Task lists and templates

A task list is a reusable bundle of pre-written tasks (a template) that you build once and clone onto a matter when you open it. Instead of typing the same checklist for every new personal-injury case or estate plan, you set it up here, including each task's priority, assignees, sub-tasks, and a scheduling rule that turns the matter's open date into real start and due dates. This keeps your team's process consistent and saves you from re-creating the same work item by item.

Before you begin

• Task lists live in firm settings, not on any single matter. The tasks inside them are blueprints, not live work. Nothing happens to a real matter until you apply a list to it, either while creating the matter or later from the matter's Tasks tab.
• Your role controls what you can do here, and two permissions share the work. Both sit under Tasks in the role grid, beside Task types and Task stages.
  • Task lists covers the list itself. View opens the Task lists page and a list's detail page, Create adds a list, Update renames, archives, and restores one, and Delete permanently removes an archived list.
  • Tasks covers the task templates inside a list. Create adds tasks and sub-tasks, Update edits them and changes their priority, archives, and restores them, and Delete permanently removes an archived task.
• So a role can be allowed to open a list and read it without being allowed to change the tasks in it, and the other way round. Each button appears only when the permission behind it is there.
• Neither of these is Matter tasks, the permission that governs real tasks on a matter. See Creating and managing tasks.
• Firm owners always have full access. If your role does not include View for task lists, you will see a "no access" message instead of the page.
• Task types and members referenced inside templates come from elsewhere in the app. To use a task type in the Task type field, create it first (see Task kanban, stages, and types).

What a task list (template) is

A task list is a saved checklist you reuse across matters. Each list has a Name and a Status, and contains one or more task templates. Each task template carries the same details a real task does:

• Title and a rich-text Description.
• A Task type label and Story points (an optional effort estimate).
• A Priority (Lowest, Low, Medium, High, or Highest).
• Default Assignees (firm members or contacts).
• A Private flag, so only assignees and owners can see the task.
• Optional sub-tasks that break a task into smaller steps.
• Relative date rules for the start date and due date, so the dates compute themselves from the matter's timeline rather than being typed in by hand.

When you apply a task list to a matter, Esqase copies every task in the list onto that matter's task board as a real, working task. You can do this while creating the matter, or at any time afterwards from the matter's Tasks tab. Either way, the blueprint stays untouched and ready for the next matter.

Create and manage a task list

You manage task lists from the Task lists page.

1. In the sidebar, click Tasks.
2. On the Tasks page, click Manage task list in the top right. This opens the Task lists page. (You can also reach it from the Tasks breadcrumb on related pages.)
3. Click Add task list in the top right. The Add task list dialog opens.
4. In the Name field, type a short, descriptive name (for example, Onboarding tasks or Discovery checklist). The name is required and can be up to 64 characters.
5. Click the save button. Esqase shows a "Task list created" confirmation and takes you straight to the new list's detail page, where you add tasks.

The task list table

The Task lists table gives you the tools to find and manage your lists:

• Status tabs at the top: All, Active, and Archived. The table opens on Active.
• A Search task lists box to filter by name.
• Sortable columns for Name, Number of tasks, Status, Updated by, and Last updated.
• Number of tasks counts the active tasks in the list, sub-tasks included. These are the same tasks that are copied when you apply the list to a matter. Archived tasks are not counted, so archiving a task lowers the number and restoring it raises it again. Because archiving a top-level task archives its sub-tasks too, archiving one row can drop the count by more than one, and restoring that row brings the same tasks back. Sorting by this column uses the same up-to-date count.
• A checkbox on each row for selecting several lists at once, plus a batch action bar that appears when rows are selected (covered under archive, delete, and restore below).

Rename or edit a task list

1. On the Task lists page, click a list's Name (or use its row actions) to open the list's detail page.
2. Click Edit in the top right. The edit dialog opens with the current Name.
3. Change the Name, then save. Esqase confirms with "Task list updated".

Add task templates and sub-task templates

You add tasks from inside a list's detail page. Adding a task happens in two quick parts: name it, then fill in the details.

Add a top-level task

1. Open the task list from the Task lists page.
2. In the Tasks table on the detail page, click Add task. The Add task dialog opens.
3. In the Title field, type the task name (for example, Draft initial complaint). The title is required (up to 255 characters).
4. Click Continue. Esqase creates the task and immediately opens the full task editor so you can flesh it out.
5. In the editor, fill in any of these (all optional except where noted):
   • Description (rich text).
   • Task type (choose from your active task types).
   • Story points (a number, 0 or higher).
   • Assignees (members or contacts; see below).
   • Priority (required; defaults to Medium).
   • Set start date and Set due date scheduling rules (see the next section).
   • Mark this task private to hide it from everyone except its assignees and owners.
6. Click Save. Esqase confirms with "Task updated".

Add a sub-task

Sub-tasks break a task into smaller steps. They live under a top-level task and are cloned onto the matter alongside their parent.

There are two places to add a sub-task, and each one leaves you somewhere different once the sub-task is named.

From the Tasks table

1. In the Tasks table on the list's detail page, find the top-level task and open its ... (more actions) menu.
2. Click Add sub-task. The Add sub-task dialog opens.
3. Type the Title and click Add sub-task. Esqase confirms with "Sub-task created" and opens the sub-task editor so you can add its details.
4. Fill in the sub-task's fields the same way you would a top-level task, then click Save.

