Get posts approved
Some channels don't let you publish directly — a company channel, or a personal one whose owner hasn't trusted you. WriteMars handles this without a form: there is no "Submit for approval" button. You schedule as usual, and anything you can't publish directly is routed to the channel's approvers for you. This guide covers both sides — writing something that needs approval, and clearing the queue as an approver.
If you're the author
You never do anything special. Schedule the post the way you always would; if the target channel is gated for you, WriteMars routes it instead of publishing.
- Write your variant and pick the channel. In the schedule dialog, a gated channel is marked "Will be sent for approval" and the variant status reads Awaiting approval rather than Scheduled.
- Schedule (or hit Post now) as normal. Scheduling always succeeds — the toast confirms "Sent for approval — the channel's approvers were notified".
- Wait for a decision. Approvers are notified immediately; you'll hear back when someone approves, requests changes, or rejects.
A direct Post now on a gated channel never fails and never goes out immediately — it routes the same way, and you'll see "This channel requires approval — sent to its approvers." If you swap the channel on an already-approved post, WriteMars warns "Changing the account may route this back through approval."
Who your approvers are
- Personal channel — the channel's owner approves. If the owner has left the workspace, requests fall back to the Admins so nothing is stranded.
- Company channel — every workspace Admin and the Owner can approve.
Trusted members of a channel can also approve for it. First decision wins.
If you're an approver
Requests reach you through two surfaces.
The Approvals page
Approvals in the sidebar opens your queue, with a badge counting requests waiting on you. Tabs across the top are Pending, Approved, Rejected, and Changes requested. Each resolvable row shows the post, who asked, and the target channel, plus an "Optional note for the author…" field and three buttons:
- Approve — releases the held variant. The toast reads "Post approved — it's scheduled".
- Request changes — hands the variant back to the author as a draft with your note attached.
- Reject — sends it back as a draft, declined.
You only see requests you can act on. A request routed to someone else shows as read-only — for example "Waiting for the owner of @{username}". Rows tagged Peer review are advisory feedback requests, not channel gates.
From the post detail
The post detail pane has an Approvals section with the same per-channel actions, so you can decide without leaving the post. It also hosts Peer review — "Ask a teammate for feedback. Peer reviews don't publish the post." A peer review is a second opinion only; it never releases a gated variant, so the channel's own approval is still required.
What each decision does
| Decision | What happens to the variant |
|---|---|
| Approve | Released → Scheduled (publishes at its time; on the next tick if the time already passed) |
| Request changes | Returned to draft with your note |
| Reject | Returned to draft, declined |
Re-approval after edits
If the author edits the content after you approved it, the old approval is superseded — the change doesn't sneak out on your earlier sign-off. The post shows the banner "New changes were made and require a new approval." and a Re-approval requested badge, and publishing stays held until an approver signs off again.
The AI check flags on a post are visual triage only. A flagged suggestion never disables Approve — approving is always your call.
For the full model — how routing is decided, peer reviews, and the account activity trail — see Approvals.