Projects and sections
Every task lives in exactly one project. Sections split a project into named groups.
Each account gets an Inbox at registration. It cannot be renamed, deleted or pinned, and it is where the sidebar’s New task button and API quick-add put a task when no project is named.
Use it as a capture buffer: get the thing out of your head, sort it later.
Creating and organising projects
Section titled “Creating and organising projects”Create one from the + next to Projects in the sidebar. A project has:
| Property | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | 1–120 characters |
| Colour | One of thirteen: gray, red, orange, amber, yellow, lime, green, teal, cyan, blue, indigo, purple, pink |
| Icon | Picked from the icon set, shown in the sidebar and page header |
| Parent | Optional, for nesting |
Nesting
Section titled “Nesting”Projects nest three levels deep. Drag a project sideways in the sidebar to change its depth, or use Project options → Move under… on the project page. The server rejects a move that would exceed three levels or make a project its own ancestor.
Dragging is pointer- and keyboard-accessible, and a drop indicator shows both the position and the resulting nesting level before you let go. If the server refuses a move, the sidebar rolls back and shows why.
Pinned projects
Section titled “Pinned projects”Pin it! in a project’s sidebar menu (or Favorite on the project page) adds it to the Pinned group at the top of the sidebar. Pinned projects keep their own drag order there, independent of where they sit in the project tree, and they stay in the tree as well so there is one consistent place to reorder and re-nest everything.
Labels and filters can be pinned too, and share the same group.
Renaming
Section titled “Renaming”Click the project title on the project page to rename it in place. Esc cancels,
Enter or clicking away saves. The sidebar row’s ⋯ menu has Rename as
well.
Sections
Section titled “Sections”A section is a named group inside a project. Add one from the thin Add section affordance that appears between task groups. Where you click is where it lands, so you can insert a section in the middle rather than only at the end.
Tasks with no section sit in the unnamed group at the top of the list.
The section heading’s ⋯ menu offers:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Edit | Rename in place |
| Move to… | Move the section and all its tasks to another project |
| Duplicate | Copies the section and its tasks |
| Copy link to section | An anchor URL into the project |
| Archive | Hides the section from the list |
| Delete | Deletes the section and its tasks |
Sections drag to reorder, and collapse from the chevron on the heading.
Archiving vs. Trash
Section titled “Archiving vs. Trash”These are different, and only one is reversible from the UI.
- Archive (projects and sections) hides something without deleting it. Archived projects drop out of the sidebar and out of every list and count.
- Move to Trash is a soft delete. The project and its tasks stay in the database and are listed on Trash until you restore them.
Conatus has no permanent-delete action. Nothing you delete in the app leaves the database. See Backups for what that means for your dump sizes.
Deleting a project removes access for its collaborators until it is restored. Inbox cannot be deleted.
Project views
Section titled “Project views”Each project renders as a List or a Board, toggled in the header:
- List shows sections as headings, with nesting, drag-and-drop and a sort selector (Manual, Due date, Priority, Name).
- Board shows each section as a column, with an extra
(No section)column for unsectioned tasks. Cards drag between columns, which reassigns the section.
The choice is per project.
Project templates
Section titled “Project templates”Project options → Save as template downloads the project as a JSON file, and the projects list imports one back as a fresh project. Templates are dateless and personal-scope. Import and export lists exactly what a template carries and what it leaves behind.
Activity
Section titled “Activity”Project options → Activity shows what happened in that project. The instance records task creation, completion, un-completion and deletion, comments, and project creation, archiving and deletion. Field edits are not logged: renaming a task, changing a priority, reordering.
See also Reporting for the account-wide view.