Tasks

A task is one thing to do in a project. It can be as small as a line on a to-do list, or carry a date, a priority, an assignee, labels, subtasks, a description, comments and files. Tasks live in the sections of a project, and the ones with a date also show up in Today and Upcoming.

Add a task#

There are three ways to add one:

• Type in Add task under a section in a project.
• Press q anywhere, or click the bar at the bottom of a task list, to open quick add. Pick the project with #.
• Type in Add subtask inside an open task to add a subtask.

In Add task and in quick add you can put the details in the same line: !1 to !5 for the priority, @label for a label and a word such as tomorrow or friday for the date. See Getting started for everything quick add understands.

Click the title of a task to open it in a panel on the right. There you change everything described below. Changes are saved as you go.

Set a date and time#

The date says when the task has to be finished. Click it in the task panel and choose Today, Tomorrow, Next week (next Monday), pick a date, or choose No date to clear it. Next to it, Time adds a time of day, for example for a call.

In a task list you can also hover over a task and use the calendar icon. Dates and times are always in your own time zone.

The date decides where a task shows up:

• due today or earlier: in Today, with late tasks under Overdue
• due in the coming days: in Upcoming
• no date: only in its project, and in My tasks when it is assigned to you

Let a task run over several days#

On a project with a timeline, the date field is called End date, and under it you find + Runs for. Fill in how many working days the task takes, and Taskstand works out the start date by counting back from the end date. The panel then shows when it starts.

A task that has started shows up in Today even when it is only due later, because it is on the table. Moving such a task to another date keeps its length. On the timeline it is a bar from start to end. Working days follow the work week of the person the task is assigned to (yours when nobody is), which everyone sets in their profile.

The timeline, and with it the start date, is available when the owner of the project has a paid plan. See Timeline.

Set the priority#

A task has one of five priorities, shown as a coloured stripe next to its title:

Priority	Key
Urgent	1
High	2
Medium	3
Low	4
None	5

Change it under Priority in the task panel, with the flag icon on a task row, or by pressing the number while a task row has focus. Within a day, tasks are sorted by priority.

Assign a task#

Under Assignee you pick one member of the project, or Unassigned. The person you assign gets a notification, unless they turned that off. What people receive is set per person, see Account.

A task assigned to you shows up in My tasks, and counts under Mine on the dashboard. Restricted members do not see the member list, so they only see whether a task is assigned or not.

Use labels#

Labels help you group tasks across sections, such as bug, design or waiting. They belong to the project and are shared: everyone on the project sees the same labels.

• In the task panel, click a label under Labels to put it on the task or take it off.
• Type a name in + label to create a new one.
• In quick add, type @ and a name.

The owner, managers and team members can create labels. The owner manages them on the Labels page of the project settings:

• drag labels to change their order
• click the name to rename it, or the colour dot to pick another colour
• Merge into folds one label into another: its tasks get the other label
• the cross deletes a label and takes it off every task

Add subtasks#

Open a task and type in Add subtask to break it into steps. Subtasks are tasks of their own: you can open them, give them a date, an assignee and comments. A subtask cannot have subtasks of its own. The task panel shows how many subtasks are done.

Write a description#

Click Add description in the task panel. The description is written in markdown, so you can use headings, lists, links and bold text. Click Save or press Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows and Linux) to keep it, or Cancel to throw your change away.

Comment and mention someone#

Under Comments you can write to the others on the task. Comments are in markdown too. Press Post, or Cmd+Enter.

• Type @ and a name to mention a member. A list of members appears; pick one with the arrow keys and Enter. For a name with spaces, the mention reads @"Anna de Vries".
• The people you mention get a notification, as long as they can see the task.
• The person who created the task and the person it is assigned to also get a notification when someone comments.
• Click Attach to add files to a comment.
• You can edit and delete your own comments.

Everyone who can see a task can comment on it, also in a completed or archived project.

Attach files#

Click Add file in the task panel, or drag files onto it. Images appear as thumbnails you can click to enlarge, other files as a list. Web pages, scripts, SVG images and programs are not allowed, for safety.

