Once you’ve made a project, you can create tasks and assign them to a user.

Creating a task

To create a new task:

1. On any Slate page, select Tasks from the dashboard.

   

2. Enter the name of the task in the Create task field. Alternatively, in Database → Projects, select New Task in an existing project.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Project: Defaults to the project currently being viewed. Otherwise, select a project from the list, or leave blank to create a one-off task.

   • Status: Select a status for the task. The task status section list shares the same prompt list as the Project Status prompt list.

   • Subject: Enter the primary intent of the task. This appears to the user when they view it in the Tasks dashboard.

   • Deadline: Enter the deadline date for task completion.

   • Role: Select a role to limit the task to a custom role permission.

   • User: Select the administrative user responsible for completing the task. Tasks assigned to the current user (such as the user currently logged in) are accessible anywhere in Slate under the Your Tasks view.

   • Record: Defaults to the record currently being viewed. Otherwise, if the task relates to a record, search for the appropriate record.

   • Link Title: Required for tasks that are not connected to a Slate record.

     • The link title masks the actual hyperlink to the prompts section of Slate.

     • Think of the link title as the text displayed for a hyperlink. Rather than displaying https://technolutions.com/, the displayed text might be more user-friendly, like Technolutions Website.

   • Link URL: The URL associated with the link title (above).

     • The URL must link to a secured webpage with https://.

     • For instance, use https://technolutions.com rather than technolutions.com.

   • Description: If further explanation of the task is necessary (apart from the subject), enter additional details in this section.

4. Select Save.

Viewing related tasks

When accessing a person record, tasks that meet all of the following criteria are displayed under the Related Tasks view:

• The task is associated with the record that the user is currently viewing and the task is set to a role to which the current user belongs.

• Or, the User setting of the task matches the user currently viewing the record.

These tasks may be assigned to other users in the database, but they will be visible to the current user.

What about tasks added by an application-scoped rule?

Tasks related to application records appear in a user’s task queue. Unlike tasks related to person records, these do not appear as a related task when accessing a person record.

Managing task details

Selecting a task displays a dialog with relevant information about the task. This dialog includes a link to the person record or the relevant Slate page linked in the task. Here users can add and view notes (which can be used to adjust the status of the task). Users with the Projects permission can edit the task.

A user's tasks, or tasks related to a record, can be sorted either by due date or by assignee name.

Recently completed tasks can be viewed by selecting the Show Completed icon.

What is a recently completed task?

Tasks completed in the last 14 days are available in the Completed Tasks section.

Creating a task note

Use task notes to provide more detailed updates for a task as work progresses. This is especially useful if a single task involves multiple steps.

To create a new note on a task:

1. Go to Database → Projects.

2. Select a project, or create a new one.

3. Select a task, or create a new one.

4. Select New Note.

5. Configure the following settings:

   • Subject: Enter a subject for the note.

   • Task Status: Set or update the status for the task, if an update as a result of this note addition is warranted.

   • Notes: Add the description for the new note.

An added note includes a timestamp. Whenever the note is updated, the timestamp also updates.

Creating tasks automatically with rules

To create a rule that creates tasks:

1. Go to Database → Rules.

2. Click New Rule.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Name: Create a name for the Task rule

   • Base: Select the population on whose records to link the task

   • Type: Project Task

   • Trigger: Select the method

   • Folder: Place the rule in a folder

   • Exclusivity Group: Should only one task rule apply out of a series of project task rules, assign the rule to an exclusivity group.

   • Non-deterministic: If in an exclusivity group, select a priority.

   • Status: Preview

4. Configure the appropriate filters to limit the population that should be assigned to the project.

5. Enter the following configurations in the Action section of the rule:

   • Project: Select the project for which this task should be associated.

   • Status: Select a status for the task that is being assigned.

   • Summary: Enter the primary intent of the task; this 'subject' of the task will be displayed to the administrative user, for example, when clicking the tasks icon.

   • User: The administrative user can be assigned with either a static value or dynamically, through a field on the person record.

     • Static Assignee: Select the user who should be assigned to the task.

     • Add Assignee from Fields: Select the field that will be used to assign the task (the field must be set to use the 'user' prompt).

   • Role: Select a role if this task should be limited to a custom role permission.

   • Deadline Type: Task deadlines can be set either statically or dynamically.

   • Deadline x Days After Task Creation Date: Select a deadline a certain number of days after the task was assigned.

   • Deadline: Insert a static deadline date.

6. Activate your rule when ready.

Student success example: Create an intervention task when watch flag appears

Using projects and tasks, alerts can be created to prompt users to take action or intervene with a student.

The addition of a watch flag or tag on a person record can trigger a related task, alerting a specific user to take an action.

For example, if a student notified their soccer coach that they were homesick and thinking about not returning next semester, the coach can add a watch flag to the student record. This would trigger the creation of a task that is assigned to the student's advisor, prompting them to reach out to the student and intervene.

Alternatively, these tasks could be triggered upon form submission. For example, a form can be accessible to those interacting with students to submit basic information regarding their concern or alert, alerting the appropriate staff via the task creation.