Project Boards
Track Projects visually through each Pipeline Stage, spot bottlenecks, prioritize work, and move Projects forward using Daylite’s Project Board.
The Project Board shows your Projects as cards arranged by Pipeline Stage. It gives you an at-a-glance view of where every Project stands, makes bottlenecks obvious, and lets you advance work by dragging a card from one Stage to the next.
Project Boards work the same way on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Where a step differs by device, you'll find it under the tabs below.
Key facts:
A Project Board shows Projects organized by Pipeline Stage in draggable card columns
Only Projects with a Pipeline assigned and a status of New or In Progress appear on the board
The board shows one Pipeline at a time
Each Project card shows linked Contacts, next activity, due date, days in Stage, priority, and owner
Moving a Project to the next Stage resets the days-in-Stage counter
Drag a Project to the bottom of the board to mark it Done, Cancelled, Deferred, or Abandoned
Pipelines can only be created and edited in Daylite for Mac
Understanding The Project Board
The Projects Board offers an overview of how your Projects are moving through each Pipeline, and helps you identify which ones you should focus on.
The Project Board is in the Sidebar under Projects.
The Project Board is in the All menu under Projects.
The Project Board is in the Sidebar under Projects.
The board has:
A Pipeline filter — selects which Pipeline to display
Filters — narrow the view by owner, due date, create date, category, or keyword
Sort and View Options — control how Project cards are ordered and what they show
Stage columns — one column for each Stage in the selected Pipeline
Project cards — one card for each Project
Choosing a Pipeline
The Project Board shows one Pipeline at a time, because every Pipeline has its own Stages. Select the Pipeline you want by clicking the Pipeline filter.
Pipelines and their Stages are created in Daylite for Mac and appear identically on every device. For more on building them, see Project Pipelines.
The Project Card
Each card carries the details you need to judge a Project without opening it.
Linked People and Companies — the Contacts associated with the Project.
Next activity — the next scheduled Task or Appointment.
Due date — the Project's target completion date, if it has one.
Days in Stage — how long the Project has sat at its current Stage. This is what tells you a Project is stalling. Moving it to the next Stage resets the number.
Priority — the Project's importance on a 1–10 scale.
Owner — who the Project is assigned to, shown at the bottom right of the card as a small photo.
View Options
View Options hides or shows the details on a Project card, so you can strip the board down to what you care about.
Filtering and Sorting
Within a Pipeline, filters narrow which Projects appear on the board:
Owner — Projects belonging to one team member, or all owners at once
Due date — Projects due within a set timeframe, up to a year past or future
Create date — Projects created within a set timeframe, up to a year past or future
Category — Projects matching a particular Category
Keywords — Projects matching a particular Keyword
Click ↑↓ Sort to change the order of cards within each Stage column:
Due Date — by target completion date
Created — by the date the Project was created
Name — alphabetically
Priority — by priority level
Next Activity — by the next scheduled Task or Appointment
Days in Stage — by how long the Project has been at its current Stage
Using the Project Board
Starting a Project from the Board
A Project needs a Pipeline assigned to appear on the board, so this is the fastest way to make sure a new Project lands there.
Select the Pipeline you want to add the Project to.
Click New Project in the Project Board.
The Project appears in the Not Started column and stays there until you move it to a Stage.
Go to Projects in the All menu.
Tap the + New Item button and create a new Project.
Select set pipeline, then choose the Pipeline you want the Project to appear under.
Set the Stage you want the Project to start at, and add any Activities, Tasks, a Start Date, and Notes.
Go to Projects in the Sidebar.
Tap the + New Item button and select New Project.
Select set pipeline, then choose the Pipeline you want the Project to appear under.
Set the Stage you want the Project to start at, and add any Activities, Tasks, a Start Date, and Notes.
For every other way to create a Project, see How to Create a Project.
Moving a Project to the Next Stage
Drag a Project card from its current Stage to the next one.
Drop it on the Stage column. The Project moves to that Stage with today as the Start Date.
Tip:
To start a Stage on a different date, drop the card on the Stage title instead. Daylite opens the Advance Stage window, where you can set the Start Date and leave Notes.
Changing a Project's Status
The board shows only Projects with a status of New or In Progress. Changing a Project to any other status takes it off the board — which is how you clear finished and dead work out of your view.
Begin dragging a Project card. Four statuses appear at the bottom of the board: Cancelled, Deferred, Abandoned, and Done.
Drop the card on the status you want. Daylite asks you to confirm.
Daylite updates the status in the Details and Activity View. The Project leaves the board and remains available under All Projects.
Picked the wrong status?
The confirmation that appears after you drop the card names the status it applied. Click the status to choose a different one before the confirmation disappears.
Spotting Bottlenecks
The board is at its most useful when you read the columns rather than the cards. A Stage holding far more Projects than the ones around it is where your process is backing up.
In the example below, five Projects are sitting in Approval and three in Review/Edit. Whatever happens at those Stages is the constraint on everything behind them, so that is where the attention belongs.
Sort by Days in Stage to see the same problem one Project at a time — the cards that have sat longest rise to the top of each column.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why doesn't a Project appear on the Project Board?
A Project needs a Pipeline assigned to appear on the board. Without one, it shows up only in My Projects and All Projects. Projects with a status other than New or In Progress are also hidden.
Can I create Pipelines on iPhone or iPad?
No. Pipelines can only be created and edited in Daylite for Mac. Once created, the Pipelines and their Stages are visible on every platform.
What happens to a Project's Tasks when I move it to a new Stage?
Nothing. Moving a Project to a new Stage does not affect its existing Tasks.
Can the Project Board show more than one Pipeline at once?
No. Every Pipeline has its own Stages, so the board displays one at a time. Use the Pipeline filter to switch between them.
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