Tasks are how work gets done in 53°. Each one has a stage, an assignee, a priority and dates, and can link to the project, contact or deal it's for. Your tasks are always one click away in the Tasks panel on the right.
Create a task
- In the actions sidebar on the right, choose Tasks. If the sidebar is closed, press ⌘J on Mac or Ctrl+J on Windows.
- Choose + (New task).
- Give it a Title.
- Fill in anything else you know: Link to, Stage, Priority, Assignee, Start date, Due date, Time estimate, Tags and Description. Choosing a Start date sets the Due date to the same day when there isn't one, so the task shows up where tasks are listed by due date. You can change the due date afterwards.
- Choose Create task.
To add several in a row, turn on Create another before you choose Create task.
If you're on a project, contact or deal, the new task links to it. On a project you can also pick a milestone. You can change or clear the link in Link to.
Fill in the form from the title
Type shortcuts straight into the Title:
- @ picks an assignee.
- # adds a tag.
- ! to !!!! sets the priority: ! is Low, !! Medium, !!! High and !!!! Urgent.
If the title mentions a date, priority, estimate or tag, such as "Call Acme by Friday", 53° suggests it under the title. Choose Apply to use the suggestions. Nothing changes until you do.
Work on a task
Choose a task to open it. From here you can:
- Change its stage with the button beside the title.
- Edit the title and the fields under it. Changes save straight away.
- Write in the Description, and press / for headings, lists, tables and more.
- Use the tabs: Subtasks, Dependencies, Documents, Attachments and Comments.
You can also change a task's stage, assignee, priority, dates and estimate from its card in the Tasks panel without opening it. Right-click a task card for a menu to mark it complete, change its status, assignee, priority, dates or tags, open it, copy a link to it or delete it.
Move a task to another project
- Open the task.
- Select its project under the title, or No project.
- Pick the project to move it to, or Remove from project.
Its subtasks move with it, and its milestone is cleared, because milestones belong to one project. You can only move a task to a project you can see, and whoever it's assigned to, along with the people its subtasks are assigned to, must be able to work in that project. If they can't, reassign the task first.
Stages
Every task moves through your organisation's task stages. New organisations start with To Do and In Progress, which are open, and Completed, On Hold and Cancelled, which close the task.
Owners and admins can change the open stages:
- Open the organisation menu at the top of the sidebar and choose Manage organisation.
- Under Settings, choose Tasks, then the Pipeline tab.
- Choose Add stage to add one, or rename, recolour, drag to reorder or delete an existing open stage.
You can have up to 10 open stages, and at least 1. The closed stages are fixed. Task tags live on the Tags tab next door. See Tags.
Subtasks
Break a bigger task into smaller steps.
- Open the task and go to Subtasks.
- Choose Add subtask, then fill in the form and choose Add subtask.
Only tasks linked to a project can have subtasks, and subtasks can't have subtasks of their own. When you close the last open subtask, you're asked Close this task too? Choose Close task to move the parent to Completed, or Keep open. A project's Automations tab can do this for you. See Projects.
When you close a task that still has open subtasks, you're asked Close this task? Choose Close task anyway to close it, or Cancel to leave it where it was.
Due dates, reminders and repeats
- The due date on a task card changes colour when it's due today, tomorrow or overdue.
- Early each morning, in your organisation's time zone, the assignee of any open task that's due that day or overdue gets a reminder notification. They can choose whether it's emailed too, in their notification preferences.
- Once a task has a due date, you can set Repeat: Daily, Weekdays, Weekends, Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly, Every 3 months, Every 6 months, Yearly, or Custom…. Add an End repeat date if it should stop.
- When you complete or cancel a repeating task, the next one is created with the same details and dates moved on. Subtasks can't repeat.
Dependencies
On a project task, the Dependencies tab shows what it's Blocked by and what it Blocks. A blocked task shows Blocked on its card, and you're asked to confirm before you mark it done.
Docs, attachments and comments
- Documents: choose Link document to attach an existing doc, or Create document to start one from the task.
- Attachments: drop a file in, or click to upload. See Files.
- Comments: talk about the task with your team, right where the work is.
Find tasks in the Tasks panel
- The panel lists tasks by due date, soonest first. Type in Search tasks… to search by title.
- Choose List options to Filter by stage, Priority, Assignee, Tags and more, or to Sort by Name, Priority or a date. Completed tasks are hidden to start with. Choose Show completed to see them.
- Show subtasks lists each task's subtasks under it.
- On a project, contact or deal, switch between All Tasks and that record's tasks, such as Project Tasks.
To change several tasks at once, tick them, choose List options > Actions, then an action such as Update stage, Assign to or Set due date.
Good to know
- The person who created a task and its assignee can edit it. So can the lead of a project the task is in. Owners, admins and managers can edit any task they can see.
- Anyone who can create tasks can change the stage of a task that has no assignee. On a task assigned to someone else, only people who can edit it can change the stage, and its stage button is greyed out for everyone else.
- Only the creator, the lead of a project the task is in, or an owner or admin can delete a task. Managers can also delete tasks that have no assignee. Deleting a task deletes its subtasks too, and can't be undone.
- A task in a private project is only visible to people who can see that project, and a task in a personal project only to you.
- A task that isn't open to your whole organisation shows a Private or Personal badge on its card. In the Tasks panel, choose List options > Filter > Visibility to show any of Public, Private and Personal. All three show when none is picked.
- Guests see the tasks in projects they've been added to, and tasks assigned to them. They can read and comment on them, but can't add, edit, move or delete tasks.
- You can also create a task from a chat message, or with Create task in any doc.