

  19. For Task Title, click fx, choose a Data source of Project Data, a Field from source of Project Name, and click OK.

  20. Click OK.

  21. Place the orange cursor in the Transition to stage section of Stage 2.

  22. Click Condition and select If any value equals value.

  23. Click the first value link, and then click fx.

  24. Choose a Data source of Workflow Variables and Parameters and a Field from source of Variable: Outcome and click OK.

  25. Click the second value link and choose Approved from the dropdown list.

  26. Place the orange cursor in the If branch of the If / Else statement.

  27. On the ribbon, click Action, and then choose Go to a stage.

  28. Click the a stage link, and then choose 3 - Execute.

  29. Place the orange cursor in the Else branch of the If / Else statement.

  30. Click Condition and select If any value equals value.

  31. Click the first value link, and then click fx.

  32. Choose a Data source of Workflow Variables and Parameters and a Field from source of Variable: Outcome and click OK.

  33. Click the second value link and choose Revise and Resubmit from the dropdown list.

  34. Place the orange cursor in the If branch of the second If / Else statement.

  35. On the ribbon, click Action, and then choose Go to a stage.

  36. Click the a stage link, and then choose 1 - Propose idea.

  37. Place the orange cursor in the Else branch of the If / Else statement.

  38. On the ribbon, click Action, and then choose Go to a stage.

  39. Click a stage, and then choose 4 - Cancelled from the dropdown menu.

  40. Place the orange cursor in the Transition to stage area of Stage 3, and then, on the ribbon, click Action, and then click Go to a stage.

  41. Click a stage, and then choose End of Workflow from the dropdown menu.

  42. Place the orange cursor in the Transition to stage area of Stage 4, and then, on the ribbon, click Action, and then click Go to a stage.

  43. Click a stage, and then choose End of Workflow from the dropdown menu.

  44. On the ribbon, click Publish.

Test it out

To create a project

  1. In Project Web App, in the left navigation, click Projects.

  2. On the ribbon, click the Projects tab.

  3. Click New, and then click Sample Project Type.

  4. Name the project Customize approval options, and then click Save.

  5. On the Workflow Status page, click Submit, and then click OK.

Submitting the project will move the workflow to Stage 2, triggering our approval task. (Note that the Current Workflow Stage on the Workflow Status page is 2 - Request review.) The next step is to select an outcome for the task.

To choose an outcome for a task

  1. Log into Project Web App as the user to whom you assigned the task.

  2. In Project Web App, in the left navigation, click Approvals.

  3. On the ribbon, click Workflow Approvals.

  4. On the Workflow Tasks list, click All Tasks.

  5. Click Customize approval options.

  6. On the ribbon, click Edit.

  7. Click Revise and Resubmit.

On the Workflow Status page, note that the Current Workflow Stage has returned to 1 - Propose idea. (You can also use the Stage Status to leave a message for your users about the need to revise their proposal.) Users can now update the project proposal materials and resubmit the project again to create another approval task.

Try creating another project and choosing Approved or Rejected for the task. You'll notice that the workflow stage moves to 3 - Execute or 4 - Cancelled respectively.

In this case, we added a single additional option — Revise and Resubmit — to the approval task. You can add additional options depending on your needs, and configure the workflow to react differently to each one.

See also

Create a sample Project Web App workflow

Have a workflow wait for a Project Web App event

Set the stage status in a Project Web App workflow

Add a custom field to a project detail page

Assign an approval task in a workflow