Who is this article for?

Administrators who need to allow document owners to perform reviews.

Administration module access is required.

This article explains why the New Review button may be greyed out in the Windows client and what you can do to make it available to document owners.

1. Issue

When trying to create a new review, the owner will see the option greyed out. 

This likely occurred because the user had a secondary licence, which didn't permit the review action. The Document Owner dynamic group lacked Document Review permission, and department-only rules weren't enough for owners.

2. Solution

2.1. Per user

You can resolve the issue on an individual basis by modifying the user's licence type.

To resolve the issue:

1. Go to the Administration module.
2. Select People.
3. Select the user.
4. Untick Assign a 'Secondary' user licence when available.
   This will switch the user to a primary licence, subject to availability and policy.

2.2. Per group

You can resolve the issue on a group basis by adjusting permissions for the Document Owner dynamic group.

To resolve the issue:

1. Go to the Administration module.
2. Select Security.
3. Click Groups.
4. Find and open the Document Owner dynamic group.
5. Go to Permissions.
6. Click Add / Remove.
7. Add Document Review (adjust rules if required for your policy).
8. Click OK.
9. Click Apply.

We recommend using dynamic groups for actions that depend on who owns the specific record. This avoids broad, maintenance-heavy department mappings.

2.3. Per department

If you still want to restrict reviews to the owner’s department, keep the dynamic group assignment and apply a rule on Document Review if appropriate (for example, department equals owner’s department).

Use rules sparingly - if rules become too restrictive, owners may still be blocked.

Further reading

• Managing dynamic security groups
• Understanding user permissions in Document module
• Overview of secondary licences
• Reviewing a document