Projects are the overarching structure in which tasks are created and executed.

• 📋 Reuse content: Like events, projects can be created from project templates.

• 🔒 Control access: You can grant access to projects and project templates to specific users, permissions, and roles.  

• 📨 Automate communications: You can set up projects and their templates to send automated communications to their assignees.

Creating a project template

As with events, starting with a template keeps you from having to build projects from scratch every time a new one comes up.

To create a template:

1. Go to Database → Projects.

2. Select New Template.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Template Name: Give the template a name. The name should be broad enough to potentially span multiple project types.

   • Description: Describe the template.

     

4. Select Save. You’re directed to the template’s overview page.

Editing the project template’s permissions

Permission settings are required to use projects. These permissions can also be granted at the level of the individual project.

To add a given user, role, or permission to the template:

1. Select Edit Permissions.

2. Select Add Grantee.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Active: Set the status to Active.

   • Type: Select the type of access being applied to the project template:

     • User: A User field appears. Enter the user name. An autosuggest list appears as you type.

     • Role: A select list appears. Choose the desired role to apply.

     • Permission: A select list of established permissions appears. Select the desired permission to apply.

   • Permissions: Select the project template permissions to be granted to the access type. Options include Display Tasks and Project Manager.

4. Select Save.

Customizing project status prompt values

Your database comes with default prompt values for project_status, including:

• Not Started

• Planning

• On Hold

• In Progress

• Testing

• Complete

If you want to add your own, Go to Database → Prompts and select project_status to add or edit these status prompts.

📝 Note

• The list must include a value of Complete.

• All new prompts must have a category of Complete, In Progress, On Hold, or Not Started.

Creating a project

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.

1. Select New Project.

2. Configure the following settings:

   • Status: Select a status from the list.

   • Folder: Place the project in a folder.

   • Project Title: Create a name for the project.

   • Deadline: Enter the date and time for the project to be completed.

   • Template: Select the template from which the project should be created.

   • Description: Describe the project's overall goals and objectives.

     

3. Select Save.

Sending automated communications from a project or project template

You can notify your users about projects or tasks with communications configured in the project or project template itself.

These communications are based on a trigger. You can trigger the mailing based on status, assignment, time until it’s due, and more.

1. Within the project or project template, select Edit Communications.

2. Select New Mailing.

3. Enter the following New Mailing configurations in the dialog box:

   • Name: Give the new mailing a descriptive name so that it can be found quickly.

   • Trigger: Select the conditions that trigger delivery. (We detail each trigger in the next section).

     • Hours: Appears if you select a time-based trigger.

     • Group: If you selected the trigger Recurring every x hours, select a group of either Project or Task. (Also covered in the next section).

   • Status: Set to Inactive until the mailing should be scheduled for delivery

   • Method: Select a delivery method

   • Opt Out: No Unsubscribe

   • UTM Tracking: Disabled

4. Select Save. You’re directed to the mailing overview page, which varies with the method you selected.

📖 Further reading: Configuring a message in Deliver

Looking for examples?

Provision a Slate Showcase environment to find projects, tasks, and associated communications already built.

📖 Further reading: Showcase environments

Triggers

Upon Task Assignment (manual)

Should be used when a task has been assigned individually to either a user or a role. Creating a new task in the project or updating an existing task with a role or user will trigger this communication.

Upon Task Assignment (rule)

Should be used to alert a staff member of a task or project that has been assigned to them automatically via a rule.

Upon Task Assignment emails are sent when the assignment is set for the first time or changed.

Upon Task Completion

Should be used to send a mailing when a task has been marked as complete. This communication will be sent when a task is manually marked as complete by the user assigned to it or when the task is marked as complete within the project.

Upon Task Completion emails are delivered each time a task status is changed to complete. For instance, if the status of the task is changed back to In Progress from Complete, and then marked as Complete once again, a second Upon Task Completion email is sent. However, updates to a complete task will not trigger this email.

Hours Before Task Deadline

Requires an integer to be entered for the number of hours before the task deadline. This defines when the email should be sent relative to the deadline of the task. This trigger will only send one email per task, and will not send if the status of the task is already marked as complete.

Hours Before Project Target Deadline

Sends a communication at the specified number of hours before the overall deadline set on the Project. This trigger will only send one email per project, and will not send if the status of the project is already marked as complete.

Recurring Every x Hours

Sends a communication multiple times, using the specified interval of hours. This trigger is used when the same email should be sent to a recipient as a reminder that the corresponding task or project is not complete. It is important to note that:

Groups

Depending on what group was selected for the Recurring Every x Hours mailing, only the project or task-related merge fields will be available.

Project

Set the group to Project if the communication will refer to a project.

Merge fields related to projects are available for a Recurring Every x Hours mailing with a group of Project.

Task

Set the group to Task if the communication will refer to a specific task within a project.

Merge fields related to tasks are available for a Recurring Every x Hours mailing with a group of Task.

Recurring emails

Recurring emails will not start immediately.

The first recurring email is sent once the time interval is reached since the email communication was created. For example, if a recurring email is configured to send every 24 hours, the recipient will receive the first of these recurring emails 24 hours from when the active email communication is initially saved.

Recurring emails will stop once the status of the task or project is marked as complete.

Merge fields

Some merge fields are present for all of the triggers, and others are limited to only certain triggers. . Project-User merge fields are determined by the user assigned as the Project Manager through the project's Sharing Permissions.

Task logs

Looping Liquid logic can be implemented to display the updates on a task in any project communication where Task-Logs is a provided merge field. For each update to a task, the for loop can display a variety of merge fields related to the task. These merge fields are not listed in the side bar of the Edit Message page, but include the following:

For example, to include row.created, row.username, row.subject, and row.status for a task's updates in a communication, the Liquid markup in the source code might look like:

 {% if task-logs.size > 0 %} {% for row in task-logs %}<br />
 {{row.created}}<br />
 {{row.username}}<br />
 {{row.subject}}<br />
 {{row.status}}<br />
 {% endfor %} {% endif %}

It is possible that using these task log merge fields will result in warning messages at the top of the communication stating that unknown merge fields are present. This is expected behavior, and warnings regarding these merge fields, in particular, can be ignored.

Creating tasks

See Tasks.