Tasks
Welcome to the Tasks user guide. This feature is a task management system designed to enhance organisational productivity and improve team coordination. Task management allows for the structured organisation of work, enabling teams to clearly define, assign, and track tasks through to completion. It aids in managing deadlines, prioritising work, and ensuring alignment with organisational goals.
Tasks is integrated into Governance, providing a centralised hub where tasks can be linked to projects, risks, issues, lessons and other tasks. This centralisation ensures that teams can easily access and manage their tasks, adjusting priorities and resources as required. This linkage is crucial when tackling complex projects that require cohesive action across multiple fronts.
The task management system is fully integrated with the Governance Dashboard and Gantt Chart, which supports real-time monitoring of task progress. Teams can use this integration to quickly adapt to changes and ensure that critical project milestones are met. This streamlined approach not only enhances transparency and accountability within teams but also boosts overall efficiency by reducing the time spent on task coordination.
Access to Tasks is included as part of the Governance licence. For further information contact [email protected].
Accessing tasks
Upon purchasing Governance and its associated features, all users have default access to the Tasks feature. Your organisation’s administrator(s) have the option to remove access via User Management, available to administrators in the header.
User Permission
Granting individual users access to this module does not automatically provide ac
Granting individual users access, does not automatically provide access to all moduleName within your organisation, but it allows users to create a new one. You can only view items to which you are assigned or have permissions.
A moduleName permissions include:
- Owner
- Member
- Notified user
- Attachment reviewer
There can only be a single owner but there are no limits to the number of members or notified users. Each attachment can also have one reviewer. Owners can edit and delete their assigned items, while all other roles have edit rights but cannot delete. When more than two members or notified users are added, the additional user details are combined into a single pill, which can be clicked to view further details. These pills are alphabetically ordered.
Info:
- A user cannot be assigned both the roles of owner and member but there are no restrictions on the notified users field.
- Owner fields are mandatory throughout the 9ine Platform.
- If a user's account has been disabled and they held the role of owner, you will be prompted to reassign upon next edit and prior to clicking Save.
Warning:
If a user is assigned the role of task owner and their account is deleted via User Management by your account administrator(s), the administrator will be prompted to reassign any tasks that are not marked as Closed (not started, in progress, on hold, or quality assurance).
Adding and removing notified users
Adding/Removing Notified User
To add a notified user, use the
To add a notified user, use the mention function in either the description field on the Details tab or the notes field on the Notes tab.
- To begin, click the @ symbol on your keyboard and type the first name of the user you wish to mention.
- A user can be mentioned at the start, in the middle, or at the end of the entered text.
- To remove a user as a notified user, simply delete their name from the relevant note.
- Mentioning a user sends an in-Platform notification and an email unless the user has disabled email notifications.
- The email notification sends a complete copy of the text entered by the user in the 9ine Platform, to the user’s registered email address.
Step 1:
Step 2:
Understanding how to create and edit tasks
Begin by clicking New Task in the top right corner, to get started. You will then be presented with nine tabs, including:
- Details
- Checklist
- Scheduling
- Time Management
- Cost
- Link
- Notes
- Attachments
- Custom Data
The first tab allows you to capture and view key details associated with the task, including the title, number, description, project group, project, owner, members, notified users, priority, type of association, association and status.
Tip:
This tab has two mandatory fields: title, owner. Prior to selecting Save you must enter the details in the two mandatory fields.
Number field
The Number field helps order items sequentially in the log. You can enter up to five-digit numbers, including decimals. The sequence number is visible to all users within the organisation and is not user-specific.
Warning:
Text values are not permitted in this field.
Description Field
The Description field offers additional formatting functionality. The formatting applied in the rich text editor is retained and displayed on the moduleName log when clicking the Description icon.
If a description has not been added, the field appears as grey and disabled on the moduleName log.
Selecting a project group and project for a task is optional; they can be designated as standalone items. If a project group and project are selected, their names will be displayed on the log. If these fields are left empty and the task remains standalone, the log will display a -. Users will only have visibility of tasks to which they have access, whether as an owner, member, notified user, or attachment reviewer.
Tip:
It is possible to move a task to a different project group or project by clicking on Edit and selecting your preferred project group and project titles.
