Editing task details

Tasks have status, subtasks, a user, a deadline and much more. Here you'll find out what tasks in awork can do.

Merle Hecht avatar
Written by Merle Hecht
Updated this week

You have access to the task details by clicking on a task. Depending on the view you are in, you navigate to the task, it opens in a window, or it opens on the right side of the screen.

In the task details, you can view the task, including all information and progress, and edit it directly. To edit, you usually only have to click on the field itself.

Task name and description

The task name is simply the task. You can also insert very long task names in awork, but note that these long names are usually only fully visible in the detail view.

In the description, you can write detailed briefings about the task, including formatting and file attachments. Learn more about the possibilities of the description field editor here.

Task status

Each task always has a current status. The status can be changed via the round status icon.

For private tasks, there is a default set of five task statuses. These can't be edited.

For project tasks, the statuses can be defined each project itself. They also represent the Kanban boardcolumns in the project.

What do the task status colors mean?

Grey Circle or Blue (To-Do)

Tasks that are not yet actively worked on

Yellow (In Progress)

Tasks that are actively worked on

Red (Blocked)

Tasks that aren't currently being processed or can be put on hold

Purple (In Review)

Tasks that are in a feedback or release loop

Green (Done)

Tasks that are done

👆Hint: You can choose between two colors for the "To-Do"-Status. Tasks in "To-Do" will be automatically displayed as a grey outlined Checkbox in your task lists. However, you can change that and also give them a color and an icon. By editing the "To-Do" task status you can also select an icon with a blue background.

Project & task lists

A task that is in a project is a project task. A task without a project is a private task.

You can only customize the tasks of a project in the task's edit window, which you can reach via the action button > Edit.

You can also move a task to another project or make it private at any time.

Task lists

Task lists exist only in projects. Therefore, the fields for selecting a list are visible only for project tasks.

A task can be in none, one or more lists at the same time. It is still the same task. So if it is completed in one list, it will be completed everywhere.

If you move a task from one list to the other, it will be removed from one list and added to the other. You can also keep the task in both lists using the action that appears briefly.

Type of work

The type of work is a categorization of tasks and times in awork. They help with the evaluation, accounting but also with the filtering of tasks and times.

A task must always be assigned to exactly one type of work. The last used/selected type of work is always preselected.

Learn more about this here.

Assignees

You can assign tasks to the users visible to you in the workspace.

If a task is assigned to a user, this task appears in the respective task filters of the user.

If a user is assigned to a task, the notifications for the updates of this task are activated for the user.

☝️Hint: If the task status is "To-Do" and the task does not have an assignee yet, you will automatically be assigned to the task when you set the task to "In Progress".

One or multiple assignees

For the entire awork workspace, you can set whether tasks can have only one or multiple agents. To do so, go to the task settings under Settings > General > Task settings.

Only one assignee

If you want to have single task responsibilities in awork, you can simply deactivate the option for multiple assignees.

If the setting "Allow multi-user assignment" is set, you can also assign only one user to a task. Any new assignment will then replace the previous selection.

Multiple assignees

If the setting to assign multiple users to a task is active, you can select and remove multiple users one by one.

You can replace all assignees at once with one user by clicking on the person icon in the user selection.

☝️Hint: awork does not allow multi-assigning users to private tasks. Find out more about private tasks here.

Starting time & deadline

A task can have a start date and an end date, or just one of the two. If both date fields are filled, the task would be displayed in the project timeline.

The end date is considered the deadline of the task. This field is displayed in the lists and overviews and is also used to indicate tasks that are due soon.

☝️Hint: Due to the colored marking of the deadline, tasks that are due soon are recognized directly.

Red marking: The task is due in less than 24 hours.

Yellow marking: The task is due after 24 hours, but the next day.

Start and end time

Besides the date, you can also set clock times for start & end. awork automatically sets 8 a.m. for the start date and 6 p.m. for the end date.

Checklist

(formerly "Subtasks")

Each task can have a checklist with any number of entries. A checklist entry has only two statuses: open and done.

The text of the entry can be of any length and automatically wraps around so that it is always fully visible. You can change the order of a checklist entry by dragging and dropping and editing the text simply by clicking on it.

You can see the progress of the checklist in the list view of the task.

Subtasks

In awork there are two levels of tasks. You can hang further tasks under the first level of your tasks, so-called subtasks. These are also normal tasks including all functionality.

In the detail page of a task, which is on the top level, you will see an area called Tasks. Here you can create or view tasks that are subordinate to this task. If you are in the details of such a subtask, you will not be able to see or create other subtasks, because there is only one more level for the tasks.

You can read more about this in the article about subtasks.

