What are Actions?

Actions are the things you need to get done.  They can be tasks, bugs, meetings that need to happen, whatever.  It's up to you what you create.  An action consists of the following properties:

Summary: A short description of the action.  This summary is displayed in all views of the action and is not hidden in collapsed mode.
Description: A much longer description of the action.  The description is now show in collapsed mode and is optional.
Assigned:  This is the team member who is assigned the action.  You can select from the drop-down of all team members.
Priority:  The priority of the action from highest to lowest.  The priority is color coded and displayed in the action details.  Actions are sorted first by their due date and then by priority.
Milestone:  The milestone that the action is grouped under.  Milestones are defined by you under the milestone section in the More tab.  Read more about milestones.
Group:  The group of the action.  Groups are defined by you under the groups section in the More tab.  Read more about groups.
Due:  When the action is due.  All actions are first sorted by due date and then by priority.  The due date defaults to the Milestone due date or the Project due date.
Estimate:  A numeric value that represents the time unit estimate.  There is no restriction on the value placed here, and represents whatever time value you want to use.  Hours is typical.
Actual:  The actual amount of time spent on the action.  The Estimate and Actual values are useful for the Burndown chart in the charts page.

Creating an Action

Creating an action is easy.  You simply click the "Create an Action" button found in the Menu section on the Project Page.  Clicking this button will display the action dialog.  Simply fill in the properties and click Ok, the action will be created and displayed in the action listing.

Closing an Action

After an action is complete, you want to indicate that it is closed.  You do this by clicking the checkbox next to each action in the action listings.  The action will move from the Top Actions listing to the Recently Closed action listing.  You can find the action in the Recently Closed listing at the top.  This list is sorted by the Closed Date, so the most recently closed Action is always at the top.

Editing an Action

To edit an action, simply click the actions summary.  The action dialog will appear.  Make your changes and click Ok to save.

Action List Item

The following image shows the Action Listing and one Action.  It shows where the summary is, the action detail toolbar, and the close checkbox.

Commenting on an Action

You can add a comment to an action by clicking the comment button found in the action details toolbar.  It's the little button that has an image of a chat bubble.  All comments are displayed under the action by clicking the comments link.  The comments will display, showing the image of the person who created it, when it was created, and the comment text.  The person assigned the action will receive an email that the action was commented.  Additionally, if you are subscribed to the project, you will also receive an email.  Commenting an action sets you to follow the action, which means you will begin receiving emails when the action is updated or commented in the future.  You can stop following an action by unpinning it.

Prioritizing Actions

Actions can be prioritized by editing the action or by clicking the + or - buttons in the action details toolbar.  The priority will update and the priority color box will change to reflect the changes.  The action listing will not resort unless you refresh the list.

Following an Action

You can follow an action, which means you will begin receiving emails when the action is updated or commented in the future.  To follow an action, click the pin button in the action details toolbar.  You can stop following an action by unpinning it.

Locking an Action

Locking an action allows you to copy the action when you copy the project.  Unlocked actions will not be copied when you copy the project.  This allows you to create a template project for use over and over.  To lock an action, simply click the lock button on the action detail toolbar.