Note: Events is no longer a feature for accounts signed up after September 15th, 2018 A Task is something that you and your team need to accomplish in a particular pod. They are single items within a task list. A Milestone is a marker or a goal that you want to achieve for a list of tasks. A task list can be associated to a milestone and the progress of a milestone is tracked as you complete Tasks in your Task List. An Event is only associated to your calendar and not to a pod. Events are things like Seminars, Trade Shows, Meetings etc.

Organizing projects is easy using pods. Pods are your main project, milestones are goals, and tasks are the items that need to be completed for your project.

• • Create your first pod
  • Set goals using milestones
  • Create task lists and tasks
  • Task details
  • Create recurring tasks
  • Invite team members and clients to your pod
  • Making tasks visible to clients
  • Assigning and assisting on tasks
  • Set due dates and priority
  • Communicate effectively with comments and files

 

Create your first pod

1. Click the orange pod and select New Pod. 2. Now, you can choose to Create a Blank Pod or Create a Pod From a Workflow.  In this example, we will be creating a blank Pod which is basically creating a project from scratch. Tip: If you create your own pod from scratch, you can re-use it for another project at any time by choosing the 'Create a pod from a workflow' option. 3. Enter all of the information for your new Pod.

• • • Pod Name - This will show up across Brightpod as the name of the Pod.
    • Start Date & Due Date - Specify when the Pod will start and when/if it is scheduled to end.
    • Budgeted Time - Set a total number of hours to be worked on this Pod. This helps you keep track of time spent on the whole project if you are tracking time on tasks.
    • Client - Add a new client or select from existing clients.
    • Pod Lead - Choose who is the head of the project and be able to add Team members, Task Lists, and Milestones, and manage the Pod.
    • Pod Color - Assign a color for your new project. This will help you identify tasks for this project on the Calendar.
    • Description - A description will help your team know more about the Pod details.

4. Click Create Pod & Invite People. 5. If you have existing team members, you can select who to invite. If you do not have any team members, you will be brought to the Tasks of your pod. Learn more about adding existing team members to a pod. Brightpod gives you 3 default task lists: Ideas, In Progress, and Done. You can remove or edit these later.

Set goals using milestones

A milestone is a marker or a goal that you want to achieve for a list of tasks. When you create tasks, they are in task lists. A ask list is associated to a milestone. For example, you could have a milestone called Landing Page Completion and then have tasks associated with that milestone. As you complete your tasks, you will be able to see the progress of your milestone as well. 1. Within your pod, go to the Milestone tab. 2. Click New Milestone. 3. This will open up a section so you can enter all of the details of your Milestone:

• • • Name
    • Description
    • Responsible Person
    • Start Date
    • Deadline

Now that you have a milestone, you can link it to a task list by editing the task list. When tasks within that list are completed, you can see the progress towards completing your milestone.

Create task lists and tasks

Task lists are a grouping of individual tasks, like a to-do list. To create a task list, 1. Go to the Tasks tab and click New Task List. 2. Enter the information for your new task list. Tip: Here is where you can link your task list to a milestone and make it visible to clients. 3. Click Add Task List. Now that you have your main task list, you can start adding the to-do task items within the list. 4. Click Add Task. 5. Enter the title of the task, assign the task, and choose the due date. You can edit the due date quickly by clicking the task down arrow and selecting edit. Adding due dates to tasks will help you focus on the most important items first. 6. If you want to add more information to the task, click the task name to open up task details.

Task details

When you select a task name, it will open up task details. Here, you can add and edit the task title and description, as well as add any comments. You can also view a running history of edits and actions taken on the task under task history, located at the bottom of the details window. On the right side, you will see options to update:

• • • Assignee - who the task is assigned to.
    • Assist - who is assisting on the completion of the task.
    • Due date - when the task is due.
    • Current status - mark if the task is in progress, waiting for review, etc.
    • Time - track any time spent on the task with a timer or manually.

