How to Work Faster in the Planfix Task Card
Working faster in the task card is mostly about not leaving it: the panels on the right of a Planfix task hold subtasks, reports and the change log, and the built-in timer starts from the clock icon in the card. Teams that run task management in Planfix still open four or five screens for things one card can do in a click or two. This 90-second video shows the shortcuts, and the steps below repeat them with the exact settings.
What you’ll learn: shortcuts in the Planfix task card
- Create a subtask straight from the Subtask panel, with no form to fill in.
- Load a report on the task you have open, such as time spent on it.
- Choose once, in the task template, which reports every task of that type carries.
- See who changed the task and when in the Events section of the log.
- Switch on the built-in timer and record work time inside the task.
How to work faster in a Planfix task card, step by step
Step 1. Break the task into subtasks
Open the Subtask panel on the right of the card: it lists the task’s subtasks. To add one, type its name in the Create field and press Enter, with no task form to fill in. Subtasks split a complex task into sequential steps, spread work across the team and let a manager follow progress in one list. The panel also filters subtasks when you click its header, opens the full creation form when you need every field, and changes several subtasks at once with the Change… button. The Help Center covers it in the article on the Subtask panel.
Step 2. Open a report on this task
The Reports panel loads a report for the task in front of you, so you do not go to the Reports section and set a filter by hand. Planfix shows only the figures that belong to this task: a summary of time spent and time paid, for example, or how much time a client and support spent on it. Reports in Planfix are built once and reused, which is why the panel is quick.
Which reports appear there is set in the template, not in each task: open the task template, open its Reports panel and click the lamp icon next to the report you want. From then on it is available in every task created from that template.
Step 3. Check the log when something changed
The Log panel has three sections: Events, Activity and Technical Log. Events holds all actions and changes to the task for its entire existence, so an unwanted edit is never a mystery: expand an entry to see what changed, or jump from the log to the action itself. Employees see only the actions they have access to. Activity, for account administrators, lists who viewed the card and when and is kept 90 days; the Technical Log keeps recent script condition checks for 15 days. How far back the history goes depends on your pricing plan; the Help Center article on the Log panel covers all three sections.
Step 4. Track time with the built-in timer
The timer records how long an employee works on a task, and each person switches it on for themselves. Install the Time Tracking solution from the marketplace, then open your employee card and go to Settings → Personal settings → Built-in timer. After that, start the Planfix timer in any task with the clock icon in the upper right corner.
When you stop it, a data tag form opens: the first three fields are filled in for you, and you add the type of work and a comment. Identical data tags from the same day are merged into one entry with their times combined, which keeps the history readable. If the timer was running by mistake, reset it without saving.
Example from the video: a report on time spent
The example in the video takes seconds: a manager opens a task, clicks the report on the right and sees the time the team has spent on it. Nothing is configured at that moment, because the report was added to the panel once, in the template. That is the pattern behind all four tips: set the card up once, then answer questions about a task inside the task.
Who it’s for
- Managers: break a request into subtasks as it grows and watch progress in one list.
- Support and client teams: check the log to see who changed a status or a field before replying to a customer.
- Finance and billing: read time spent and time paid for a task from its own panel.
- Account administrators: use Activity to see who opened a task and the Technical Log for recent script conditions.
- Anyone paid by the hour: start the timer when work begins, so the log is written as you go.
FAQ
How can I see who changed a task in Planfix, and when?
Open the Log panel in the task card and look at the Events section: it lists all actions and changes to the task, and an entry expands to show the detail. Employees see only the actions they have access to, and how far back the history reaches depends on your pricing plan.
How do I add a subtask without filling in a task form?
In the Subtask panel of the task card, type the subtask name in the Create field and press Enter. The full form is still available from the button at the top of the panel.
What do I need before using the built-in timer?
Install the Time Tracking solution from the marketplace and enable the timer in your employee card, under Settings → Personal settings → Built-in timer. The clock icon then appears in the upper right corner of a task.
Start with one task card
Open the task you work in most often and change one habit: add the next subtask from the panel, or start the timer before you begin. If that task has grown too large for one place, see how to break down a large task into subtasks. New to Planfix? Sign up to try it.
