A huge part of project management includes creating manageable workloads for your teammates and communicating across teams to avoid double work or roadblocks.

Kitchen Tasks serve to help you avoid these issues, by giving you all the tools you need to break down any high-level project deliverables and goals into tangible tasks.

The Task tab allows you to create tasks for your team, assign a teammate, set milestones, due dates, and a lot more. All the project-related tasks will be displayed on the task board and arranged into sections.

In this guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about Tasks and how to manage them in the most efficient way possible.

The Task tab allows you to create tasks for your team. All the project-related tasks will be displayed on the task board and arranged into sections. Each task will display the task name, assignee, and appointed due date, so you can easily keep track of each.

The Tasks tab has a Tab Actions Bar with the following actions:

The Tab also has a Visibility Icon that shows who can see the particular tab. You can set this visibility to Shared with Clients or Private to Our Team.

In terms of structure, the Tasks Tab consists of the following:

So let's get to adding the Tasks tab itself.

When you create a new project, you will always have the Tasks tab added to the project in advance. Unlike the Conversation tab that cannot be removed as it serves to store your main project communication, you can always remove the Tasks tab if your project doesn't need the creation of tasks.

When you create a new project from the main navigation, it will open a title screen with a few options:

You will notice that the Tasks tab module is already selected by default. Unlike the Conversation tab module, you can actually unselect your Tasks tab. However, if your project involves creating and managing tasks, keep the Tasks tab module selected.

Click the Create Project button.

That's all.

Once you click the Create Project button it will redirect you to your new project with all the tabs you've added, all neatly arranged in a bar menu right below the project name. Your Tasks tab will be also there.

If you unselected the Tasks module while creating your project, but you need to use the Tasks Tab and its features later in the project, you can easily add it to your tabs.

Here's how to do it.

Step 1. Go to your Tabs Navigation below the project title and click on the active Plus icon. This icon is always right after your last project tab.

Step 2. When you click on the icon, it will open the Add Tab modal window with all the available modules. The window will show you a list of tab modules you can add, as well as a list of tab modules you've already added to your project.

Select the Tasks tab module to add it as a tab.

Step 3. When you select the Tasks module, it will open another modal window where you can name it and choose its visibility.

Step 4. Click on the Visibility drop-down menu and select your preferable visibility setting for this tab: Shared to Clients, or Private to Our Team.

By default, this tab is visible to clients, but if you prefer to make it accessible only to your team, choose the second option.

Step 5. Choose if you wish your clients to have the ability to create tasks and subtasks. If you don't want to give your clients that permission, keep the checkbox unselected.

Respectively, if they're going to play a role in the task creation, check the box for that option.

Step 6. Click the Add to Project button.

Now, Tasks is added to your project and you can see it in the tabs navigation.

In most cases, you will simply keep the tasks module selected when you create a new project, so your initial Tasks tab will be added to your project with its default settings.

Tasks tab default settings:

If you later decide to change any of these settings, you can easily do that.

Step 1. Go to your Tabs Navigation below the project title and click on the More Menu icon.

Step 2. The More Menu will display a list of all your tabs with a small Edit Icon next to each.

Click on the Pencil Icon next to Tasks to edit the tab.

This will open the edit Tab modal window.

Step 3. Modify the name, visibility, or client permission settings you wish to change.

Step 4. Hit Save Changes.

Your changes will now be applied to the tab.

The Tasks Tab's action bar consists of the following actions:

You can monitor your project tasks in three different views: Table view, Calendar view, and Kanban view. The action label will display the name of your current view. To change it, click on the action and select a different view from to drop-down menu.

The Kanban view shows all the tasks, and task sections in your task board as Kanban boards. This is a very useful project management technique to help you manage work by prioritizing tasks and balancing demands.

Kanban view displays the following elements:

Tasks Board actions in Kanban view include the following:

The Table view displays the same elements as the Kanban view but arranges these items in a table.

The Table view displays the following elements:

Tasks Board actions in a Table view include the following:

You can also view your tasks as a Calendar. This view organizes and displays your project tasks by the due date. This gives your team a quick visualization of what's urgent.