Planned effort, progress & tracked times

Planned effort

For each task you can set a planned effort. The effort is the expected time effort that is planned for the task. In the field you can enter different time formats such as 10h, 2h, 15m.

The planned effort is required if the task will have an impact on the workload and will be used for capacity planning of the users.

If only one total value is defined for a task, it will be distributed equally to all assigned users. However, it is also possible to define individual planned workloads for individual users by entering a value in the respective field.

The sum of the planned efforts of all users cannot be greater than the specified total planned effort. If the explicitly specified values exceed the total effort, the total effort is automatically corrected upwards. If the total value is higher, but individual users are assigned explicit effort, the remaining effort is distributed among the users who are not assigned an explicit value. This value can also be 0. An automatically distributed value can be recognized by the gray text color. An explicitly assigned value is indicated by the almost black color.

Tracked times

In the task details but also in the lists you see the sum of all times tracked on the task.

Remaining effort

In the task editing window (action button > Edit) there is a field Remaining effort. Here the value is automatically calculated from the planned effort minus recorded time.

Progress

The Progress field shows the percentage progress of the task processing. It is calculated on the basis of the planned time and the time already recorded.

Files and attachments

Any number of files can be attached to each task, e.g. with images, PDFs, etc. To upload a file, simply click on the corresponding button or drag and drop the file onto the task.

You can also link files from Google Drive or OneDrive. Here the files are only linked. If other people want to open the files, they need the appropriate rights in Google Drive or OneDrive. A description of how exactly you can link files from Google Drive or OneDrive can be found here.

Unfortunately, the preview of Google Drive or OneDrive files is currently not possible within awork.

☝️Hint: The file preview is displayed as a pdf regardless of the actual file format. After you have downloaded the file, you can open it in the actual format (e.g. Excel).

Files in comments

It is also possible to upload files in the comments of a task or to mention existing files. To mention them type @ in the comment field. Only files that belong to the task can be mentioned.

To upload, you can either click the attachment icon or drag and drop the file(s) into the comment field.

Files that you attach to a comment will automatically appear as attachments in the task.

☝️Important: The file attached to the task is not directly deleted when you delete a comment. However, if you delete the file from the task, it will no longer be available in the comments.

File size limit

A single file may have a maximum size of 100 MB. For larger files, it is a good idea to use a cloud drive and link the file.

Files in projects

The files that are attached to tasks can be viewed in the project under the Files tab. There, the respective task in which the file is located is also always displayed.

Learn more about the project files.

Tags

Tasks can be tagged. Create new tags at any time or choose from the tags already in use (tag pool). Tags of project tasks and tags you use for your private tasks have different pools. Thus, different tags will be suggested to you depending on whether it is a private or project task.

Learn more about the tags in awork.

☝️Hint: If a task has been tagged, you can easily find it in the search bar using the tags.

Priority

You can mark a task as a priority using the flag icon. You can see this flag in the task details, in the overviews, and you can filter or build automations according to it.

Activity log & comments

In the activity log, below the task details, you can track all changes and comments to the task.

You can also post new comments here to work on topics together with your team.

☝️Important: Depending on your personal notification settings, awork will automatically notify the user about your comment.

Using "@" you can tag/mention other users so that they receive an explicit notification, whether they receive the general notifications for the task or not. The only requirement here is that you have enabled the notification "Someone mentioned you in a comment." in your profile settings.

In addition, you can also tag/mention users with @Workspace, @Task and @"Team".

@Workspace: Every user of the workspace will be notified.

@Task: Every user who is assigned to the task OR has activated the bell icon in the task will be notified.

@"Team" (e.g. @Marketing): Every team member will be notified.

Requirements for receiving these notifications:

  • Users must have the appropriate notifications enabled in their profile settings.

  • Users must have the bell icon enabled in the task.

  • The users can view the task according to the permission management.

Notifications & Watchers

You can enable or disable notifications for a task using the bell icon in the top right corner of the task details. This way you stay up-to-date about status changes, new comments, etc.

Learn what notifications are and how to set them up.

Watchers are the users in awork who receive notifications for a task. They'll appear within the task details.

The notifications for a task are automatically activated for a user, if e.g.

  • this user has created the task

  • a user is assigned to the task

  • a user was mentioned in a comment of the task

By disabling notifications for a task, a user will be removed from the list of contributors and will no longer receive updates for that task. Each user can only remove themselves from the list of contributors.

☝️Hint: The user who is also the assignee of the task will not appear again among the watchers, even though they will also receive notifications.

Recurring Tasks

You can mark tasks as recurring via the clock icon with the circle arrow.

Learn more about recurring tasks here.

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