When you're assigned to review a specification, you'll receive an email notification with a direct link to the document. Your role is to review the content, provide feedback, and mark your review as complete so the workflow can move forward.
Getting Started
Click the link in your email notification to open the specification in Holly. Your email will include the name of the specification you're reviewing and may include a note from the document owner explaining what they'd like you to focus on.
If you're a Holly user, but are not logged into Holly already or have not logged in recently, you may need to log in first but will be redirected to the specification after doing so.
External reviewers (someone without a Holly account) can still access and review the specification through the email link—no account required. External reviewers can add comments and suggested edits just like internal reviewers, but won't see the full workflow timeline showing other stages and reviewers.
Providing Feedback
Holly gives you two ways to provide feedback on a specification:
Comments
Use comments to ask questions, flag concerns, or provide general feedback that doesn't require a specific text change. To add a comment, select the text you want to comment on or click "+Add comment" at the top right under the "Finish Review" button, write your comment, and submit.
Comments are visible to the document owner and other reviewers, creating a conversation thread around specific parts of the specification.
Suggested Edits
Use suggested edits when you have a specific text change in mind. Rather than just describing what should change, you can propose the exact wording. To suggest an edit:
Click the dropdown in the top right corner of the editor and select Suggesting (instead of Editing)
Make your changes directly in the document—additions appear in green, deletions show as red strikethrough
The document owner will see your suggestions and can accept or reject each one
When to use which:
Use comments for questions, concerns, or feedback that needs discussion
Use suggested edits when you know exactly what the text should say
Completing Your Review
Once you've finished reviewing the specification and provided all your feedback, you need to mark your review as complete. This is an important step—the workflow can't advance until all reviewers in your step have completed their reviews.
To complete your review:
Click the "Finish review" button
Optionally, add a summary note with any final thoughts or overall feedback
Confirm completion
After you complete your review, you can still view the specification, but you won't be able to add new comments or suggestions.
Next Steps
After you complete your review, the document owner will review your feedback, respond to comments, and accept or reject suggested edits. Once all reviewers have completed their reviews, the specification moves to the next stage or toward publication.
Need More Guidance?
Check out our related articles:
Building an Approval Workflow: How document owners set up the review process
Managing an Active Approval Workflow: How document owners track progress and manage feedback
Reviewing Feedback and Publishing: How document owners finalize and publish specifications