How to Sort Emails in Planfix with a Planner Board
To sort emails in Planfix you do not label and forward them one by one — you build a board where every incoming message is already a task and every list is a place to drag it to. A planner in Planfix shows work on one screen, and its main trick is that moving a card from one list to another changes the task’s parameters. This two-and-a-half-minute video builds an email planner from scratch, from the general list of new mail to a list that hands messages over to support.
What you’ll learn: how to sort emails in a Planfix planner
- Create a planner used only for email management.
- Add a general list that collects every new message as a card.
- Set selection parameters so only unassigned new email tasks appear.
- Choose what the cards show and which operations they offer.
- Copy the list for mail that goes to support, then sort by dragging.
How to sort emails in a Planfix planner, step by step
Step 1. Create a planner for email
Open the Planner section. At the bottom of the panel listing your planners, click the add icon, choose Planner, give it a name and click Apply. A dedicated planner keeps mail triage away from your project boards, and an account can hold any number of planners and task lists.
Step 2. Add a general list for incoming mail
Inside the planner, create the list every email lands in. Choose the Cards view so each message is a card you can read and drag, set a List heading color and name it, for example, All incoming email.
Step 3. Set the selection parameters
Selection parameters decide what appears in the list. Set the object to Tasks, then add the conditions: Source is Email, so only tasks created from incoming emails show up; Status is New, so messages someone already works on drop out; and a condition for tasks with no assignee. Group the cards by creation date. Conditions are joined with AND by default, so a card has to meet all of them.
Step 4. Tune how the list behaves
Show the list for the current month, then switch on Hide field for creating new objects — you sort mail here rather than write new tasks — and Automatically collapse empty lists. Turn on Show totals section to see how many emails are waiting.
Step 5. Choose card fields and operations
In the card display settings, pick the fields that help you decide where a message belongs without opening it, such as task name, status, date range and description. Turn on the operations panel to act on a task straight from the planner; by default a card offers every available operation, and in the operations panel tab you can cut that down to the few your team uses.
Step 6. Copy the list for mail that goes to support
The quickest way to add the next list is to copy the first one. Copy the general list, start editing it, change the name and color, and switch the view to List: card details are not needed here. Then change the selection parameters to Status is In progress and the assignee is the support service group.
Move it = change it: what dragging an email does
Sorting now costs one gesture. Drag a card from the general list into the support list, and Planfix applies that list’s selection parameters to the task: the support service group becomes the assignee, the status changes to In progress, and the card leaves the general list because it no longer matches its conditions.
Two details help here. When a list has several standard conditions on the same field, only the last one is applied, so list the value you want last. Holding Ctrl while dragging adds the new assignee instead of replacing the current one, because a task can have more than one assignee.
Who it’s for
- Support teams: every new client message waits in one list until someone claims it.
- Sales and account managers: a list per manager or per stage, so mail moves to the person who answers it.
- Office and administrative staff: invoices, deliveries and supplier mail in separate lists instead of one long inbox.
- Team leads: the totals under each list show how much mail is waiting and where it sits.
- Anyone with a shared mailbox: email handled in Planfix arrives as tasks, so every message has an owner, a status and a place on the board.
FAQ
How do I see all new emails in one Planfix list?
Create a planner list, set the object to Tasks and add the conditions Source is Email, Status is New and no assignee. Every message that arrives appears as a card until someone takes it.
Does dragging an email to another list change the task?
Yes. A task that moves into a list takes on that list’s selection parameters, so dropping a card into a list whose conditions are a status and an assignee sets both at once. Hold Ctrl while dragging to keep the current assignee.
Do I need a separate planner just for email?
It is not required, but it helps. You can create any number of planners, each holding any number of lists, so a planner used only for mail keeps email triage out of your project boards.
Start with two lists
Begin with the two lists from the video: everything new, and everything that belongs to one team. Then add a list per destination as your process settles. Lists like these are how tasks created by email reach the people who handle them. For more planner basics, see how to add a task to a planner. New to Planfix? Start your free trial.
