Add a task¶
A task is the basic unit of work in TaskTree. You can create one from either view, and fill in as much or as little detail as you like — only a title is required.
Open the New task dialog¶
There are three ways to start a new task:
- List view — click + New task at the top right.
- Canvas view — click + New task, or click any empty spot on the canvas to drop the new task right there.
- Keyboard — press
Nfrom either view (as long as you're not typing in a field).
The dialog is titled New task.
Fill in the task¶
Only Title is required; everything else is optional.
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Title | The name of the task. Required — the Create button stays disabled until you enter one. |
| Stage | Which phase of the project this work belongs to. Defaults to the project's first stage. See Statuses and stages. |
| Parent task (optional) | Nest this task under another. Start typing to search; the picker shows the task tree indented, and hides any task that would create a loop. |
| Assignees (optional) | Click a person's chip to add them; click again to remove. A task can have any number of assignees — see Assigning a task to multiple people. |
| Status | Where the work stands right now: Not started, In progress, Blocked, or Complete. Defaults to Not started. |
| Start date (optional) | When the work begins. |
| Due date (optional) | When the work is due. If you set both dates, the start must be on or before the due date. |
| Description | Any free-text notes. |
| Dependencies (optional) | Set up blocker links right away: Blocking lists tasks this one blocks, Blocked by lists tasks that block this one. You can also draw these later — see Drawing dependencies. |
Create it¶
Click Create. The task appears immediately in both views, and everyone with the project open sees it within a couple of seconds.
If you added dependencies in the dialog, they're applied right after the task is created. In the rare case one can't be applied (for example, it would create a circular dependency), you'll see a "Task created, but some dependencies failed" message — the task is still created; just re-draw the dependency that didn't take.
Where does a new task appear on the canvas?
If you start the task by clicking empty canvas, it lands where you clicked. Started any other way, it appears at a default spot — drag it wherever you like, or use Auto-arrange (see Use the canvas).