Projects
Create projects, choose their keys, limit their statuses, labels, and buckets, keep resources with them, add saved filters, and archive finished work.
A project is a home for related tasks, such as a product, a piece of writing, or an area of your life. Every task can belong to one project, and each project numbers its tasks under its own key.
Creating A Project
Click + beside Projects in the Tasks sidebar, or New project on the empty Tasks tab. In the dialog:
- Project name, such as Product, Writing, or Personal. Click the icon beside it to pick an icon and colour.
- Key, 2 to 5 letters or digits starting with a letter. Octarine suggests one from the name until you type your own. Tasks are numbered under it:
KEY-1,KEY-2, and so on. - Statuses, Labels, and Buckets, which default to using every one. See Limiting choices.
Click Create project.
To change any of this later, choose Edit project from the project's … menu or its right-click menu. Changing the key renumbers the project's tasks under the new key, and their old IDs still find them.
The Project Page
The project header shows its icon (click it to change the icon and colour), its name, a … menu, and a New task button (C). Badges show when a project is Archived or Completed.
Below the header are the project's tabs:
- Overview: progress, description, resources, and the default template.
- Issues: every task in the project.
- One tab per saved filter you've added, then + to add another.
Each tab keeps its own search and display settings.
Overview
- Progress shows how many tasks are done and a count for each status.
- Description is a full editor that saves as you type. Use it for the project's goals, links, and notes.
- Resources holds the notes, files, and links the project relies on. See Resources.
- Template sets the project's default template. It appears once the workspace has templates.
Resources
Projects and tasks can both keep resources: notes, files, and links you want at hand while working on them.
- Click + (Add resource) and pick a note, or paste a URL.
- Click the paperclip (Attach from Finder on macOS) to pick files, or drop files from Finder or Explorer onto the resources area. Octarine imports them into the workspace.
Resources are grouped into Notes, Media, Files, and Links:
- Notes show their folder. Click one to open it in a preview sheet, or
Cmd/Ctrl-click to open it in a tab. - Images and videos open full screen.
- Other files open in their default app.
- Links open in your browser. A link without a title shows the whole address.
On a task, resources appear in the Resources section of the task's properties, where you can also drop files.
Limiting Statuses, Labels, And Buckets
By default, a project's tasks can use every status, label, and bucket in the workspace. In Edit project, pick a smaller set to keep the project focused. For example, a writing project might use only Todo, In progress, and Done.
- A project must keep at least one open status and one completed status.
- When you remove a status, tasks using it move to the nearest status the project keeps. The dialog tells you how many will move.
- When you remove a bucket, tasks in it leave their bucket.
Default Template
Choose a template under Template on the project's Overview. New tasks created in the project start from it, including the title prefix, description, labels, priority, and subtasks the template defines. You can still pick a different template in the new-task dialog. See Templates.
Saved Filters
A saved filter is a named search shown as a tab on a project. To add one, click + after the project's tabs. You can:
- Choose one of the defaults: shared filters such as All open, Due this week, Overdue, and Recently completed. Filters already on the project are marked Already on this project.
- Create new filter: give it a Filter name, an icon, and the query under Shows tasks matching. Under Belongs to, choose the project to keep the filter on this project only, or Any project that adds it to make it shared.
New workspaces start with these shared filters:
| Filter | Query |
|---|---|
| All open | is:open |
| Due this week | is:open due:<7d -due:overdue |
| Overdue | is:overdue |
| Recently completed | completed:<7d |
Editing a filter
A filter tab's search bar starts with the filter's own query. Change it, and Reset and Save appear: Save writes the new query back to the filter. On the Issues tab, choose Save search as filter from the project's … menu to turn the current search into a new filter.
Right-click a filter tab for Edit filter and Delete filter. Deleting a shared filter from a project only removes it from that project; other projects keep it.
Completing, Pinning, And Archiving
From the project's … menu or its right-click menu in the sidebar:
- Pin project adds it to the sidebar's Pinned section.
- Mark project completed shows it as Completed. Reopen project makes it active again.
- Archive project takes it out of the sidebar. Its tasks and history are kept, and Octarine tells you how many tasks are still open before you confirm.
Archived projects are listed under Archived in the Tasks sidebar, where you can Restore them. Archived projects are read-only.
Tasks Without A Project
Tasks don't need a project. They use the workspace key, such as TASK-3, and appear under No project in the Tasks sidebar.
Quick Answers
Can I change a project's key after creating it?
Yes. Open Edit project and change the key. Its tasks are renumbered under the new key, and their old IDs still find them.
Can different projects use different statuses?
Yes. In Edit project, choose which statuses, labels, and buckets the project uses. Each project must keep at least one open and one completed status.
How do I attach files to a project?
Drop files from Finder or Explorer onto the Resources card on the project's Overview, or click the paperclip to pick them. Notes and links can be added with +.
Does archiving a project delete its tasks?
No. Its tasks and history are kept, and you can restore the project from Archived in the Tasks sidebar.