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Tasks

The Tasks experience provides a focused way to engage with task items.

Benefits​

Using the Tasks Experience has several benefits:

  • The Tasks Experience user interface (UI) enables you to focus on tasks in isolation, rather than viewing the entirety of the Rapid site.
  • This can provide further security, as some employees might only need to access their Tasks (as opposed to being able to access the entirety of a Rapid site). This functionality can, however, be implemented using Permissions.
  • The Tasks Experience has Light/Dark Mode functionality built directly into its UI.
  • The Tasks Experience may render better on devices will a narrow screen, such as iPads.
  • Tasks Experience integrates closely with Adaptive Designer, allowing forms to be created for all Tasks, and specialised forms to be created for certain Task Inheritances and Subtypes.

The need to design specific Adaptive Documents for items in the Tasks Experience means that this is a more advanced and complex solution. Thus, it may not be suitable for your company.

Accessing the Tasks Experience​

Via Direct URL​

Your System Administrator may have provided you with a link to the Tasks Experience, or created a link to it as a Sidebar menu button. Alternatively, you can also visit the Tasks Experience by visiting the following URL in your web browser:

https://tasks.rapidplatform.com/_env/tenant/site

Important: You must replace _env/tenant/site with your Rapid environment, tenant, and site. To determine what your environment, tenant, and site are, refer to the table below, or read the Accessing Your Site article.

TermExplanationExample
EnvironmentThis determines whether you are accessing the production database of your site, or the test database.This will usually be set to /_prod/ in order to access the production database. However, if you wish to access the test database of your site via the Tasks Experience, you would replace this with /_test/
TenantThis is the subdirectory that follows the top-level domain (.com/), in your site's URL.If I examine the following URL from my site: https://app.rapidplatform.com/rapidplatform/mysite/, then /rapidplatform/ is the tenant, because it follows .com/.
SiteThis is the subdirectory that follows your site's tenant.In the above example, /mysite/ is the site's name, because it follows the tenant's subdirectory (/rapidplatform/)

Ensure that no other subdirectories are included in the URL when navigating to the Tasks Experience. For example, the following URL will cause an error, because of the addition of /tasks%portal at the end of the URL:

https://tasks.rapidplatform.com/_prod/rapidplatform/mysite/tasks%portal

Instead, remove all additional subdirectories, and the Tasks Experience should load as expected:

https://tasks.rapidplatform.com/_prod/rapidplatform/mysite/

Via Login Wizard​

A screenshot showing how the Tasks Login Wizard appears. The background is dark navy blue with the logo and name Rapid Platform at the top. Underneath are several fields for the user to fill out. Tenant is filled with the example "rapidplatform" and Site is filled with the example "mysite". The environment section has two checkboxes: Test and Production. In this example, production is checked. At the bottom of the screenshot is a button labelled "Sign in with Microsoft 365".

Alternatively, you are able to navigate to the base URL for the Tasks Experience, and use the Login Wizard to access the tasks for your particular site.

To do this, navigate to https://tasks.rapidplatform.com and then enter your tenant and site information. You must also choose your environment via checkbox.

It is preferable to navigate to your tasks experience using direct URL, to avoid needing to use the wizard each time you wish to access your tasks.

Tasks Experience Layout​

When you first open the Tasks Experience, it will look like the example below:

A screenshot that shows the layout of the Tasks Experience. Each section of the screenshot is annotated in red, with red boxes surrounding components, red labels with white text that are labelled, and arrows. The labels are on the uppermost part of the image, and are numbered 1-4. The purpose of the image is to indicate what each section of the tasks experience looks like, so the reader can compare them to the list below.

What follows is an explanation of the labels that annotate the screenshot:

  1. Menu Bar

    Clicking on the Tasks Logo or Arrow beside it will return you to the Login Wizard. This Menu Bar has additional functionality when an item is opened.

  2. List Toolbar

    This allows you to search for tasks, change your view, refresh the list of tasks, and navigate through the tasks you are permitted to see.

  3. Tasks Form Area

    Here is where the Adaptive Form for a particular task will appear. This Adaptive form will need to be created by your System Administrator, otherwise the area will display a message asking you to create the form.

  4. + Create and Light/Dark Mode

    You can create new tasks with the + Create button, and change the appearance of the Tasks Experience to Dark Mode, or return it to Light Mode.

When you open a Task in the Tasks Experience, and the relevant Adaptive Form is configured correctly, the application will appear like so:

This is a screenshot demonstrating an example task with an example form. New UI elements have appeared in the header, and in a panel on the right (which only has icons). The new UI elements will be explained below.

Below is an explanation of the additional UI elements that are present when viewing a Task.

This is the dark blue heading bar across the top of the site. Here, you can edit certain system columns that are attached to the Task's item.

A screenshot annotated with red box labels with white text, and red arrows indicating what the labels are referring to. The labels are numbers 1-7. Each label and what it describes are explained in the list below.

  1. 🖫 Save

    Clicking this button will save any changes made to the current task.

  2. ✓ Complete

    Clicking this button will do several things:

    1. It will set the "Status" of the task to "Completed"
    2. It will trigger any Workflow processes that are waiting for the task to be completed.
    3. It will remove the task from certain table or task Views, such as "My Tasks". It will also disappear in views dedicated to seeing upcoming tasks.
  3. Start Date

    This is the date when the Task's work is expected to begin, or when the task was created. Note that you can click the date to change it. You must Save your changes for the new Start Date to take effect.

