> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://learn.nextedy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set Up Review Process

> Enable and configure one of three review strategies in Nextedy RISKSHEET to capture, track, and display review feedback directly within the risk analysis grid.

export const LastReviewed = ({date}) => {
  if (!date) return null;
  const formatted = new Date(`${date}T00:00:00Z`).toLocaleDateString("en-US", {
    year: "numeric",
    month: "long",
    day: "numeric",
    timeZone: "UTC"
  });
  return <p className="mt-10 text-sm text-gray-400 dark:text-zinc-500 not-prose">
      Last reviewed on {formatted}
    </p>;
};

## Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

* Risksheet installed and licensed in your Siemens Polarion ALM project
* Administrative access to edit the sheet configuration file (`risksheet.json`)
* Familiarity with the [configuration editor](/risksheet/guides/configuration/using-config-editor)

## Choose a Review Strategy

Risksheet supports three mutually exclusive review strategies. Select the one that matches your compliance and workflow requirements. For an in-depth comparison of how each strategy stores review data and when to use each one, see [Review Workflows](/risksheet/concepts/review-workflows).

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/none-17b4493f/yWl5nA2D0IzEnZC1/risksheet/diagrams/guides/reviews/setup-review-process/diagram-1.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=yWl5nA2D0IzEnZC1&q=85&s=7710d3deca38fc17eca132d829528db4" alt="diagram" style={{ maxWidth: "540px", width: "100%" }} width="540" height="230" data-path="risksheet/diagrams/guides/reviews/setup-review-process/diagram-1.svg" />
</Frame>

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/none-17b4493f/AIn5YJnEEQyTvSQd/risksheet/images/48001212957/1.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=AIn5YJnEEQyTvSQd&q=85&s=349fd7501ed62bb0a1871fa90f81ae24" alt="Reviewing and commenting on risk objects directly within the Risksheet interface" width="2955" height="534" data-path="risksheet/images/48001212957/1.png" />
</Frame>

| Strategy        | `reviewManager` Value | Use When                                                            |
| --------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Comment-based   | `CommentBased`        | Lightweight feedback cycles during analysis development             |
| Approval-based  | `ApprovalBased`       | Formal sign-off needed for compliance audits (ISO 26262, ISO 14971) |
| Work item-based | `WorkItemBased`       | Review tasks need full lifecycle tracking as Polarion work items    |

<Warning title="Only one review strategy at a time">
  If multiple review modes are configured, the system uses a priority order: CommentBased takes precedence over WorkItemBased, which takes precedence over ApprovalBased. Configure only the strategy you intend to use.
</Warning>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Enable Comment-Based Reviews">
    Comment-based reviews store feedback as standard Polarion comments on work items. This is the simplest option to configure.

    Add the `reviews` section to your sheet configuration:

    ```yaml theme={null}
    reviews:
      reviewManager: CommentBased
    ```

    When enabled, reviews display with:

    * Author name (falls back to user ID if name is unavailable)
    * Timestamp in `yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm` format
    * Optional title (shown in bold)
    * HTML-rendered comment content

    Reviews are styled with the `risk_reviews` CSS class, which you can customize in your `styles` section.

    <Tip title="Resolved comments are excluded">
      The review display automatically filters out resolved and unresolvable comments. Only active, open comments appear in the review panel.
    </Tip>

    For detailed comment-based configuration, see [Configure Comment-Based Reviews](/risksheet/guides/reviews/comment-based-reviews).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable Approval-Based Reviews (Alternative)">
    ```yaml theme={null}
    reviews:
      reviewManager: ApprovalBased
    ```

    This mode stores reviews as approval-tagged comments on the risk work items, providing an auditable feedback trail for regulated industries. For detailed configuration, see [Configure Approval-Based Reviews](/risksheet/guides/reviews/approval-based-reviews).

    <Note title="Approval review limitation">
      Risksheet approval review creates approval-tagged comments but does NOT trigger Polarion's formal approval workflow (draft -> reviewed -> approved). Use this mode for capturing reviewer sign-off as comments — not as a substitute for Polarion's built-in document approval state transitions. If you need formal state transitions, drive them through your standard Polarion document workflow alongside Risksheet reviews.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable Work Item-Based Reviews (Alternative)">
    ```yaml theme={null}
    reviews:
      reviewManager: WorkItemBased
      typeProperties:
        itemTypes: reviewItem
        linkRole: reviews
    ```

    This mode creates separate linked work items for each review entry, enabling full lifecycle tracking. Both `itemTypes` and `linkRole` are required.

    The `itemTypes` property is a **comma-separated string** of Polarion work item type IDs (not a JSON array). To accept more than one review work item type on the same column, list the type IDs separated by commas:

    ```yaml theme={null}
    reviews:
      reviewManager: WorkItemBased
      typeProperties:
        itemTypes: reviewItem,formalReview
        linkRole: reviews
    ```

    For the full property reference and cross-project storage options, see [Configure Work Item-Based Reviews](/risksheet/guides/reviews/workitem-based-reviews).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable Reviewer Mode">
    When a user accesses Risksheet in reviewer mode, editing is restricted and review-specific UI controls are displayed. The `reviewer` property controls this behavior:

    ```yaml theme={null}
    reviewer: false
    ```

    When `reviewer` is set to `true`, the grid restricts editing and shows review-specific controls. This is typically set dynamically based on user role rather than statically in the sheet configuration.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Customizing Review Display

You can customize how reviews appear using CSS targeting the `risk_reviews` class:

```yaml theme={null}
styles:
  .risk_reviews: '{font-size: 12px; padding: 4px;}'
```

For work item-based reviews, you can provide a custom HTML template via the `itemTemplate` property in `typeProperties` to control how each review entry is rendered. Without a custom template, the default display includes a clickable work item ID link, author name, creation date, title, and description.

## Verification

After saving your sheet configuration:

1. Reload the Risksheet document in your browser
2. You should now see review controls available in the grid interface (the exact location depends on your review strategy)
3. Create a test review on a risk item to confirm the review system is active
4. Verify the review displays with author, timestamp, and content

<Tip title="Troubleshooting missing review features">
  If review controls do not appear after configuration, verify that the `reviews` section exists in your sheet configuration and that `reviewManager` is set to one of the three valid values: `CommentBased`, `WorkItemBased`, or `ApprovalBased`. For work item-based reviews, also confirm `itemTypes` is a comma-separated string (not a JSON array) and that `linkRole` matches an existing Polarion link role.
</Tip>

## See Also

* [Configure Comment-Based Reviews](/risksheet/guides/reviews/comment-based-reviews) -- detailed comment review setup
* [Configure Approval-Based Reviews](/risksheet/guides/reviews/approval-based-reviews) -- formal approval workflows
* [Configure Work Item-Based Reviews](/risksheet/guides/reviews/workitem-based-reviews) -- review task lifecycle tracking
* [Manage Cross-Project Reviews](/risksheet/guides/reviews/cross-project-reviews) -- reviews across multiple projects
* [Configure Permissions](/risksheet/guides/administration/permissions) -- access control for reviewers

<LastReviewed date="2026-06-24" />