There are also actions:

• • • Mark as done - will archive the task within your task list.
    • Focus - Add a star to the task and add it to your Focus page.
    • Move - allows you to move the task to another task list in any pod.
    • Remove - will archive the task in your pod for 30 days.

Create recurring tasks

Recurring tasks are the tasks that happen on a regular basis. When you mark a task complete, the next task is automatically generated based on the repeating pattern you set up. This will save you time creating the same task on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. To create a recurring task, create a task including a recurring keyword. Recurring keywords can be 'every Monday', 'every month', 'every week', and more. See a full list of all recurring keywords. 1. Enter the name of your task and choose your keyword. For example, 'Create analytics report' is the task that will recur 'every Friday'. 2. The task due date indicates when you would like that task to begin. If you have a recurring schedule that requires a specific date, such as every month, the date you choose will be when that task is generated. If you do not select a due date, Brightpod will automatically choose the next Friday (or next Wednesday, or the next month, etc). If you want a task to recur on a specific date, you must choose a due date. For example, if you want a task to recur on the 10th of every month, you would enter the task name followed by 'every month' with a due date on the 10th of the month. For example 'create analytics report every month' and set the due date to be the 10th. 4. Click Add Task or Press shift+enter to save it. Recurring tasks are indicated by the arrow icon.

Invite team members and clients to your pod

Within your created pod, you can invite team members and clients. If you are creating a pod for the first time, you can invite new members as you create your pod. Learn more about inviting team members to your pod. 1. On the right side, click Quick Assign. Select Add Member. 2. Select the person you want to add to the pod and click Add member.  If you have not added team members or a client to your Brightpod account yet, follow the steps in Onboarding your team. Tip: To add a client to your pod, you have to have a client associated to the pod. You will see the option to set this up if you have not yet associated your pod to a client.

Making tasks visible to clients

Team Members may share task lists with Clients using the option Visible to Clients. When a task list is visible to a client, they are able to see all activity within that task list, including comments, file uploads on comments, time tracked, due dates, etc. Clients are able to comment on tasks visible to them as well as create new tasks within task lists. They will also see these tasks on their calendars. Creating a new visible task list 1. Click New Task List to create a new task list. 2. Mark the option Visible to Clients and click Add Task List. Making an existing task list visible to a client If you already have a task list that you want to have visible to a client, 1. Hover over the task list name and click edit. 2. Click the checkbox beside Visible to clients. 3. Click Update. Once the task list is visible to clients, it will have an eye icon beside the task list name.

Assigning and assisting on tasks

Assigning a task to a team member means that they are responsible for the task. Anyone assisting on a task is helping towards the completion of the task. When adding a task, you can choose who is responsible for the task by assigning it to them. If you don't know who to assign, or the person isn't a part of your team yet, only your name will appear. Once you have team members invited to the pod, the easiest way to assign a task is through Quick Assign. 1. On the Tasks page, click Quick Assign. 2. Click on the person's photo, hold your mouse down, and drag and drop the photo onto the task. 3. Once you drop the photo on the task, the person will be assigned to that task. The second person you drag and drop onto the task will be assisting. Tip: You can edit the assignee and assistant in the task details.

Set due dates and priority

Keep track of tasks and timelines using due dates, focus, and the Me page priority feature. Due Dates Having due dates for a task is an important way of keeping your team on track. When a task has a due date, you can see when the task is due on Insights, the Calendar, and on the task itself. When creating a task, you can choose a due date. If you want to change this later, there are two places: Click the right down arrow on your task and select Edit. Or, select the task name to open task details. On the right side, click Due date. Remember to click Update! Focus Focus allows you to mark your own tasks to focus on. Each member of your team has their own focus page and can use it like an agenda. Once you focus a task, you can move it around on your focus page to help prioritize your own work. To focus on a task, 1. Click the task name to open task details. 2. On the right side under actions, click Focus. Your focus page can be accessed in the top menu bar. On the focus page, you can drag and drop your tasks into three sections: Today, this week, and someday. Me Page Prioritization Each team member has their own Me page. Administrators can prioritize tasks on their team member's pages and notify them of the changes. Administrators can explore everything this person has done in Brightpod, including Tasks, Messages, Files, recorded Time, and more. Go to the Team tab and click on any of the team member’s name. This will take you to their Me page. To prioritize a task, click and hold down your mouse over a task, and drag it up and down the list. Then, click Notify.