The screen in the Calendar view displays the current month. You can easily switch to another month by clicking on the arrow icons above the calendar.

The Calendar view displays the following elements:

The Calendar View has an exclusive No Due Date menu where you can access all tasks without a due date. You can locate the No Due Date Menu in the top right corner of the calendar.

When switching to Calendar View, you can see all project tasks neatly arranged on boards responding to their due date. This helps you get a visual understanding of the timeline for each task.

You can change the due date of any task simply by dragging and dropping it from one date to another.

However. What happens to the tasks that you still haven't set a due date for?

You can find all those tasks in the No Due Date menu, which is exclusive to the Calendar view.

Click on the menu to access a list of all tasks that still don't have a due date.

Clicking on a task from the menu will automatically send it to the current date on the calendar.

From there, you can drag and drop the task to any date on the calendar you need.

This action allows you to filter your tasks by three different values: by Status (All tasks, Incomplete Tasks, or Completed Tasks); by Assignee; or by Milestone.

You can locate the filter icon on the right side of the Tab Actions in any view.

You can use the filter action to customize how you see your tasks at any given moment.

Filtering by Status allows you to view:

Filtering by Assignee allows you to view:

Filtering by Milestone allows you to view:

You can also combine filters from different filter categories. For example, you can see all completed tasks assigned to a specific user.

It's important to mention that switching between different views will preserve your selected filters.

To further customize how you view your tasks, you can also group them by section or by the assignee.

Grouping by section is the default setting that allows you to view all tasks sorted into their respective sections.

In some cases, however, you might want to see how many tasks each user has. You can do this easily if you choose to group your tasks by the assignee.

To do so, find the group icon on the right side of the Tab Actions in Kanban and Table view.

Click on the Group icon in Kanban or Table view and select the Assignee option from the drop-down menu.

Your tasks will now be grouped into sections by the assignee:

Now you can see how many tasks each of the assignees has.

When your tasks are Grouped by Assignee, you can change the assignee of the task by simply dragging and dropping the task from one assignee section to another.

Change the assignee by dragging and dropping in Kanban view:

Change the assignee by dragging and dropping in Table view:

You can also reorder assignee sections again by drag and drop.

In Kanban view:

In Table view:

Adding a New Assignee Section

When your tasks are Grouped by Assignee, you can add a new assignee section.

To do so, click on the add assignee button and select a user. You can type the user's name or email in the input.

Now when you add a new task in this section it will be automatically assigned to this user.

To go back to viewing your tasks grouped by sections, simply click the group icon on the right side of the Tab Actions Bar, and select the Section option from the drop-down menu.

The Tasks tab also displays a visibility icon. The visibility icon show who can see the particular tab.

There are two types of visibility:

Step 1. Click the Visibility Icon on the right corner of the Tabs menu. This will open a modal window with the Tab name and visibility.

Step 2. Go to the visibility section of the modal window and click on the drop-down menu to reveal it. The menu will show you the two visibility options with the current visibility highlighted in blue.

Step 3. Select Private to Our Team to hide the tab from your clients and then click Save Changes.

Step 4. This tab is now set to Private to Our Team, so the visibility icon is now a padlock.

In Kanban view and Table view, you can add task sections to your task board in order to organize your tasks into different phases. For example, if your project involves designing multiple items for a brand (a logo, a package design an email template, a landing page, etc.); or you need to design, code and integrate an email template; you can create a section for each.

When you create a task, you can assign it to any section or you can leave it without one. Tasks without a section will appear in the "No section" board before your custom sections.

Note that if you haven't created any task sections, your tasks will automatically go to the No Section board.

So let's add some task sections.

In the Kanban view, your task sections are the Kanban columns. The first column is always the No Section column where you can find all the tasks that haven't been moved to a particular custom section.

Here's how to add a new section in Kanban view,

Step 1. Go to the blank section on the right side of your No Section board and click the + Add Section action.

Note that this button always appears on the right side of your last section. This means, even if you create a couple of new boards, the + Add Section action will still be immediately right from the last column.

