Help Center / Tasks and task boards /
Creating a task
The fastest way to create a task is from a task board. Open a project, click Create task, and you're done. You can also create tasks from any page in your workspace, from spotlight search, or from a saved template. And when you need tasks to appear automatically, forms, automations, and inbound emails can create them for you.
For tasks that repeat on a schedule, see Recurring tasks.
Creating a task
There are four ways to create a task. The fastest depends on where you are.
From a task board
This is the most common way. You're already in a project or on a task board and you want to add work to it.
- Open a project and click the Tasks tab, or open a standalone task board from Tasks in the main menu.
- Click Create task at the bottom of a task group. The task form opens.
- Enter a title. This is the only required field.
- Set any other fields you need: assignee, due date, description, custom fields. See the Task form fields section below for the full list.
- Click Create task to save. The task appears in the task group you created it in.
When you create from inside a project or a specific task group, the project, task board, and task group are filled in for you.
From any page
You don't have to be on a task board to create a task. The + button at the top of the main menu works from anywhere in your workspace.
- Click the + button at the top of the main menu, or press
Con your keyboard. A menu opens with options for each thing you can create. - Click Task. The task form opens.
- Fill in the form. Since you're not inside a project, you'll need to pick a project, task board, and task group yourself if you want the task to live somewhere specific.
- Click Create task.
From spotlight search
Spotlight search has a command for creating tasks from anywhere in your workspace.
- Press
Cmd+K(Mac) orCtrl+K(Windows) to open spotlight. - Type
>to switch to command mode, then start typing Create task. - Select the Create task command. The task form opens.
- Fill in the fields and click Create task.
From a template
If you've saved task templates, you can create a new task from one without leaving the task form.
- Open the task form from any of the methods above.
- Type
/templatein the title field. A list of your saved task templates appears. - Pick a template. The form fills in with the template's content: title, description, custom fields, and any other details saved in the template.
- Adjust anything you want and click Create task.
For managing task templates themselves, see Task templates.
Task form fields
Every field on the task form except the title is optional. You can fill them in now, or come back and add them later.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Title | The task name. Required. Type /template to create from a saved template. |
| Assignee | One or more people responsible for getting the task done. Assignees get a notification and see the task in their own task list. |
| Followers | People who receive task comments, completion notices, reminders, and digest updates without being responsible for the task. |
| Start date | When work on the task should begin. Shows up in timeline view. |
| Due date | When the task is due. Shows up in calendar view and can send overdue notifications. |
| Description | Rich text notes. Supports formatting, inline images, and file attachments. |
| Cover | A header image that shows on the task card. |
| Block time from calendar | Blocks the time between start and due dates on your calendar so you're not double-booked. This option appears once you set a start or due date. |
| Custom fields | Any custom fields you've added for tasks. Commonly used for priority, effort estimates, or tags. See Task custom fields. |
Subtasks
Subtasks are tasks that live inside a parent task. They're useful for breaking a big piece of work into smaller steps without cluttering the main task board.
Adding a subtask
- Open an existing task by clicking it.
- Open the Subtasks tab inside the task.
- Click Add subtask and enter a title.
- Set any fields you need. Subtasks have the same fields as regular tasks.
Subtask dependencies
By default, the parent task can't be marked complete until all its subtasks are done. To change this, open the parent task, switch to the Subtasks tab, and turn off Enable dependencies.
Creating tasks automatically
Not every task needs to start with a form. Plutio can create tasks for you in three ways:
- From form submissions - when a form is configured to create tasks, every submission creates a new task with the form response data mapped to task fields. See Forms.
- From automations - automations can create tasks when a trigger runs, like a proposal being accepted or a project status changing. See Automations.
- From inbound emails - each task group can have its own inbound email address. When you enable email-to-task on a group, Plutio generates an address that turns every received email into a task in the group, with the subject becoming the task title and the body becoming the description.
What's on every task
Once a task is created, opening it shows six tabs:
- Details - all the fields on the task, including custom fields and the description.
- Comments - threaded discussion with mentions and file attachments.
- Attachments - files uploaded directly to the task.
- Timesheet - time entries tracked against this task.
- Subtasks - child tasks nested under this one.
- Activities - a log of every change made to the task and who made it.
