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Working with Tasks

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Tasks tell your team what needs to be done and when. They can be organized into task lists and assigned to anyone on the project.


Creating Tasks

  • Open the Tasks tab in a project,
  • Click +Add a Task,
  • Enter a name,
  • Set the (optional) details:
    1. Description - tell others what the task is about,
    2. Attachments - add files to the task (learn more),
    3. Subscribers - choose who’ll be notified about updates (learn more),
    4. Task List - move the task to another list,
    5. Assignee - choose who's responsible for completing the task,
    6. Due On - set the date when the task has to be completed and the optinal start date,
    7. Labels - show that the task is NEW, INPROGRESS, etc. (learn more),
    8. Time estimation-set the time estimation and the job type,
    9. Hidden from clients - select this if you don’t want your clients to see the task (learn more),
    10. High priority - highlight the task on the list.
  • Click Add Task to create the task. 

If you set an assignee and/or subscribers, they’ll get a notification about the new task in ActiveCollab and via email:


Updating Tasks

Open a task to see or edit the details.


You'll be able to:

  • Add subtasks to break the task down into smaller steps,
  • Add a dependency- select between Parent or Child task,
  • Leave a comment and notify everyone following this task (learn more),
  • Track time and expenses on this task (learn more),
  • Start the Stopwatch (learn more),
  • Set a reminder to send an email to someone about this task (learn more),
  • Change the label to show what stage the task is in (learn more),
  • Move the task to trash to remove it from the project,
  • Complete the task by clicking on the checkbox. This will remove it from the active tasks list. You can still view or restore it by opening Completed Tasks.

Clicking the task options (...) will also let you:

  • Duplicate the task,
  • Create a recurring task,
  • Move/Copy the task to another project,
  • Copy link,
  • Check the Access Logs to see who opened the task, 
  • Delete the task.


Creating Task Lists

Task lists let you group tasks and break the project into stages.

Click the Add button on the right, and add a new Task list. 

  • In the list view you can add the task list to the bottom of the list or to the top of the list. 
  • In the column view, you can add a task list to the right or to the left of all your existing task lists.

When clicking on (...) next to a Task List you will be able to:


Organizing Task Lists


  • Drag and drop tasks to reposition them or move them from one list to another,
  • Reorder task lists by dragging and dropping them on the right side menu,
  • Filter tasks to show just the selected label, assignee and due date.

Using Task Views

ActiveCollab can adapt to your workflow and display tasks in three different views.


  • List view - shows a broad overview of all tasks,
  • Column view - perfect for agile workflows where cards move across columns,
  • Timeline view - useful for outlining task start and end dates - simply drag the date handles or move the entire task to reschedule it.

Batch Task editing

You can easily edit multiple tasks at once in the Batch edit mode.


  • Open the Tasks tab in a project,
  • Click the Batch edit button,
  • Clicking on the checkbox next to the name of the Task list selects all tasks within the task list. 
  • Select the tasks you wish to update by checking the boxes in front of them (selecting tasks won't complete them),
  • You can complete the selected tasks or move them to trash. You can also set the task list, assignee, due date, labels, visibility, and priority,
  • Click Update selected tasks to apply the changes, or Exit batch edit to discard the changes.

Recurring Tasks

Recurring tasks are common tasks that you create often. They are task templates that can get created automatically every day, week, or month. There are two ways in which you can create a recurring task. 

From the project:

  1. Click the Add button and choose to Add Recurring Task
  2. Fill out the task details (task name, description, add the assignee, etc.)
  3. Choose when the task is set to create automatically, 
  4. Save.

From the existing task:

  1. Create and/or open a regular task first,
  2. Open the task options dropdown on the three-dots menu,
  3. Click “Make Recurring Task”,
  4. Define task template, set recurrence, and save the recurrence profile.


Once you make a recurring task, it will show up at the bottom of your project. There, you can update it or create a task from it right away.

You can also use recurring tasks as task templates. You just create a recurring profile as usual and disable recurrence. When you need the task, go to the bottom of the project and create a task from the profile by clicking "Make One Now".

Tasks that were made from a recurring profile will have a recurrence icon next to them.

Recurring tasks will also show up in the Calendar, so you can always know what's coming up and plan accordingly.



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