Tasks in BuildBook are used for to-do’s that come up in the day-to-day of a job or even to track punch list items toward the end of a job. They are great for managing things that you don’t want to slip through the cracks.
Tasks can have a due date (or date range), subtasks, notes, and files. They can also be assigned to anyone on the project (once they’ve been added).
Your Tasks tab shows you all upcoming Tasks and all completed Tasks. You can also see which Tasks are assigned to you by switching from "All Tasks" to "My Tasks."
Create a new Task
From your Tasks choose “+ New Task.”
Click on "+ New Task" from your project Home tab.
From your Schedule, click "+ Add New" in the upper left and then choose "Task."
Add details to a Task
Add as much - or as little - detail as you'd like to Tasks. If you need something as simple as a punch list item that isn't assigned to anyone but that you want to show up on the schedule, just add a name and due date.
If you have a more detailed Task, choose from any of the icons in the bottom left of the Task.
Notes: Add important details that will be helpful for you and the team related to the Task
Subtasks: A checklist of items to complete within a Task. Completed Subtasks will include the date they were checked off and who completed them
Tags: Use Tags as a way to classify certain Tasks or filter them by categories like "Inspection" or Priority Level!
Attachments: Any relevant files or images
Scheduling menu used for dependencies in the Gantt Chart
Status: By default, Tasks don't have a status unless you open the Status menu and select None, Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, or Completed.
Once a new Task is created, collaborators and clients who you've shared the Task with can comment on it and @mention others in the comments.
Assign Tasks
Tasks can only be assigned to people that have been invited to the project. You can either wait until the user has accepted the invite and set up their BuildBook account or assign tasks to users with pending invites (you invited them to the project, but they haven't yet accepted the invitation).
To assign a Task to someone on the project, start typing their name in the Assigned To field. There's no limit to how many users can be assigned to a Task.
Once you assign a Task to someone, they receive an email notification that they have a new Task. BuildBook also sends a daily email reminder with Tasks that are upcoming or overdue.
You can also assign Tasks to clients once you've shared a Task with them. Tasks are ready-only for clients, so you'll still want to mark tasks off as complete that your client is responsible for.
Task Views
You can choose between List View or Card View to change the way you organize and view your Tasks.
To switch between views, click the List View dropdown.
Card View allows you to view Tasks organized by status and use drag and drop to quickly change the status of a Task. Here's a bit more information about the Task Status:
None - The Task has been created but doesn't currently have a Status.
Not Started - The Task has been created but the work has not begun.
In Progress - The work has begun on the Task.
On Hold - The work on the Task has stopped for some reason but will resume shortly. E.g. the cabinets for the kitchen are on backorder and we need to get those before we can finalize measurements.
Completed - The Task is completely finished and there is no work remaining.
Once you've moved your Task to the desired status column, you'll notice that the status inside the Task also changes:
Additionally, you can change the status of a Task by opening the Task and changing it through the status drop-down:
Customize Task Workflows & Statuses
How to Customize Your Task Workflow - Add/Edit/Delete Task Statuses
From the global settings page, select the Edit Task Statuses menu.
From the task status settings, you can adjust your workflow by editing, adding, or deleting task statuses.
Adding a New Status
You can add a new status which will create a new option when managing your tasks. This will also create a new column in your Card View. This will apply to all projects across the board.
To do this, click on + Add Task Status in the top right corner. Create your status by adding the name and clicking on Save.
Adding a status will add a new column to Card View in your Tasks tab.
Renaming a Task Status
You can rename a status which will be reflected in the status dropdown menu when managing your tasks. This will also update the respective column in your Card View. This change will apply to all projects across the board.
Deleting a Task Status
You can delete a task status and re-assign the tasks to another status. A count of all the tasks that currently fall under this status will be shown, so you know how many tasks will be moved over to the new status. This change will apply to all projects across the board.
Share Tasks
To make Tasks visible to your Client or to share Tasks externally with someone who does not have a BuildBook account, simply click on the Share button in the upper right corner of any Task. Here you'll see two options to either Share with your client or Share with a public link.