Step 2. Name your section.

That's it. You've successfully added a new section.

Repeat this action to add as many sections as you need for your project.

In the Table view, your task sections are regular horizontal sections. The first section always lists the tasks that haven't been moved to a particular custom section.

Here's how to add a new section in the Table view,

Step 1. Scroll down to the bottom of the table and click the + Add Section action.

Note that this action always appears at the bottom of the table regardless of how many sections are there. This means, even if you create a couple of new sections, the + Add Section action will still be immediately below the last.

Step 2. Name your section.

That's it. You've successfully added a new section.

Repeat this action to add as many sections as you need for your project.

You can easily rearrange your custom task sections by simply dragging and dropping them.

In the Kanban view, go to any custom Kanban board and hover over the Task Section title area so your pointer becomes a hand. Click on the area to "grab" the board so you can freely drag and drop it to the position you want.

In the Table view, choose any custom section and hover on the left of that section's title to reveal the drag-and-drop icon. Click on that icon to "grab" the section so you can freely drag and drop it to the position you want.

In cases when you have a great number of sections, you might need to collapse some of them in order to concentrate on the sections that are important at the moment.

You can easily do so by clicking the Collapse icon on the left side of the task section name.

In the Kanban view, the Collapse icon is facing the right. Respectively, when you collapse a board, the Expand icon will be facing left.

You can easily collapse and expand the Kanban boards (task sections) just by clicking that icon.

In the Table view, the Collapse icon is facing down. Respectively, when you collapse a section, the Expand icon will be facing up.

You can easily collapse and expand your task sections just by clicking that icon.

You can start adding tasks in your Tasks Board in all three views (Table, Calendar, and Kanban). In this section, we'll unpack all methods.

As soon as you add a new blank task, you can click on it to access its settings. Since the task modal window is the same regardless of the method you use to add a task, we'll get back to the task attributes after reviewing these methods.

To add your first task, go to your tasks board.

Step 1. If you have multiple sections, you will have the "Add task" action at the bottom of each. This makes it easier to add a task to the particular section you like. Click the "Add task" action under the section you wish to add a task to.

If you don't have any sections created yet, go to the No Section board and click the "Add task" action.

Step 2. When you click the Add task action, this will activate an input. Write your task name in that input.

Step 3. Click Enter. Your task is now added.

You can actually create multiple tasks in the same section if you keep pressing Enter and naming your tasks:

Step 4. Now click on the task you wish to start modifying to open the Task modal window.

To add your first task, go to your tasks board.

Step 1. If you have multiple sections, you will have the "Add task" action at the bottom of each. This makes it easier to add a task to the particular section you like. Click the "Add task" action under the section you wish to add a task to.

If you don't have any sections created yet, go to the top of the table and click the "Add task" action.

Step 2. When you click the Add task action, this will activate an input. Write your task name in that input.

Step 3. Click Enter. Your task is now added.

You can actually create multiple tasks in the same section if you keep pressing Enter and naming your tasks:

Step 4. Now click on the task you wish to start modifying to open the Task modal window.

To add your first task, go to your task board in Calendar view.

Note that the Calendar displays tasks by their due dates. This means if you have a task that should be completed by a particular date, go to that date on the calendar to create the task there.

Let's say you wish to create a task with a due date of December 10th.

Step 1. To do this, navigate the arrow keys of the month at the top of the calendar to find the correct month. (If your task's due date is December 10th, find December)

Step 2. Once you're on the calendar screen for the correct month, hover over the due date for your new task. This will reveal the Add Task action.

Step 3. When you click the Add task action, this will activate an input. Write your task name in that input.

Step 4. Click Enter. Your task is now added to the calendar in the exact date box that should be the task's due date.

Step 5. Now click on the task you wish to start modifying to open the Task modal window.

Now, after you've learned how to add tasks in all three views, let's start assigning teammates, due dates, milestones, and other settings.

Once you add a task in Kanban, Table, or Calendar view, click on that task to open the Tasks modal window.

You can click on any task at any time if you wish to add attributes, edit existing attributes or remove attributes.