A task can be assigned one of five priority levels: critical, high, medium, low, and very low. When you select one of these priority options, or if a task is left with a No Priority status, specific colours are assigned to represent each priority in the task log:
When a task is associated with a form:
- Incident Management
- Records of Processing Activity
- Processing Operation Assessment
- Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
- Retention Management
- Contract Management
This field is populated with the title and reference number of the associated item. Associations must be created from the forms and cannot be created through the tasks log.
Utilising the checklist and custom data tabs
The Checklist and Custom Data tabs are identical in functionality.
Checklist Tab
Organisations often use these tabs to facilitate granular management with minimal
To add an item in the respective tab, enter text in the field and click Add.
- The checklist tab accepts alphanumeric values and has no text limit.
- Duplicate entries are not permitted.
- When you enter more than one entry, you have the option to reorder them by dragging and dropping the items into your preferred sequence.
- Individual items can be marked as closed, with the option to undo this action at any time by unchecking the item.
- To mark an individual item as closed, you can either click the checkbox or the text. When an item is marked as closed, the text will be struck through. To uncheck an item, repeat this process.
You also have the option to edit and delete individual items.
Scheduling a task
Scheduling Tab
The scheduling tab offers four fields: year, start date, due date, and term and s...
The scheduling tab offers four fields: year, start date, due date, and term and semester.
Date field
When selecting a date, you can manually type in the specified format or click on
When selecting a date, you can manually type in the specified format or click on the date in the header to quickly navigate through months or years. The clear button allows you to easily remove any entered date.
When the date entered in either of the date field lapses, a warning message is displayed. Similarly, lapsed dates are shown in red on the moduleName log.
Calendar Integration for Tasks
The Calendar Integration feature allows you to add tasks from the 9ine Platform directly to your external calendar, helping you manage important deadlines alongside your existing schedule.
To use Calendar Integration, connect your Google Calendar from the My Profile page. Note: Support for Microsoft 365 calendars will be available in a future release.
Once connected, you can link multiple calendar accounts and choose one as your default calendar. The default calendar is used whenever you add a task from the Platform.
Tasks can be added directly to your connected calendar from the Scheduling tab. When creating a calendar event, you can choose:
- Date
- Start Time
- End Time
- All-day event
Once the task has been added, the event is created in your calendar using the following format: Task Reference Number: Task Title
Calendar Integration is one-way.
The 9ine Platform can create calendar events in your connected calendar, but it does not read, import or synchronise information from your external calendar. Changes made directly in your calendar are not reflected back in the Platform.
If a task cannot be added to your calendar, your calendar connection may have expired or become disconnected.
Open My Profile, reconnect your calendar account, save the changes, and then add the task to your calendar again.
Estimating and logging time
Task and Project Time Log
Time can be estimated and logged against individual tasks, with the total amount ...
Time can be estimated and logged against individual tasks, with the total amount of time logged or estimated being aggregated into the project. However, it is not possible to log time directly against a project. Both tasks and projects feature a Total Logged Time bar, visible in their respective popups and logs, which uses different colours to represent the following:
- If no time has been estimated, the bar will display in grey.
- If time has been estimated but no time has been logged, then the bar will display in blue.
- If time has been logged but time was not estimated, the bar will display in red.
- If time has been estimated and logged but the logged time is less than the estimated time, the bar will display in both green and blue.
- If time has been estimated and logged but the logged time is greater than the estimated time, the bar will display in both green and red.
- If the time logged is identical to the time estimated, the bar will display in green.
Individual log entries show the user who estimated or logged time, the date and time of the entry, whether the time was estimated or logged, and the total time recorded. The name of the task is also displayed in the project.
Info:
To delete a time entry (estimated or logged), navigate to the individual task and remove the details there.
This data is also displayed in the respective log and when hovering over the bar, a popup displays the estimated time, logged time, remaining time and overspent time (if applicable).
Estimating and logging cost
Cost tab
Costs can be estimated and logged for both a project and individual tasks. Warnin...
Costs can be estimated and logged for both a project and an individual task.
Warning:
- Any costs estimated for a task are not aggregated into the project total, and vice versa.
- Tasks associated with a project must use the same currency as the one selected for the project. When creating a project, you have the ability to select your preferred currency.
- Individual cost entries are displayed in the cost log.
In the Project popup, for ease of use a Total logged task cost is shown on the left hand side but not included in the right hand Cost Log panel. For example, if costs have been logged against 17 of the 42 tasks associated with this project, the total cost value for the 17 tasks will be displayed.