Communicate effectively with comments and files

Comments Tasks have a comment section where you can communicate with teammates using rich text, notifications, and file uploads. For Tasks and Milestones, you can create more exact descriptions and comment by using rich text and emojis. Select an icon at the top of the comment or description box to enhance your text. There is:

• • • Bold
    • Italic
    • Underline
    • Bullet points
    • Header
    • Code snippet

If you do not use any of the options, the text will appear as normal. When entering a comment, you can choose to notify teammates. Select the task name to open up task details. After entering your comment, you will see checkboxes below the comment section and above the submit button, grouped by teammate permission. A few things to note:

• Whoever created the task and/or whoever is assigned will be automatically checked to be notified.
• You are not given an email copy of a comment that you write.
• If you want to notify everyone who was previously notified on a comment, select Previously Notified.
• Freelancers who are not  assigned/assisting to the task are not shown as an option to be notified.
• Clients who cannot view the task list (or the tasks inside) are not shown as an option to be notified.

Once you click Add Comment, an email notification will be sent to your teammates. The next time you open the task details, hover your mouse over the number of people to see who was notified. When writing another comment, the creator of the task and the person assigned will be automatically checked. Click Previously Notified to automatically check anyone else who was notified. Files When adding a file to a comment, you can attach a file from your computer, Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box. 1. To upload a file from your computer, click Attach file from computer. You will then see the option to Select Files. 2. When ready, click Upload Files. After uploading a file, everyone who is a part of your pod will be able to see the uploaded file. Tip: Clients are able to see files that are uploaded to tasks in task lists that are marked as Visible to Client. Once you have uploaded a file to a comment, it will also appear on the Files page for easy access.

You can create Recurring tasks by entering a keyword specified by Brightpod. For example, a keyword is every year, every month, every Friday etc. To create a Recurring Task, 1. Go to the Pod where you want to add a recurring task. 2. In a task list, click Add Task. 3. Enter the name of your task and choose your keyword. For this example, Create an analytics report every Friday is the task that will recur every Friday. 4. The task due date indicates when you would like that task to begin. If you have a recurring schedule that requires a specific date, such as every month, the date you choose will be when that task is generated. If you do not select a due date, Brightpod will automatically choose the next Monday (or next Wednesday, or the next month, etc). If you want a task to recur on a specific date, you must choose a due date. For example, if you want a task to recur on the 10th of every month, you would enter the task name followed by 'every month' with a due date on the 10th of the month. For example 'create analytics report every month' and set the due date to be the 10th. 5. Click Add Task or Press shift+enter to save it. Recurring tasks are indicated by the arrow icon. Create a task followed by “every” and any of the keywords specified here: every sunday every monday every tuesday every wednesday every thursday every friday every saturday every day every weekday every week every two weeks every fortnight every month every 2 months every quarter every 6 months every year Take a look at the following examples: Check Google Analytics every week Send client reports every Monday Publish an editorial calendar every month Watch how to create a recurring task Watch how to create a recurring task

When you have finished a pod, you can mark it as complete. Once a pod has been completed, you can still access the tasks and task lists, see it on Insights for reporting and an administrator can re-open it at any time. When you are completely done with a pod and no longer need the information on your reports, you can archive it. Once you archive a pod, administrators can re-open it, or completely delete it from the account. Note: You can choose to complete then archive a pod, or archive it right away.