The first input in the task modal window is the Assignee. Click on the input to select a teammate for that task from the list.

This list includes all participants in the project, including the clients. You can assign tasks to clients, which will be useful if you're waiting for your clients to review work, provide you with design elements, or sign a contract.

If you've added the task in Calendar view, you should already have the due day filled in. However, you can always change it if you wish.

You can also set a section where your task will be sorted.

You can track time by manually setting how many hours are spent and remaining.

To do so, click on the "No time logged" label.

This will open the Time tracking modal. You can manually set time for how many hours are spent on the task and how many hours remain.

The format for Time tracking is in hours and minutes. You can manually edit these parameters any time you like and hit Save.

You can also reset the time by clicking the bin icon on the top right corner of the time tracking window.

When you set time parameters, you will see them visualized in a progress bar.

The Time Tracking progress bar is visible for both your team members and the clients involved in the project.

If you have any milestones created for this project, you can associate the task with any of them. To do so, choose the milestone from the drop-down menu.

You can create custom fields for your projects and tasks to organize your workflow. Custom fields come in the following formats:

What makes List different than the other formats is the ability to add values. For example, if you have a Task Category custom field, its values could be web design, logo design, animation design, web development, and so on.

Here's how to add a custom field to your task:

Step 1. If you already have custom fields type List created, you can add them to your task by clicking the + Add Field action.

Step 2. Choose your custom field from the drop-down menu.

Step 3. Clicking on the empty input next to the custom field to open the list options and choose the appropriate item.

Step 4. You can add multiple fields of type List to a task.

Step 5. If your custom fields of type List don't have the exact items you want, or you wish to create a new custom field, click the option + Manage Custom Fields from the drop-down menu instead.

You'll get redirected to the Tasks Custom Fields Menu in Settings, where you can edit existing custom fields or create new ones.

Add a task description in the text field.

If you need to separate the task into subtasks, you can create a checklist.

To do so, click on the + Add Subtask action.

This will open an input where you can name your subtasks. Each subtask becomes a checklist item that will help you and other project participants keep track of the task's progress.

To attach files to your task without the need to write a message, simply open the task and go to the Attach Files action below the Description section.

Click the Attach Files button to open the menu of uploading options. You can upload files from your computer, or directly from Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive. if you've integrated them into your Kitchen workspace.

Select a file or multiple files and click Open to add them to your task.

That's it. Now your files are attached to your task.

The task modal window also shows the user activity related to that task. It displays the user name, activity, and time of the application.

This way you can keep track of which user did anything to the task and when.

The modal window also gives participants the ability to write messages.

To do so, simply click on the text field to write your comment.

The message box also has a bar with options, which include the following:

Click the Save button to post your message.

Your message will now be added as a comment.

If you need to edit or remove a comment, simply hover your mouse over the comment to reveal the two active icons on the top right corner of the comment card.

Actions for a posted comment include the following:

When you send a new comment on a task, Kitchen sends email notifications to all task participants.

You can see all participants in the top right corner of the task.

The email notification will include the entire message, as well as any attached files that you can download directly, and a link to the task where the comment was posted.

When you receive the email notification, you can reply straight from your email.

You can also attach any files necessary to your reply message.

Now your message will appear to all other task comments in chronological order.

You can also convert messages into tasks for your team.

Any message in the project conversation can become a task. This is especially useful when a client gives additional requests for the project.

To convert a message into a task, open the menu located in the top right corner of the message and select the Create Task option.

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Step 1. Select the Create Task option.

A new window will open with three inputs.

Step 2. You only need to fill in the Title for the task. The task's description already contains the client message.

Step 3. If the message has attached files, they will also appear in this window.

Select the attachments you wish to include in the task.

Step 4. Hit Save.

Step 5. Once you're done, you'll see the task window where you can select an assignee, due date, section, milestone, and other settings.

Step 6. You've successfully created a task from a message and you'll be able to see it in the Tasks tab, on the exact board you assigned it to.

If you try to convert a message into a task, the modal window will show you the following message, meaning you need to create a task board first.