The Cost Log allows you to view the details of the user who logged the cost, including estimated costs and the date and time of the entry. If a user modifies historic entries, you will be able to see the details of the changes made.
Similar to time, costs also displays colours using the following format:
- If no cost has been estimated, the bar will display in grey.
- If cost has been estimated but no cost has been logged, the bar will display in blue.
- If cost has been logged but cost was not estimated, the bar will display in red.
- If cost has been estimated and logged but the logged cost is less than the estimated cost, the bar will display in both green and blue.
- If cost has been estimated and logged but the logged cost is greater than the estimated cost, the bar will display in both green and red.
- If the cost logged is identical to the cost estimated, the bar will display in green.
Tip:
In the project log, two cost columns (project cost and task cost) are added for ease of reference.
Linking tasks
Linking tasks significantly boosts project efficiency and coordination by clarifying dependencies between tasks, which enhances coordination, transparency, resource allocation, and time management. Understanding these dependencies allows teams to anticipate how one task may impact subsequent activities. The Link tab provides the functionality to add a task by searching its reference number and/or title. Tasks can be linked by various relationships, such as:
- Blocked by
- Blocks
- Related to
- Completed with
- Completed before
- Completed after
Warning:
When tasks are linked, permissions are shared; meaning task owners, members, notified users, or attachment reviewers gain access to any task linked to the one they have permissions for.
Utilising the notes tab
Notes Tab
The ...
The Notes tab allows you to maintain a single repository of information. You can add multiple notes at once using the Add Another function, but these notes are not saved until you click the primary Save button at the bottom of the popup.
When adding a new note, a record of the user's details, date, and time of entry are added, and the most recent notes will automatically appear at the top of the list. If an individual note is edited, the time and date of the note are updated, and the note reordered.
Additional formatting functionality is provided on the notes tab. If entering large volumes of data, click the Full Screen option.
Warning:
- For security purposes, the 9ine Platform will log users out of their active sessions after 45 minutes of inactivity, with a reminder triggered at 30 minutes of inactivity.
- If you are in full screen mode, the reminder may not appear unless you have browser-based notifications enabled.
- Typing in the field is not considered activity; activity is only registered when clicking Cancel or Save.
Uploading and managing attachments
Attachments
The Attachments tab allows you to upload files or images using your native file explorer.
- Maximum file size: 10MB
- A maximum of five files can be uploaded at a time
- Supported file types: jpg, jpeg, tif, tiff, png, odg, otg, txt, rtf, doc, docx, pages, odt, ott, odm, pdf, xml, xmlx, numbers, ods, ots, ppt, pptx, key, keynote, odp, otp, xls, xlsx, tsv, csv, pst, eml, emlx, ost, oft, msg
- The file name cannot contain special characters: /?<>|"\ #+&'~
Each attachment uploaded can be assigned a reviewer, allocated a review date, and further information can be included. This process ensures that attachments added remain current and do not become obsolete. When an attachment is added and a reviewer is assigned, the reviewer is automatically granted access to the moduleName, enabling them to review the attachment.
Understanding how to use task log
When creating a task, or editing an existing one, the details entered are added to the log. Each task is automatically assigned a unique reference number (starting with TSK) that cannot be edited.
To view only the items you are responsible for, use the My Tasks toggle located in the top right corner of the log. This will filter and display items where you are the owner, member or notified user.
Sorting, View and Filter for log
Default sorting is applied to the “No.” column, which can be altered by clicking
Default sorting is applied to the No. column, which can be altered by clicking on the title of any other column. Clicking a column header once sorts the log by the selected column, and clicking it a second time reverses the order.
To remove individual columns, click View and deselect the columns you do not want to display, whilst retaining a minimum of one column. After selecting your preferred columns, click Apply. You also have the option to Save View.
You can also change the sequence order of the columns by dragging and dropping them into your preferred order. Any changes are automatically saved and retained on the next login.
Info:
- The changes applied to the sequence order of the log and in the View popup are user and log specific and only applied to your profile.
- The sequence order in the View popup does not update to reflect the order created through dragging and dropping.
- The log opens using your most recently saved filter and column view. If you have not saved any preferences, the organisation default view is applied, this is why the log can appear differently per user account.
To focus on specific items, you can use the Filter or Search functions. When a filter is active, an orange icon appears next to the filter icon for easy recognition.
