How to Insert Directory Entries into Tasks and Comments
Insert directory entries into tasks and comments, and your team stops copy-pasting the same instruction into a dozen places. Directories in Planfix store reference information that is used often but changes rarely, from equipment lists to ready-made answers. This two-minute video shows the lesser-known side of directories: putting an entry straight into the text of a task or a comment.
What you’ll learn: insert directory entries into tasks and comments
- Where directory data is normally used: custom fields in tasks and contacts, and data tags that feed analysis.
- How to insert a link to a directory entry into the text of any task or comment.
- How to insert the contents of an entry, so the exact text appears in the comment.
- Two examples from the video: a knowledge base of employee instructions and standard answers for customers.
How to insert a directory entry in Planfix, step by step
Step 1. Store the text in a directory
Account and technical administrators can create, edit and delete directories; other employees can view them and add or edit individual entries if they have the necessary access. Open the Directories section and give your directory its fields. The structure must begin with a Short text or Number field so the directory appears in the variable constructor. That first field matters later: its value becomes the visible text of every link you insert. The Help Center guide to directories covers entries, filters and import.
Step 2. Insert a link to an entry
In a task or comment, click the reference icon in the text editor panel; its look depends on the comment feed view you use. Choose the directory, find the entry and click the icon to its left. A link lands in the text, labelled with the value of the directory’s main field, and clicking it opens a window with that entry’s fields. One detail makes this practical: everyone notified about the comment is automatically granted reading access to that entry, so you do not have to grant it by hand. Inserting the same link into a custom Multi-line text field grants no access to anyone. Both methods are described in the guide to adding directory information to comments.
Step 3. Insert the contents of an entry
Sometimes a colleague or a client needs the exact value, not a link to go and read it. Click the same icon, pick the directory, then click the entry’s name to open it and click the insert icon next to the field you need. The contents of that field are placed into the text, where you can edit them before sending. This also works for external contacts who have no access to your account, which makes it the right choice in comments on tasks that a client can read.
Step 4. Keep one copy and edit it in one place
Because the text lives in the directory, there is no need to duplicate it across tasks, templates and chats. Update the entry once, and everyone who opens the link sees the current version instead of a copy someone pasted months ago.
Example from the video: a knowledge base of instructions
The video’s first example is a corporate knowledge base built as a directory: each entry is an instruction for employees. Add the instruction once, then link to its entry from any task or comment, and a colleague reaches the right text in a single click. Nobody keeps a private copy, and an edit in the directory reaches everyone at the same time.
For a full knowledge base, with sections, article statuses and search filters, Planfix now recommends building it on objects rather than a directory; see how an internal knowledge base in Planfix works. A directory stays the lighter option for short reference texts you want to drop into tasks.
Standard answers: a knowledge base for customer questions
The second example is a database of standard answers to frequently asked customer questions. In the client’s task, open the entry and click the insert icon next to the answer field: the complete text appears in the comment, and you can tailor it to this particular request before replying. The customer gets a ready-made answer promptly, and the wording your team sends stays consistent. Support teams also have a faster shortcut for the same job: quick replies pull a ready-made answer with an asterisk.
Who it’s for
- Support teams: standard answers inserted into the client’s task and adjusted for the request.
- HR and team leads: onboarding instructions written once and linked from the tasks that need them.
- Operations and field teams: equipment picked in a task field from the directory, then used for further processing and statistics.
- Administrators: reference information shared by link, where notifying a colleague is what opens the entry to them.
FAQ
What is the difference between inserting a link and inserting the contents of a directory entry?
A link is for sharing reference information with colleagues: it opens the entry’s fields as they are now, and everyone notified about the comment gets reading access to it. Inserted contents put the exact text of one field into the comment, which suits a value someone needs to read immediately rather than look up.
Can a client without a Planfix account read text inserted from a directory?
Yes, when you insert the contents of an entry. This method lets external contacts without account access read the information, because the text becomes part of the comment. A link, by contrast, is meant for people who can open the directory entry itself.
Who can create and edit directories in Planfix?
Account administrators and technical administrators create, edit and delete directories. Other employees can view directories and add or edit individual entries when they have the necessary access, so a support team can extend its own list of answers without an administrator.
Start with the instruction you send most often
Pick the one instruction or answer your team retypes every week, put it in a directory and insert it into the next task that needs it. Reference text that stays in one place works alongside everything else in online task management with Planfix. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