How large a file may be and how much storage a project has depends on the plan of the project owner. See Plans and limits.

Repeat a task#

Some work comes back: a monthly report, a weekly backup check. Under Repeat you choose Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Yearly, and under Next date counts from how the next date is set:

Choice	Next date	Good for
Fixed schedule	The first date on the schedule after today, counted from the previous date. A monthly task on the 15th stays on the 15th.	Deadlines on the calendar, such as a report every month
After completion	Today plus the interval, counted from the day you tick it off.	Work where the gap matters, such as every two weeks after the last time

Ticking off a recurring task does not complete it. It moves to its next date and stays one and the same task, with its comments, files, subtasks and logged time. Subtasks you completed are opened again for the next round. A recurring task without a date gets today plus the interval.

When the next date falls on a day you do not work, the task moves on to the first working day after it. The schedule itself stays put: a monthly task on the 1st that moves to Monday the 2nd because the 1st is a Sunday is back on the 1st the month after. Which days are working days follows the work week of the person the task is assigned to, or yours when nobody is. See Your account.

Recurring tasks are left out of the progress of a project, because they are never done, and Complete all tasks on a section skips them. A subtask of a recurring task is completed as usual.

Complete a task#

Click the circle in front of a task, or press Space while its row has focus. A message appears with Undo, in case it was a mistake. Completed tasks disappear from the list; turn on Completed in the bar above the tasks to see them again. Click the circle again to reopen a task.

Anyone who may edit tasks can complete them. A reader can complete tasks assigned to them. See Members and roles for who may do what.

Archive a task#

Archiving puts a task away without deleting it. An archived task, open or completed, disappears from every list and every count, so the progress of the project says something again about what is left.

• A completed task gets an archive icon in its row.
• An open task is archived from the ... menu in the task panel: Archive.
• Turn on Archived in the bar above the tasks to see archived tasks, and use Unarchive to bring one back.
• Reopening an archived task brings it back as well.

Only top-level tasks can be archived; subtasks go along with their parent. To put a whole finished section away, see Projects.

The Completed and Archived switches are remembered per project, for you only.

Move or reorder a task#

• Drag a task up or down in a list to change the order, or into another section.
• On a board, drag a card to another column.
• In Upcoming, drag a task to another day to give it that date.
• In the task panel, choose Move to in the ... menu to search for any project and section you may add tasks to.

A task that moves to another project gets a new number in that project, so its reference changes. Its labels stay behind, because labels belong to a project, and the assignee is cleared when they are not a member of the new project. Its subtasks, comments, logged time and history go along.

Delete a task#

Choose Delete task in the ... menu of the task panel. The task and its subtasks are deleted. The message that follows has Undo, if you change your mind right away.

See your own tasks#

My tasks in the sidebar lists every open task assigned to you, in all your projects, grouped per project. Tasks with a date come first, sorted by priority, then the ones without a date. Change the filter at the top to also see unassigned tasks, tasks of others or everyone's. Tasks in archived projects are left out.

Undo a change#

Many changes can be taken back: completing, reopening, moving, rescheduling, archiving and deleting a task, among others. Click Undo in the message that appears, or press Cmd+Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows and Linux) while you are not typing in a field. Taskstand remembers your last changes for up to an hour.

Keyboard shortcuts#

Anywhere in the app:

Key	What it does
q	Open quick add
/	Open search
Cmd+K (Ctrl+K)	Open or close search, even while typing
Cmd+Z (Ctrl+Z)	Undo the last change

On a task row that has focus (click its title, or move through the list with the arrow keys):

Key	What it does
Arrow down, Arrow up, j, k	Go to the next or previous task
Enter	Open the task
Space	Complete or reopen the task
t	Move it to today
m	Move it to tomorrow
w	Move it to next week
d	Pick a date
1 to 5	Set the priority

In a description or comment, Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter) saves or posts, and Escape stops editing.

If single keys get in the way, for example with a screen reader or voice control, turn off Single key shortcuts in your profile. q and / then stop working, while Cmd+K and the keys on a focused task row keep working. See Account.