Creating Internal Tasks

Instead of using separate platforms for client-facing and internal team collaboration, Motion.io's Internal Task functionality empowers your team to manage all communication, tasks, and files related to client projects in one place.

This article will explain how Internal Tasks work and how your team can use them in your Motion.io projects.

👋 Tip: In addition to providing a simple way to communicate to clients what your team is working on, Internal Tasks allow you and your team to create private sub-tasks, share files, and send messages that are entirely hidden from your client's view.

How Internal Tasks Work

While the initial step for creating Internal Tasks is similar to that of Client Tasks, the task composer for Internal Tasks is quite different — as it allows you to create sub-tasks and attach files that clients cannot access.

📢 Note: Like Client Tasks, your team can create Internal Tasks in active projects and project templates. However, unlike Client Tasks, you can only assign Internal Tasks to team members, and to assign team members, you must first add them to the project.

To create an Internal Task, click the same "Create task" button used to create Client Tasks in Motion.io projects. Then, click the toggle option labeled "Internal" in the upper right corner of the task composer.

Using the Internal Task Composer

After clicking the toggle labeled "Internal," the interface will switch from the task composer used to create Client Tasks to the task composer used to create Internal Tasks. The sections below will explain what each aspect of the Internal Task composer does and how to use them.

1. Stage

If you've already assigned an Internal Task you are creating to a project stage, the name of that stage will be displayed here. If you created a task without assigning it to a stage — or would like to change the stage a task is currently assigned to — you can select a new stage using the dropdown.

2. Assignees

The Assignees section of the internal task composer allows you to add team members to the task. As with Client Tasks in Motion.io, Internal Tasks can be assigned to a single person or multiple.

📢 Note: As with Client Tasks in Motion.io, Internal Iasks set to the Draft status will not appear in your clients' portals — even after you've assigned them to team members. For clients to see the title, description, and due date of Internal Tasks in their portals (the only parts of Internal Tasks visible to clients), you must first send them. Click here to learn more about sending tasks.

3. Title

The Title field of the Internal Task composer allows you to specify a client-facing name for the internal task. In order to create and save an internal task, you must give it a title.

4. Details

The rich-text editor under Details allows you to provide additional context to your client about the task or embed images and URLs. Any content you add to the Details section will appear at the top of the task when your client accesses the Internal Task in their portal.

5. Attach files

For files related to Internal Tasks you'd like to share with your team members but do not wish clients to see (for example, design inspiration or initial versions of client deliverables), the "Attach Files" option enables you to do so. Files you attach to Internal Tasks are not visible to clients.

6. Add subtasks

Toggling on the "Add subtasks" option enables you to create and assign private tasks related to the Internal Task that only your team members can access. Team members can mark subtasks as complete on Internal Tasks, but as with file attachments, they are not visible to clients in their portals.

7. Due Date

The Due Date option of Internal Tasks lets you and your team inform clients when they can expect the task to be completed. While clients will see the primary due date you set for an Internal Task in their portal, they will not see due dates related to any of the private subtasks you create.

8. Automatations

By clicking the 'lightning bolt' icon in the task composer, you can specify an action that will happen automatically when another event (called a 'trigger' event) occurs in that project or client portal. To learn more about using automations, click here.

9. Internal Task Toggle

If you start creating an Internal Task but then decide you would like to create a client instead, clicking the toggle option will allow you to switch back to Motion.io's Client Task Composer. Click here to learn more about creating Client Tasks.

Managing Internal Tasks

To make it easy for you and your team members to keep track of what specific tasks you are responsible for, the "My Tasks" page of your account displays all Internal Tasks to which you are assigned.

Clicking on the title of an Internal Task from the "My Tasks" page will enable you to view any of the private subtasks associated with it, mark your assigned subtasks as "Complete," and exchange messages about the Internal Task that only you and your team members can see.