Share with Client
Toggle this button to make the Task visible to your client. Once a Task is visible to the client, you can also assign it to them. Tasks are read-only for clients, but they can use the comments section of the Task to communicate with you.
Make sure that you also have "Tasks" selected in the client's permissions within the Project Settings in order for them to see Tasks you've shared with them.
From here, you can also get a quick read-only view of how the Task looks to the client on their dashboard by clicking the "See what the client sees" link when sharing the Task.
Share with Public Link
Toggle this button to create a public link to share any Task externally with those who are not in your BuildBook project. This is a great way to communicate Tasks with subs or vendors who you may not need to join your project.
When you turn on "Share With Public Link" you can copy the link to share and preview what is included in the link. Anyone on the internet with that particular link will have the ability to view a read-only version of the Task.
Anyone you share the public link with will see a branded page with your logo along with the Project name, type, and address, followed by any Task details you've included (name, due date, assignee(s), Phase it belongs to, Tags, Notes, Sub Tasks, attachments, images, and comment thread).
To see a preview of the link, click "See What the Public Sees" when copying the link.
Anywhere you see a Task list in BuildBook, including your Dashboard, Project Home Screen, and Task list, there are icons displayed to the right of the Task name to denote which ones have been shared with your client and/or have a public link enabled.
Task Reporting and Printing
You can generate a Task report to print or export as a PDF if you need to share certain Tasks with someone outside of BuildBook, post on a job site, or take to a meeting.
To Print Tasks, click the ••• menu. Then click "Print."
Customize the Report
Customize the Report
You have multiple Display Options to customize how you'd like to export your Tasks:
"Show" - Choose what details within Tasks should be included
All
Assigned
Due Date
Phase
Notes
Subtasks
Tags
Attachments
Completed Tasks - Show only completed Tasks vs. Incomplete Tasks
Comments - Include/exclude comments
"Assigned" - Filter by specific assignees
"Tags" - Filter by specific tags
"Sort" - Sort Tasks by Due Date or Custom Sort Order
Print your report
Print your report
Once you've chosen the display options for your report, click the Print button in the upper right corner of the report.
You can use the print preview to make adjustments before printing.
Save as PDF
Save as PDF
Export to PDF for supported operating systems (Most Windows and Mac systems feature a PDF option for printing) by changing the destination/printer to "Save as PDF" or similar.
Copy Tasks
You can copy Tasks from one active Project and import those Tasks into another active Project. In this example, we'll be using Project A and Project B.
To copy your Tasks from Project A to Project B, start at Project B (the destination Project).
Go to your Tasks tab in Project B and click on the ellipses menu in the top right corner of the Tasks > choose "Copy From"
Choose your Project to copy the Tasks from by using the Copy From drop-down menu. This will allow you to choose Tasks from your active Projects.
You can then adjust any dates for the Task to match the start of your Project or leave them as is and adjust them once they're copied over.
Once you've selected your Project to copy the Tasks from and adjusted your dates, click on Copy x Tasks. You'll notice that the Copy button at the bottom will tell you how many Tasks from the Project are coming over.
Tasks that are copied from another Project will be added to Tasks already in the destination Project.
Sort and Filter Tasks
Assignee Filter
You can easily filter which team members are assigned to certain Tasks or filter by all unassigned Tasks in order to determine what remaining Tasks need to be assigned using the "Assigned To" filter.
Tags Filter
You can associate Tags with Tasks for a variety of uses to help you filter and view specific kinds of Tasks based on things like category, priority levels, or more specific Tasks like Inspections. Just click the "Tags" filter and select the Tags you want to see.
Sort Tasks
Tasks can be rearranged by hovering over a Task, clicking the ≡ icon, and dragging the Task to the new spot you'd like. This automatically creates a "Custom" sort where you can rearrange Tasks in the order of your choosing.
You can switch back to the "Due Date" Sort option to quickly switch back to seeing all of your Tasks in chronological order.
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