In order to edit a task, simply click on it. You can change any of the attributes at any time. In addition to the task attributes in the modal, there are also a couple of task actions.

You can find the task actions in the top left corner of the task modal.

The first action serves to complete and activate a task.

Completing a Task

When the task is ready or for any other reason you wish to complete it, go to the task actions menu and hover your mouse over the circle icon.

It will show you the option to complete the task. Click on the icon.

When the task is completed, the circle icon gets replaced with a checkmark icon, and the name of the task gets crossed out.

You can visually distinguish completed tasks in your task board by the scratched-out task name.

You can also use the filter in any view to see only completed tasks. To do so, go to the filter icon in the top right corner of your task board and choose "Completed"

Activating a Task

To activate a task, go to the task actions menu and hover your mouse over the checkmark icon.

It will show you the option to activate the task. Click on the icon.

When the task is completed, the checkmark icon gets replaced with a circle icon once again, and the name of the task is no longer crossed out.

The second active icon in the task actions menu is the More Menu.

Click on the More Menu icon to access its options.

The third active icon in the task actions menu allows all task participants to watch or unwatch a task.

A user becomes a task participant and watches the task if they:

If you are a task participant, you will receive notifications in your Kitchen Inbox and in your Email for every task update (change in status, new comment, section changes, etc.)

If you don't wish to get notifications for a particular task, click the eye icon in the task actions menu to Unwatch it.

Unwatching a task means you're no longer a task participant.

You can easily rearrange your tasks by simply dragging and dropping them.

In Kanban view, you can drag and drop tasks vertically and horizontally, depending on whether you wish to rearrange tasks in the same section or move them into a different section.

In Table view, you can drag and drop tasks vertically to rearrange them or move them into different sections.

Since Calendar view arranges tasks in the calendar by due dates, you can use the drag-and-drop option to change the due date of the task.

You can also rearrange tasks within the same date in any order you like.

You can duplicate your task boards and keep the duplicates in the same project or create copies in different projects. This is very useful if you wish to create task templates and speed up the creation of new task boards.

Here's how to duplicate a task board:

Step 1. Open a project with a task board and click on the More Menu on the top navigation bar.

Step 2. Select the task board you wish to clone.

Step 3. This will open the familiar Edit Tasks Tab Window.

Go to the active icons on the top right corner and click the Clone icon.

Step 4. This will open a modal window.

Step 5. In order to duplicate your task board, you first need to select a project. You can create a duplicate of your task board in any project you like, including in the same project.

Step 6. Give the tab a title.

Step 7. Choose visibility. If you prefer to hide the duplicate from your clients, set it to "private to your team".

Step 8. The last section in the menu has a list of elements you can duplicate. This includes tasks, sections, due dates, custom fields, and assignees.

Select the elements you wish to copy and hit the Duplicate button.

The tab will appear in your selected project with all the elements you chose from the list.

You can add the Tasks tab as many times as you like. This has a lot of advantages in itself, as you can use each tab's visibility settings to have multiple task boards with different visibility settings or separate your tasks into different phases. For example, a task board for the design phase, another for the development phase, etc.

Here's how to do it.

Step 1. Go to your Tabs Navigation below the project title and click on the active Plus icon to open the Add Tab modal window.

Step 2. Select the Tasks module.

Step 3. Give it a name. We advise you to type a different one so you would easily distinguish it from other tabs of that same type.

Step 4. Click on the Visibility drop-down menu and select your preferable visibility setting for this tab: Shared to Clients, or Private to Our Team.

By default, this tab is visible to clients, but if you prefer to make it accessible only to your team, choose the second option.

Step 5. Choose if you wish your clients to have the ability to create tasks and subtasks. If you don't want to give your clients that permission, keep the checkbox unselected.

Respectively, if they're going to play a role in the task creation, check the box for that option.

Step 6. Click the Add to Project button.

Now you have two Task Tabs.

Use the Tasks tab to create, manage and monitor project tasks.

By the end of this guide, you will be able to create tasks for your team, organize them into sections, and task boards, and keep track of everything at all times to make sure everything is delivered on time.