How to Configure an Object in Planfix, Step by Step
Configuring an object in Planfix means describing one real process once — an order, a contract, a meeting — so every task of that type arrives with the right form, the right lifecycle and the right automation. Objects in Planfix are digital twins of real-world entities and processes, and each one holds its own fields, statuses, scripts and buttons. This video walks through a complete object setup on the example of furniture production, from an empty form to a button that emails the customer.
What you’ll learn: how to configure an object in Planfix
- Create a new object and control how tasks made from it are named (0:24).
- Build the form: a products directory, a price field and a list of cancellation reasons (0:47).
- Describe the lifecycle in the object’s status set and add your own statuses (1:25).
- Turn those statuses into a kanban board for each department (1:55).
- Write an object script that reassigns a task when the status changes (2:15).
- Add a button that emails the customer about the order status (3:24).
How to configure an object in Planfix, step by step
Step 1. Create the object
Go to Account management → Types of objects and click New object. Give it a clear, simple name, then fill in the field for the name of the task created: text and variables there keep every task from this object named the same way. Each account already has at least one object — the standard task form and life cycle — as the Help Center article on objects explains.
Step 2. Build the object form
Click Add a field at the top of the form, then Create a new field. In the video, the list of products is a Directory entry field: name it, pick the directory and select which extra directory fields to show. Price uses the Number type with Split into digits enabled, and cancellation reasons become a list field, because orders do get cancelled. Remove the fields you don’t need, drag the rest into a convenient order and save the form.
Step 3. Define the status set
Open the Status set tab. Standard Planfix statuses are added automatically, so remove the irrelevant ones first. Click Add status to set to take a status that already exists in the account, or the plus icon to create one: enter a name, choose a color, configure the settings and save. Then decide which statuses can move into the new one and which it can move to — those rules are the object’s set of statuses.
Step 4. Create a kanban from the statuses
When the statuses match the real process, click Create a kanban to build a board on them. The planner can be duplicated and tailored by status for different departments — sales, assembly, delivery — so each team works on its own agile board instead of one shared list.
Step 5. Automate the handover with a script
Go to Scripts and select New script. Name it and set the triggering action — here, a change of the status field — then the conditions, such as the status becoming Paid, assembly started. In the next block, choose when the script runs (Now for immediate execution) and run it on behalf of a bot. For the action, pick Modify this task and Add participant from another task or field, remove all assignees and assign the Fabricators group. The same pattern hands the order to delivery once assembly is complete.
Step 6. Add a button that sends the email
Open Buttons and click New button. Name it, set which objects it works in and the conditions for showing it, choose who may click it and customize its appearance. For the action, choose Send email with a ready template or a new one: fill in the name and subject, compose the body and use variables to insert data from the customer’s order. Set the recipient to Counterparty, the sender to Modified by and tick Add comment about sent email. More settings for object buttons are in the Help Center.
Example: an order object for furniture production
The video builds its object around furniture production. The form carries the products directory, the price and the cancellation reasons the business actually records, and the status set follows the shop floor, from payment to assembly to delivery.
One script sends each paid order to the fabricators as soon as the status changes, so nobody distributes work by hand. One button tells the customer where the order stands, and the comment it leaves shows the assignee that the email went out.
Who it’s for
- Production and operations: orders moving from payment to assembly to delivery, each stage on its own board.
- Sales: deals with the products, prices and cancellation reasons the team records anyway.
- Service teams: visits and repairs with their own statuses and a one-click email to the client.
- Process owners: one place to change a form, a status rule or a script for every future task.
- Teams without a developer: fields, statuses, scripts and buttons are settings, not code.
FAQ
Where do I configure an object in Planfix?
In Account management → Types of objects. Open an existing object or click New object; the form, the status set, the scripts and the buttons all live inside that object.
Do object scripts require code?
No. A script is a name, a triggering action, conditions and a list of actions, all chosen from lists, and you can check it in test mode. The free version of Planfix allows one automatic script.
Can a button send an email to the customer?
Yes. Give the button a Send email action with an email template, set the recipient to the counterparty and the sender to the employee who clicked, and add a comment about the sent email so the task history keeps a record.
Start with one process
Pick the process your team explains over and over, and give it an object: the form first, then the statuses, then one script and one button. That is where business process automation in Planfix begins. For a closer look at forms and lifecycles, see custom objects and statuses in Planfix. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
