# Pipelines
A Pipeline is a series of pre-determined milestones called **Stages** that each Opportunity moves through when it is being worked on. In Daylite you can define multiple Pipelines that might apply to different products and services. In addition, each Stage can have Tasks associated to it that get triggered when a Stage is reached.
### Simplicity is Best
Although it can be tempting to create Pipelines with lots of different Stages and associated Tasks, you should remember that simplicity is always the best approach.
For example, let's say you create a Pipeline with six different Stages, and four Tasks assigned to each. This means you would have twenty four separate Tasks per Opportunity, and this number only increases with each Opportunity you create.
With so many Tasks being created the you will soon become overwhelmed and perhaps go numb to the Tasks by ignoring them. This negates the purpose of applying Tasks in the first place. A balance needs to be struck around capturing the workflow through the Tasks you create for each Stage in order to successfully close an Opportunity, without being too detailed on every single step that needs to be taken.
## Creating a Pipeline
Designing your own set of Pipelines that are aligned to your own business workflows when you first start using Daylite is a excellent investment of your time, as it will ensure everyone has a clear definition of what needs to happen during an Opportunity's life cycle to bring it to a successful conclusion.
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**Pro Tip:**
It is possible to build multiple Pipelines for use with both Opportunities and Projects. \
This is useful when you have multiple offerings that have very different workflows and associated Tasks that need to be completed.
For example, if you offer both Photo Shoots and Retouching, clearly each of these will require different work processes so it might make sense to produce a Pipeline for each of these.
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Navigate to **Settings > Pipelines** and choose the pre-supplied **Opportunity Pipeline**. You can edit these exisiting Pipelines to suit your business purposes, or create brand new ones by clicking the **+ icon.**
Select **New Pipeline** and give it a name and description. Choose if this Pipeline is for an Opportunity or a Project, and remember to check the Active box so this Pipeline shows up in Daylite.
Next, you can rename each of the pre-supplied **Stages** and add a description that better suits your business. These Stages can be added to by click the **+ Add Stage** button, or deleted if necessary.
Finally, you can set **Tasks and Appointments** for each Stage in your Pipeline. Once all Tasks and Appointments have been completed in a Stage, your Project or Opportunity will move onto the next Stage in the Pipeline.
1. The Pipeline **Name** will show you the number of Stages and an icon that shows whether it is associated with a Project or an Opportunity.
2. Daylite will substitute the **@@** for the Opportunity name to which the Pipeline is applied.
3. A **Task** will be added to the first Pipeline Stage. Click to edit.
Pre-defining a lst of **Categories** makes searching and filtering your Tasks much easier. You can even use emojis to make your Categories stand out.
Setting a **Due** date gives you an easy way to organize and view what needs to be done first. The due date can always be extended if needed.
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**Pro Tip:**
Instead of using the **after start** date, which is the most common, you could try using the **before end** date. This lets you provide a target end date for the Task, which allows Daylite to calculate a due date that is a set number of days before the target end date.
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You can either choose to set a **Reminder** for a certain number of days after the start date, or you could choose Default for Owner, which lets you set a pre-determined due date for all new Tasks after the current date, which would trigger an automatic reminder.
**Type** is very similar to Category, in that it provides a list of Task types. This list cannot be modified, which is why it should be used in conjunction with Category, and not strictly by itself.
Fill in as many **Details** about the Task as possible. You should add a description of what needs to be done, such as bullet points or instructions to complete the task.
**Priority** is used to set the relative importance of the Task.
Setting an **Estimated Time** can be very beneficial for time managment. It can be used to display your Task list in of estimated time. This means you can filter out Tasks based on how long they will take, so if you only have an hour, you might choose Tasks that will only take 5 to 10 minutes to complete.
The default **Owner** is set to the current user, however this can be changed so Tasks will be allocated to a specifc user, for example, if a certain staff member is responsible for confirming appointments with custoomers, you could allocate Confirmation Call Tasks to that user.
You can view your completed Pipelines, including all of their Stages, Tasks and Appointments in the **Tasks and Pipeline** View.
You can also view your Pipelines, including their Stages and Tasks, in the Opportunities Board.