Complete a Pod

1. Go to the Pods page and hover over the pod you want to complete. Click the gear icon and select Settings. 2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click Complete Pod. You will then see a message confirming you have completed your pod. To view this pod's information without re-opening it, 3. Go to the Pods page and under All Pods, on the right side, click Completed Pods.   2. On the Completed Pods page, click the pod name. This pod will still show up on Insights and you will still be able to view all of the information in the pod without re-opening it.

Re-open, Archive, or Delete a Completed Pod

1. Go to the Pods page and on the right side, click All Pods then Completed Pods. 2. On the Completed Pods page, you can choose to re-open, or delete a completed pod. Note: Removing a pod is deleting it completely from your account. This is not recoverable!

Archive a Pod

  1. Go to the Pods page and hover over the pod you want to complete. Click the gear icon and select Settings. 2. Scroll down and click Archive Pod. This pod will not show up on Insights.

Re-open or Delete an Archived Pod

1. Go to the Pods page and on the right side, click All Pods and Archived Pods. 2. Here, you will see all of your Archived Pods. You can re-open the pod by clicking Restore or permanently delete the Pod from your account by clicking Remove.

Collaborating is a key part of accomplishing the many tasks that are often needed during any project. An Admin or Team Member can add team members, freelancers, and/or clients to collaborate on a pod.

An Admin is just that, an administrator. He/she has permission to access all pods. An Admin can add/edit/remove anything within their Brightpod account. They are the only ones that can create pods.

A Team Member is someone you are working with who needs access to your pod, but not to your whole account.  They have control over all parts of a pod, except removing the Admin and pods they haven't created. A team member can add/edit remove anything within a od, except for removing the Admin. This means a team member can:

• Create pods
• Edit pods they have created
• Create workflows
• See all tasks and task lists
• Assign themselves and others tasks
• Add/edit/remove tasks, milestones, and time
• See all calendar items for a pod
• Add/remove team members, freelancers, and clients

A Freelancer is someone you have hired to help on a pod, and has specific tasks assigned to them. They can only access and comment on tasks that he/she is assigned to. They do not have access to add/remove milestones, tasks, etc, in your pod.

A Client is someone who is outside your company. They can only see what you mark as visible to clients. A Client can create their own task lists, see tasks within visible task lists, view messages that have been shared with them, see calendar items assigned to them, and see tracked time within tasks that are visible to clients. For more in depth information on the permissions of Clients, see the article What permissions to Clients have?

To get started inviting your team to collaborate, check out our Onboarding your Team Getting Started guide.

It is not possible to officially associate or invite multiple clients to one pod. If you have multiple clients for a pod, for example if your team is hosting a large promotional event, there are three ways you can manage this depending on how involved your clients are with the day-to-day activity of the project.

If your clients are not involved

Name your pod something that will make sense for all your clients. When using Insights, you can export reports for the entire Pod and provide the reports to your clients. When creating tasks, you can always include the client name in the task title and task description. This will help your clients know which task is for which client on your exported report and make it easier to sort in Excel.

If your clients are somewhat involved

If your clients always want to follow along with the project, collaborate on some tasks, and know which tasks are in progress and are done, you can create separate task lists and milestones with the client name. For example, let's say you have two clients, Julie and Rob. Create a pod for the event, then create milestones with the client name. From there, create separate task lists and link them to the client's milestone. This will show up on exported reports or screenshots of the tasks or milestones page. Note: You are not inviting your clients as a client or team member to Brightpod at this stage. Structuring your pod this way (with milestones) is to give you another option for progress reports (image screenshots) other than an exported excel sheet. As you complete items in the task list, it will show the progress for each client's milestone.

If your clients are involved

A final option is to create pods for each client, then have those pods all due on the same day which is the day of the event. For each pod, invite the client to your pod. Following the large promotional event example with your clients Rob and Julie, you would:

• Create two pods: Promotional Event - Rob and the other Promotional Event Julie
• Invite Rob as a client and associate him to Promotional Event - Rob
• Invite Julie as a client and associate her to Promotional Event Julie

They will  be able to see tasks visible to them, participate in messages, comments, and files. Learn more about client permissions and what they are able to see. To help them get started, they can check out our guide on Getting started as a client.