  4. Due Date

    This is the date when the Task's work is expected to be completed. Note that you can click the date to change it. You must Save your changes for the new Due Date to take effect.

  5. Priority

    Here you can set the optional priority of the task. By default, these choices are: Low, Medium, High, and Critical. These choices are colour-coded.

  6. Status

    Here you can set the status of the task. By default, these choices are: Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, Completed and Aborted. These choices are colour-coded also.

  7. Last Modified

    This data cannot be edited directly. It communicates when the last change to the task's data was made. If you make changes and save them, then this text will be dated to read: "Last Modified Today".

It is important to note that any changes made to the Task's Menu Bar, or to the fields in the Adaptive Form, will also appear in the Explorer view of the item, and vice versa. For changes to appear, you will need to refresh the item.

Tasks Sidebar​

The Tasks Sidebar only appears when viewing a Task. Here, you will find additional data that has been included in the item, such as:

A screenshot that shows how the "Tasks Sidebar" appears. Each of the buttons is numbered with a red box label. There are 6 labels from 1-6. They point at the following icons: 1 points to an information icon that has an i inside a circle; 2 points towards a link icon, which is two chain links; 3 points towards a form being filled out; 4 points towards a stack of files; 5 points towards two speech boxes; six points towards a paper clip icon.

Pressing any of these buttons will open a side panel where additional information can be viewed or manipulated. Each of the sidebar buttons' functionality is discussed in the table below:

LabelFunctionalityScreenshot
1Description: Any text written into the Description field of the Task via Explorer will appear in the side panel as static text.A screenshot demonstrating how the description of a task appears in the sidepanel. The description is a sentence of grey, static text that reads: "This is a description of the task, with additional information for any users."
2Linked Items: Any Workflow processes, Universal Links, or Scoped Links will appear here. Note that this panel has similar functionality to the Linked Items menu button. The panel also allows you to visit linked items using the "go to item" button at the end of the Linked Item's name. (What is a Linked Item?).This is a screenshot demonstrating how Linked Items appear in the sidepanel. Here, "Process Runs (1)" is the title of a box that has been rendered. It means that there is one linked process run. Inside the box is a grey field where the name of the process run is written: "PM: Project Wrap-Up / Sign-Off". And the far right-side of the grey field, is a "go to item" button. This button resembles a square with an arrow in the corner.
3Embedded Forms: If the item has an Embedded Form, it will appear here. Note that you can add data to the embedded form, and save the Task for this data to be saved to the Task item. (What is an Embedded Form?).A screenshot that shows how an Embedded Form appears in the sidepanel. The embedded form in this example has several fields. From top to bottom they are: First Name, Last Name, Description, Additional Details, Team Responsible, Status.
4Embedded Files: Any Embedded Files will appear here in the panel. Note that there is a download button so that the file can be downloaded to your device. (What is an Embedded File?).A screenshot of the Embedded Files panel. In this example there is one file that is rendered as a grey box with the title "Six Week Probation Questionnaire". Inside this box is another grey box with the file name, which reads "Probation Six-Week Report Stacy Queen.pdf". There is a download button below the name of the file.
5Activity Feed: This presents the task's Activity Feed in the side panel. Any changes to the Task are listed here. (What is an Activity Feed?).A screenshot that demonstrates how the Activity Feed is displayed in the side panel. Each item is rendered in a box, with the editor's name and then the words "Updated Task -" and then the name of the task. Note that in this example the editor's name has been blurred out for privacy reasons. Underneath the editor's name is a blue bar that is the heading of a table. There are three columns: "Column", "From" and "To. The "Column" states which column has been changed, "From" states the old value, and "To" states the new value.
6Attachments: Any file Attachments will appear here in this side panel. Note that at the bottom is a space for you to drag-and-drop files or upload files using your file browser. If a file is uploaded, and the Task is saved, the file will become an attachment to this Task. (What is an Attachment?).A screenshot of the attachments panel. In this example it is mostly blank, with a "Drag & Drop your files here" section at the bottom, and a button that states "Or click to upload files".

Tasks Sidebar Alternative​

When the screen is a narrow width, the Tasks application will scale to compensate. In this mode, the Sidebar will appear at the bottom of the web application inside of on the side.

The button icons are identical to before, with the addition of a large blue "list" button on the far left. This button opens the List Toolbar.

Alt text

Completing Tasks​

There are two methods for completing a task via the Tasks Experience.

Pressing the Complete Button​

  1. Go to the Menu Bar of the Tasks Experience
  2. Press the ✓ Complete button.

A screenshot showing what the complete button looks like. The complete button is rendered with a checkmark. When the user's mouse hovers over the button, the button's background turns light green, and the word "Complete" turns dark green, along with the checkmark icon.

Changing the Status to "Completed"​

  1. Go to the Menu Bar of the Tasks Experience
  2. Press the Status drop down menu.

A screenshot of the Status menu button. It is grey and reads "Not Started" in grey text. The user's pointer is hovering over the button.

  1. Select "Completed" from the list of options.

A screenshot of the Status dropdown menu. It is annotated in red to show the location of the "Completed" option. The user's mouse hovers over this option.

  1. The Status should now appear green, with the word "Completed" inside

A screenshot of the Status menu button, now changed to the "Completed" option. The button background has turned to green, and the text "Completed" appears in white text.

  1. Save the Task using the Save button in the Menu Bar.