- To quickly clear any filters, click the Clear Filters button in the popup.
- You can also apply a temporary filter without clicking Save Filter.
- To revert back to your saved filter, click Reset.
- Similarly, you can select data points and click Apply without saving your filter options.
Bulk Operation in Governance
To bulk manage moduleName, select one or more checkboxes located on the far left side of the log. Once selected, a Manage button will appear above the log. Clicking this button offers four options: manage, duplicate, close, and delete. Choosing manage allows you to bulk modify the moduleName related data like owner, members, project group details, project details, due date or next review date, status of the records.
Users have the option to select individual record or select all records on any page by checking the box in the column header. For the selection of records, provide options as:
- Current Page: selects all records on the page you are viewing.
- All Pages: selects all records that match the current filters across all pages, excluding Closed records.
-
Clear Selection: removes all current selections
The Gantt Chart function is an essential tool in tasks as it provides a visual representation of the data displayed on the tasks log. To use the feature, click the Gantt Chart button displayed at the top of the tasks log.
Once clicked, it displays tasks in the colour of their priority and also provides details the status, start and end dates, estimated time, logged time, remaining time, and scheduled time. This function allows task owners and members to easily understand a task's relationships and overall project flow. Where tasks do not have the required level of scheduled information, they will appear at the bottom of the Gantt Chart under the Unscheduled Tasks header. For further information refer to the Gantt Chart guide in the Help Centre.
Understanding the quick actions for a task
The task log offers a suite of quick-access functions through its menu options, including:
-
Add a Note
Opens the task popup directly on the Notes tab. -
Add Checklist Item
Opens the task popup directly on the Checklist tab. -
Add Attachment(s)
Opens the task popup directly on the Attachments tab. -
Add Custom Data
Opens the task popup directly on the Custom Data tab. -
Add Member(s)
Opens a members popup to quickly grant users access to the task. -
Duplicate
Duplicates the task with the prefix Copy of but does not copy the notes, attachments, logged time and logged cost data. -
Close
Marks the task as closed, removing them from their respective logs. -
Reopen
Marks a closed task as Open and restores it to the Task Log. The task status is reset to Not Started. -
Delete: Marks the task as deleted, effectively removing them from the 9ine Platform.
Downloading tasks
Download Governance Log Items
To download the data shown on the respective log, click the “Download” button loc
To download the data shown on the respective log, click the Download button located in the top right-hand corner. You can customise the download report to include or exclude data by using the search bar, filter, view options, or My moduleName functions. Upon clicking the Download button, an export will be saved to your local file explorer. The format of the exported moduleName is XLS.
Uploading tasks
Upload Governance Items
To upload data to the respective log, click the Upload button in the top right corner. Users can upload records in bulk using an optional template, which streamlines the data formatting and entry process. To access the template, click on Download Template. Each row in the uploaded file is treated as a separate record.
Once the file is uploaded, users will receive notifications via email and in-platform alerts, detailing the number of successfully uploaded items as well as any failed uploads, if applicable.
Configuring tasks notification settings
Global Due Date Notifications Alerts
To ensure you're always informed of key moduleName milestones, users can configure their personal notification preferences within the Notification Settings area of the 9ine Platform. This enables both email and in-Platform alerts for important events in the moduleName lifecycle such as end dates, due dates, renewal reminders, termination deadlines, and next review dates.
To activate alerts:
- Navigate to your Notifications (available in the header)
- Click the Notification Settings icon
Toggle Global Lifecycle Alerts on for both In Platform and Email to receive notifications through both channels.
Under Reminder, you can select how far in advance you would like to be notified of an upcoming milestone (e.g. 7, 14, or 30 days before the due date). This ensures you receive early warnings before deadlines approach. You can choose any period from 1 to 31 days in advance.
These reminders are designed to give moduleName owners and stakeholders enough lead time to review, act, or make decisions before renewal or termination windows close.
To receive multiple reminders, you can enable Repeat notifications.
- Repeats are available in weekly intervals and are only triggered if your chosen reminder period is 7 days or more.
- The number of notifications is based on your reminder window:
For example:
- If your reminder is set to 10 days, you’ll receive 1 notification.
- If it’s set to 16 days, you’ll receive 2 notifications.
This flexible notification system helps ensure key events never go unnoticed, especially in busy school environments where planning ahead is essential.