You can view completed tasks and re-open completed tasks at any time.

From the Task Flow view

1.  At the bottom of the Task List, look for the tasks completed section.
2. Click on tasks completed to show a more detailed view of what was completed.
3. Click on Reopen to bring the task back to the list. You might have to refresh the page for this change to take effect.


From the Task List view

1. Click on the Task List name or on the tasks completed link below the Add task button.
2. At the bottom of the page, after the open tasks are displayed, there will be a list of completed Tasks.
3. Click Reopen beside the task if it is not yet completed.

Email notifications from Brightpod are the best way to keep up to date with everything that is going on with your team and your projects. There are two types of notifications you can receive:

• Project Communication - keep up to date on your projects by knowing what is happening when it happens. This includes updates on task assignments, task comments, message notification and message comments.
• Daily Digest - receive one email that includes all of the information and updates for all of your pods. This includes new/edited pods, tasks, file uploads, messages, overdue tasks, etc. There are direct links to each piece of activity and the person who was responsible for the activity.

You have the choice of unsubscribing to one or both of these notifications. 1. Select your name in the top right and click My Profile. 2. Click Email Notifications. 3. Click the checkbox beside the notification that you want to unsubscribe from. You can select one or both. 4. Click Update. You can turn these notifications back on at any time by coming back to your email notifications page.

When you are paying for your Brightpod account with Paypal, there is a field to enter your VAT ID on the last page of the payment process. There are 4 total pages for the payment process:

1. Plan confirmation - Confirm the plan that you selected by clicking Order Now.

2. Address & payment method - Enter in your address and how you want to pay. Click Next when you are sure all of the information is correct.

3. Paypal's Checkout Process - You will now be brought outside of Brightpod to sign in to your Paypal account and confirm the accounts you want to use.  Click Agree & Continue. This will not process the payment yet. Note: Depending on the country you are in, your Paypal page may look slightly different.

4. Discount and VAT Entry & Order Confirmation - This is the final step! Once you confirm here, your account will be charged. Enter your VAT ID, any discount codes (click Update Coupon to add them), and confirm the amount. When ready to process the payment and charge the amount to your Paypal account, click Complete Order.

If you already use Harvest for time tracking, you can track time on tasks in Brightpod and the time will appear in Harvest.

• You cannot use both Brightpod Time and Harvest at the same time. You must choose one or the other.
• Once Harvest is enabled, all Brightpod Time features are disabled for all pods.
• Time tracked on a Task will appear in your Harvest account.
• Time tracked in Harvest will not appear in Brightpod.
• If you have time already tracked in Brightpod on historical Pods, that information will not be lost if you enable Harvest. It will be hidden as long as Harvest is enabled. You can access it by re-enabling Brightpod Time.

Enable Harvest

1. Log in to your Harvest account in another window.
2. Go to Settings & Account.
3. On the right side, click Enable or Disable Features.
4. Click Switch to Harvest Time Tracking.

Now that Harvest is enabled, you can start tracking Time on a Task.

Tracking Time Using a Timer on a Task

1.  Go to the Pod and Task you want to start working on.

2. Select the Task name to open up the Task details.

3. On the right side, click Add Time to Harvest.

4. Fill out the information Harvest requires for the tracked time. Click Start Timer.

Now you are tracking time for that Task. As you are working on the Task, you can view your running timer. Click View Timer.
To stop the timer, click Stop timer.

Once you have stopped the timer, you can see the tracked time at the bottom of the Harvest window. Or, click My Timesheet to be directed to the time in Harvest.

Entering Time Manually on a Task

To manually enter time already completed for a task:

1.  Go to the Pod and Task you want to start working on.

2. Select the Task name to open up the Task details.

3. On the right side, click Add Time to Harvest.

4. Fill out the information Harvest requires for the tracked time. Then, in the 0.00 time section, enter the amount of time you have already completed for the task.

5. Click Save Entry.