The Design Approval System is a free tool from Slick Remix. It’s for WordPress users. Its goal is to make sharing design drafts easier. The tool works with WordPress 3.0 and newer versions.
Let’s say you are a graphic artist. You have a new design to share with your clients. Without the tool, you would email the draft. Then, you wait for them to be okay. This way might not make you look good.
However, with the Design Approval wordpress from Slick Remix, you can change this. You can use your WordPress blog to show your design. This makes the process easier. It also helps you look more professional.
Plugin Key Features:
- Email Alerts: Send your client an invite from your WordPress site. Get an email when there’s a comment or approval.
- Utilize other services: Connect with services like Trello, Slack, and more. This lets you send comments and approvals easily.
- E-Signatures: Clients can approve designs with their digital signature.
- Custom URLs: Make sharing easy with custom URLs. These are client-friendly.
- Host yourself: This plugin works on your WordPress site. This keeps your files safe and private.
- Upload Image files: Upload any image type that WordPress supports. You can upload one or more files.
- Image Gallery: Arrange your designs in the WordPress library. This makes finding designs fast and easy.
- Strong Privacy: Keep your designs safe. You can set passwords if you want.
- Get Feedbacks: Clients can leave comments on the design. This gives feedback with context.
- See Feedback: All comments are put into one easy-to-check list.
How It Works
Using the plugin is quite straightforward. After you’ve installed it, it asks you to tailor its look with your company’s details. You put in your business name, email, and logo. You can also modify the text that shows up on the design post.
Next, you can start with your first ‘design post.’ You do this from the Design Approval System panel on your Dashboard. You’ll see an ‘Add New’ design post option. This is like making a new post, but without long texts. Instead, you upload your design image or screenshot.
Additionally, you’ll need to fill out some blanks. These include your client’s name, email, the project due date, design title, and so on. When you finish, you can publish and see your post.
Finally, you press the ‘send email’ button, found under ‘Designer’s Notes.’ The plugin will then send an email to your client. It asks them to approve or reject your design posted on your blog.
Benefits Of Using The Design Approval System Plugin
- Streamlined Workflows: Design Approval wordpress makes your workflow smooth and efficient. Traditional feedback methods can be long and messy, involving lots of emails or meetings. DAS organizes everything in one place, making approval faster and easier.
- Transparency and Accountability: DAS keeps track of every change and comment made. This lets both clients and designers see the process clearly. Clients can trust their designers more. Designers know exactly what the client wants. This transparency includes the approval process. Clients’ approval comes with a timestamp. This helps with project timelines and any disputes.
- Support for Various File Formats: DAS works with many file formats. This gives designers the freedom to be creative.
- Real-Life Impact: To elaborate this point, let’s look at a real life example. A web design agency in San Francisco started using DAS. They saw productivity rise by 40%. This was all thanks to the simple feedback and approval process from DAS.
Moreover, DAS provides the capability to customize project status. You can set and update the status of a project as it moves through different stages. It typically helps keep track of progress and manage expectations.
An interesting case study involves a product development company in Berlin. They reported a reduction in project completion time by 20% and an increase in client satisfaction by 30%. It was only possible with the above features of the DAS plugin.
Also, a graphic designer from New York reported a 30% reduction in revision cycles after adopting the DAS plugin. This indicates that the plugin not only enhances communication but also positively impacts project timelines.
The DAS Plugin Versus Traditional Feedback Channels
When considering the approval workflow wordpress, it’s helpful to compare it against traditional feedback channels. Traditional feedback often involves emails, phone calls, and even physical meetings. These methods tend to be time-consuming and can lead to miscommunication.
Contrast this with DAS. With all communication and feedback centralized, the process becomes quicker and more effective. As a result, you can save time and avoid a lot of misunderstandings.
According to a report, miscommunication errors dropped by an estimated 35% just after transitioning to DAS. Thus, it demonstrates the efficiency that the plugin can introduce to the feedback and approval process.
Summary Of Updates Of Design Approval System: 2013-2014
The plugin was first released on August 7, 2012, and as of the last known update, the plugin version is 4.3.2. It has been downloaded over 12,500 times.
It has had a series of updates over the years. Each update added features, addressed security issues or made compatibility adjustments. Here is the brief summary of updates from 2013 to 2014:
- Version 3.8.6 (July 2014) introduced language files for German and Portuguese, a new walkthrough using WordPress pointers, and a PHP 5.3 check. The Project Board was also made fully responsive
- Version 3.8.5 (June 2014) fixed an issue with the Single Template override
- Version 3.8.4 (June 2014) required PHP 5.3 or above and introduced a CSS overhaul on the default template
- Version 3.8.3 (June 2014) fixed an issue with the Project Board update
- Version 3.8.1 (June 2014) introduced a multilingual feature, the ability to customize templates without affecting updates, and compatibility with WooCommerce
- Version 3.8 (January 2014) updated the UI for the WordPress 3.8 update and replaced a deprecated function
- Version 3.7 (September 2013) fixed a security issue and an issue with posts being limited on the Project Board
- Version 3.6 (August 2013) added a security check so clients couldn’t view other clients’ projects
- Version 3.5 (August 2013) fixed a possible fatal error on some installs and removed tags from the column for the designs list page in the wp-admin
- Version 3.4 (June 2013) fixed CSS issues for Firefox and noted the need to update to DAS 3.4 for compatibility with the new Clean Theme Version 2.1
- Version 3.3 (June 2013) fixed the Project Board for clients and made Firefox CSS fixes on the default theme and project board.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a graphic designer, custom WordPress template creator, photographer, or web developer, this plugin can be valuable. If you have something to display or send efficiently, you can use the plugin’s excellent features. It also helps show you can manage your projects professionally.
There might be times you run into some errors or issues. But, they can be fixed easily by adjusting your plugin settings or just reloading the post. Therefore, this approval workflow WordPress plugin rightfully earns a 9 out of 10 star rating.