Review Workflow

The Central review packages workflow involves a combination of activities between the owner originating the process and all reviewers making changes and comments in the files.

1. Owner In Central, open the Users page and invite the reviewer(s) to Central.
2. Reviewer Click the link in the email to accept the invitation and set a password.

3. Owner In Flare, switch to the appropriate branch (if necessary), select Review > Send For Review. The first screen of the Send Files for Review Wizard opens.

   1. In the Review Package Name field, enter a name.

   2. (Optional) Enter a description for the review package.

   3. (Optional) Add or remove files for the package.

   4. (Optional) The TOC drop-down defaults to (none). To associate files within a review package to a TOC in the project, select a TOC.

   5. Click Next.

   

   Tip All snippets that are part of a topic will initially be included in the review. However, when sending files for review from Flare, you can remove any snippets from the File grid to exclude them from the review. You might choose to exclude some (or all) snippets from the review if you think it will be too confusing and too many files for your reviewers. If you exclude snippets, they will still be visible in the topic in Central, but the snippets will be read-only. Therefore, reviewers won’t be able to make edits in the snippets, but in the topic they can insert annotations (comments) around the snippets in order to provide feedback.

   Note If you are using Git branching, make sure the appropriate branch is active. When you send files for review, they will be associated with that branch. See Branching.

   In Central, reviewers can determine which branch a file is from. Reviewers do not need to do anything special to make edits or comments in the files.

4. Owner Select Send to MadCap Central (if not already selected), and click Next.

   

   Note If necessary, Flare also prompts you to commit and synchronize any changes in your project with Central before you can proceed to the next page of the wizard.

5. Owner (Optional) Select reviewers for the review package, and click Send. The wizard closes and a prompt alerts you that the files have been sent to Central, click OK.

   The owner can choose reviewers of different seat types, such as authors and SMEs. Anyone selected during this process automatically becomes associated with the Flare project on Central, and becomes an assigned reviewer for all files chosen in the wizard.

   

   After the review package is uploaded, reviewers receive an email notification with a link to open the Reviews page in Central. (SMEs automatically receive email notifications, but Flare authors must have the review notifications and email option enabled in Central to receive emails.)

   In File Reviews, the review package files display in the Sent Files area. This means the files are in an “Open” state, pending review.

   

   Note If you attempt to edit a file that has been sent out for review and is still in an “Open” state, a warning displays. You can edit the file, but you may have conflicts with the version of the file being reviewed. As an alternative to editing the file in Flare, you can edit it in Central along with your reviewers until it is finished.

6. Reviewer In Central, open the Reviews page. Click each file associated with the pending review package and edit or annotate it using the Review Editor, and click Submit.

   The reviewer is done submitting once all the files in the queue are complete. This moves the review package to the Submitted pane. Files can be viewed from there and edited still, but once the owner closes the file, it can no longer be edited in Central.

   After all of the reviewers submit the file(s), the owner receives an email notification (if notifications are enabled in Central) and the file(s) displays in the File Reviews Inbox in Flare.

   Note If the owner of a review package makes edits to the files in Central they will not typically see a Submit button. If as an owner, you want your changes to be included (along with other reviewers progress) in the analytics of the review, then you need to add yourself as a "reviewer" to the review package. When this happens, the owner must submit the changes just like any other reviewer.

7. Owner After reviewed files are individually submitted from Central, open Flare. Select Review > File Reviews. You can look at files as they come in; you do not have to wait for all the files in a review package in order to preview them.

8. Owner From the File Reviews Inbox area double-click a submitted file. (Or, select a file, and from the local toolbar, click Open the reviewed file .)

   

   Note The Inbox displays files from all relevant branches (if you are using Git branching). You should switch to the matching branch before managing the tracked changes and accepting the file back into Flare.

   Note Any authors working in that Flare project can close the review file. This is necessary in case the owner (i.e., original author) is not available to close it.

9. Owner When you click to open and preview a file, a dialog displays asking if you want to move the files to a closed state. Select Yes or No.

   • Yes The file switches to a closed state in the Inbox and opens in the editor. No more editing can occur in Central while the owner reviews it. In Central, when a file is closed, a lock symbol appears next to the file.

     

   • No The owner can preview the file in Flare—as a read-only file. The reviewer(s) can still make changes to the file in Central until the owner closes the file in Flare. The file stays in a submitted state in the Inbox, and it opens in the editor.

     Note The advantage of this is that you can see raw edits before the reviewer is done—without having to close the file and resend it from Flare. When you are ready to close out the file from further editing, double-click the submitted file and select Yes from the prompt.

10. Owner In Flare, accept and/or reject the reviewer's changes in the editor.

    

11. Owner In the toolbar in Flare, click the Accept button.

    

    The file is then removed from the Inbox.