Ask for approval on a card

Ask one or more board members to approve a card, answer on the card, and let a column take only approved cards.

In short

When a card needs a yes before it moves on, ask for approval on the card. The people you ask see it in their inbox and answer on the card. A column can be set to take only approved cards.

Before you start

Who: asking needs "Change cards" on the board, and the people you ask must be able to open it. Setting a column to take only approved cards needs "Create and manage boards".
Plan: every plan.
First: share the board with the people who should approve. Otherwise "Nobody else can open this board yet." appears.

Steps

Open the card and find "Approval" on Overview (under "Needs attention", it reads "Approval and automation" when nothing waits). Press "Ask for approval".
Under "Who should approve", tick up to 10 people who can open the board.
Choose "Approved when": "Any one of them approves" or "Every one of them approves".
Write a "Note to them" if you like, and press "Ask".

Open the card from your inbox.
Press "Approve" or "Decline", add a "Reason" if you like, and confirm.

Open the board's settings and the column's menu.
Choose "Take only approved cards". The column shows "Needs approval".
To say who approves for it, choose "Who approves…" in the same menu, tick up to 10 people of the board and choose whether any one of them or every one must approve. Then only a request asked for that column opens it.
On a card, press "Ask for approval" and pick the column under "For a column": its approvers are asked for you. If you are one of them, the others are asked.

Result: the card face shows "Approval: Waiting for approval", then "Approved" or "Declined", and the card's history keeps each answer.

Good to know

The first decline declines the request in both modes. With "Every one of them approves", the card shows how many have approved so far.
You cannot ask yourself. A card holds one waiting request at a time.
Asking needs Edit on the board, even on a locked card. Whoever asked, or a board manager, can "Withdraw the request".
Only board managers set a column to take only approved cards.
A bug's own lifecycle, a linked test and a move to another board do not wait for approval.
What happens next: each person you ask sees the request in their inbox, and the card's history keeps each answer. An answer moves no card by itself; a column that takes only approved cards accepts the card afterwards.

If something goes wrong

"Cards enter Review only once they are approved. Ask for approval on the card first."
"This card already waits for approval. Withdraw that request before you ask again."
"You cannot ask yourself to approve. Choose other people."
"Nobody else can open this board yet." - share the board first. See /help/boards/share-a-board.