Visual Task Management: Make Tasks Clear at a Glance
Visual task management means reading priorities and the status of every task at a glance instead of scanning a gray list line by line. If your tasks blur together and deadlines keep slipping, this two-minute Planfix for Beginners video shows how to set up visual order using color-coded custom task statuses, a clearer task card, Favorites and Kanban cards.
What you’ll learn: how to make tasks clear in Planfix
- Task statuses: use color-coded statuses so overdue and critical tasks catch your eye, and add custom statuses with hints for assignees (0:12).
- Customize task views and layouts, including which system and custom fields the task card keeps within reach (1:03).
- Favorites: highlight high-priority tasks with a visible icon (1:29).
- Planner setup: customize lists to turn ordinary tasks into data-rich Kanban cards (1:43).
How to set up visual task management in Planfix, step by step
Step 1. Let task status colors do the talking (0:12)
Planfix displays tasks in different colors depending on their status, such as New, In progress, Ready for review or Completed. Some colors are reserved: a task not moved to Completed by the end of its scheduled completion date becomes overdue, and its name turns red. Other colors can be assigned to your own statuses. Here is what each task color means.
Step 2. Add custom statuses and hints for assignees (0:12)
Open Account management from the main menu in the upper-right corner, go to Types of objects and select Task; its settings include Processes and Statuses. In a status set, click Add status to set, then pick an existing status or click Plus to create one. Older help articles may show the path used before the July 2026 update.
For a new status, you set:
- its color and font style, regular or strikethrough;
- whether it is active or inactive;
- whether it applies to all participants or to each assignee individually;
- whether deadlines are tracked;
- a hint that describes the status and how to use it.
A status with a hint gets a question mark icon next to it; clicking the icon opens the hint in the information panel.
Step 3. Customize the task card layout (1:03)
Custom fields appear in the Details tab of the task card by default. To keep the important ones in view, open the object or task template used to create this kind of task and drag the fields from the details panel to the main panel of the task card, where they can be arranged in two columns.
Step 4. Give key tasks a visible icon with Favorites (1:29)
To make a task easy to spot, mark high-priority tasks as Favorites: click the star icon and choose the icon style, which can be any emoji. Marked tasks are visually distinguished from regular ones and are collected in the Favorites section.
Step 5. Turn Planner lists into Kanban cards (1:43)
In the Planner tab, click the Add icon at the bottom of the planners panel, select Planner, name it and create lists. Choose the Cards list type so tasks become Kanban cards with custom fields. In the card display settings, pick the standard and custom fields each card shows and set the font, text size and position of each field. List heading color gives each list its own header color.
Example: a status board your team reads at a glance
Here is one way to combine the steps. Create a planner with three Cards lists that select tasks by status: New, In progress and Ready for review. Give each list its own heading color and show the one or two custom fields your team checks most on every card. Each stage then has its own color, key data sits on every card, and moving a card to the next list changes its status.
Who benefits from a visual task management system
- Managers: color-coded statuses show where each task stands, so there’s less need to check on every assignee. With an individual status, you can see which assignees have finished.
- Assignees: a question mark next to a status opens a hint that explains what the step expects.
- Team leads with a long backlog: a Favorites icon sets key tasks visually apart from regular ones.
- Teams that work on boards: Planner cards show key fields, and list heading colors separate the stages.
- Processes with waiting stages: for a custom status where work is parked, choose Don’t track for deadlines so tasks in it don’t become overdue.
FAQ
How do I color-code tasks in Planfix?
Use three layers: status colors on task names, with reserved colors such as red for overdue; a List heading color for each Planner list; and Favorites icons, which can be any emoji.
Can I color-code tasks by priority in Planfix?
Status colors show the stage of work, not priority. For priority, use the standard normal and urgent levels, or add a custom priority field and show it on the task card and Planner cards. A Favorites icon then marks the few tasks that come first.
Make your task list readable
Start with one change: add a hint to the status your team misreads most, or build a single board from Cards lists. See how to set up Kanban boards in the Planfix Planner, and once your list is easy to read, learn to find, filter and sort tasks in another video from this series. Visual cues are one part of Planfix task management software. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
This video was featured in What’s New in Planfix: May 2026.
