Creating reviews

You can create a review of artifacts so that other team members can review or optionally approve the artifact content.

About this task

You can create a review of individually selected artifacts or you can create a review of a collection of artifacts.

Tip: When you work in projects that are enabled for configuration management, you must be aware of the following information:
  • Reviews are associated with configurations. When you open a review, it opens in a separate browser tab in the configuration context it was created in.
  • Review comments for an artifact are only shown when you view the artifact in the context of the associated review.

Procedure

  • To create a review of individual artifacts:
    1. Decide whether you want to create the review in the current stream or in a baseline. Artifacts in the current stream can still be modified by anyone who is working in the stream, while artifacts in a baseline are frozen and cannot be changed.
      Note: If your project or organization requires validation of baselines, you can configure a project to require electronic signatures on baselines. See Enabling Electronic signatures for a baseline for details on how to configure a baseline to require electronic signatures and Signing a baseline electronically for details on how to add an electronic signature to validate and sign a baseline.
    2. On the Artifacts page, open the Reviews section in the sidebar and click the Create Review iconcreate review icon.
      Tip: You can also start a review by selecting artifacts from the Artifacts page, clicking the down arrow, and clicking Create Review. This method can be a faster way to add artifacts to the New Review window.
    3. In the New Review window, type a name and description for the review and then click OK. The Review page opens with the name in the window header. Notice that the state of the review is Draft.
    4. Specify a review due date and any special instructions.
    5. Add reviewers to the review:
      1. Click Add Participants.
      2. In the Select Users window, enter a partial username or wildcard to access a list of team members to participate in the review.
      3. In the Matching users section, select one or more users. Press Ctrl and click to select more than one name.
      4. Specify whether the members are reviewers, approvers, or optional reviewers. For more information, see the Reviews topic.
      5. To add the users as participants in the review, click Add.
      6. Search for other users, if necessary. When your selections are complete, click Close.
    6. If the artifacts are not already there, add the artifacts to review.
      1. Click Add Artifacts.
      2. In the Select Artifacts window, search for artifacts by type, name, text, or folder.
      3. Select one or more artifacts and click Add. The artifacts that you selected are displayed in the Artifacts section.
      4. When your selections are complete, click Close.
    7. Optional: To send a review request, select one or more participants and click Send Email. If the email service is not configured, click Start email program to open your default email application. The email addresses of the selected users are added to the recipients list of the new email message. Add text as needed in your email program and send the email.
    8. Click Save Review or Start Review. When you start the review, the following actions occur:
      • If you configured email notification, all participants are notified by email.
      • The review is listed on the participants' dashboard in the Reviews widget.
      • The review is displayed in the Reviews section in the sidebar of the Artifacts page.
      • The state of the review changes from Draft to Started.
    9. When participants join the review, they double-click the artifacts to view them, and then, depending on the role that is assigned to them, click Approve, Disapprove, Mark as Reviewed, or Abstain from reviewing the artifact.
  • Creating a Review of a Collection. The steps for creating a review of a collection are similar to those for creating a review of individual artifacts. You can watch a video that shows how to create a review of a collection. To create a review of a collection, open the collection, and click the Create Review from Collection icon in the toolbar.
  • Deleting a Review. To delete a review, open the review and click the Delete icon in the toolbar.
  • Renaming a Review. To rename a review, open the review and click the Rename icon in the toolbar.