From inside the parent task's editor

1. Open the top-level task's editor by clicking its title, or by clicking Edit on its row.
2. Scroll to the Sub-tasks section and click Add sub-task. The Add sub-task dialog opens.
3. Type the Title and click Add sub-task. Esqase confirms with "Sub-task created", the small dialog closes, and the new sub-task appears as a row in the Sub-tasks table. The sub-task editor does not open on its own here, so the task you were editing stays open and keeps anything you have already filled in.
4. To add the sub-task's details, click Edit on its row in the Sub-tasks table, fill in its fields, then click Save. You return to the parent task's editor when you are done.

In the Tasks table, a top-level task with sub-tasks shows an expand arrow. Click it to show or hide its sub-tasks.

Working with the Tasks table

The Tasks table on a list's detail page mirrors the way you work with real tasks:

• Status tabs: All, Active, and Archived (opens on Active).
• A Search tasks box, plus Priorities and Types filters (Types appears once a task in the list has a task type).
• Columns for Tasks (the title), Type, Priority, Points, Visibility (Public or Private), Assignees, Start date, and Due date.
• The Start date and Due date columns show the rule in plain language, such as Matter start, 2d before matter start, 3d before start of Filing deadline, 2d after completion of Discovery, or 1d after this task's start. A dash (-) means the task has no scheduled date. See How dates appear before cloning.
• You can change a task's Priority straight from its cell without opening the editor: click the priority dropdown on the row and pick a new level. It saves immediately, with a Priority updated confirmation. If your role is view-only, the priority shows as a plain badge you cannot change.

The order of tasks in the table

Unless you sort by a column, the Tasks table lists tasks in schedule order:

• A task always appears after the task it is scheduled from, as long as both are top-level tasks or both are sub-tasks of the same parent.
• Otherwise, tasks with no start date come first, then tasks by start date (earliest first), then by due date (tasks with no due date come last), and then by title.
• Dates are compared as they would fall on a matter, so 2d before matter start comes before Matter start, which comes before 3d after matter start.
• Sub-tasks are ordered the same way under their parent.

To sort by Tasks or Points instead, click the column header and choose Asc or Desc. A Clear filters button then appears in the toolbar. Click it to return to schedule order. It also clears your search and any Priorities or Types filter. The Tasks preview in the Assign task list dialog on a matter uses the same schedule order.

Configure relative date rules on task templates

Because a template is not attached to a real matter yet, you do not type concrete dates. Instead, you describe how each date should be calculated. When the list is cloned onto a matter, Esqase resolves those rules into real dates using the matter's open date.

You set this in the task editor using two controls: Set start date and Set due date. Each one starts with a "Choose how to schedule" menu that offers these options:

• Not scheduled: the task has no date of this kind. This is the default for templates.
• When the matter starts: anchor the date to the matter's open date, plus or minus an offset.
• Relative to this task's start (due date only): anchor the due date to this same task's start date, plus an offset.
• Relative to another task: anchor the date to a different task in the same list.

Anchor to the matter start

Use this when a task should begin or be due a set time after the matter opens.

1. In Set start date (or Set due date), open the "Choose how to schedule" menu and select When the matter starts.
2. Set the Count (a number) and Unit (Days, Weeks, Months, or Years).
3. Set the Direction to After or Before.
4. Optionally set the Time of day (defaults to 09:00).

For example, Count 3, Unit Days, Direction After means "3 days after the matter opens." A Count of 0 means the same day the matter opens.

Anchor a due date to the task's own start

Use this so a due date always follows the task's own start date, no matter when that start lands.

1. In Set due date, open the menu and select Relative to this task's start.
2. Set the Count, Unit, Direction, and optional Time of day.

For example, "2 Weeks After" gives the task two weeks to complete once it begins.

Anchor to another task

Use this to chain tasks together, so one task's date depends on another's. This is what makes a list behave like a real workflow.

1. In Set start date or Set due date, open the menu and select Relative to another task.
2. In the Relative to field, choose the start of or the completion of. "The completion of" uses the other task's due date.
3. In the Task field, pick the task you want to anchor to (you cannot pick the task you are editing).
4. Set the Count, Unit, Direction, and optional Time of day.

For example, you might set "Serve complaint" to start 5 Days After the completion of "Draft complaint." When the dates are calculated on a matter, the two tasks stay correctly spaced even if the matter's timeline shifts.

How dates appear before cloning

In the Tasks table, the Start date and Due date columns translate your rules into short labels:

• - means Not scheduled.
• Matter start means the day the matter opens, with no offset.
• 3d after matter start means three days after the matter opens, and 2d before matter start means two days before it.
• 3d before start of Filing deadline means three days before the task Filing deadline starts.
• 2d after completion of Discovery means two days after the task Discovery is due ("the completion of" uses the other task's due date).
• 1d after this task's start means one day after the same task's own start. You see this on due dates set with Relative to this task's start.
• With no offset, the label names only the anchor, such as Start of Draft complaint or This task's start.

Offsets are shortened to d (days), w (weeks), mo (months), and y (years).

Assign default assignees to task templates

You can pre-assign each task so the cloned matter task arrives already routed to the right people.

1. Open the task's editor.
2. In the right column, find the Assignees field and click into it.
3. Search and select one or more entries. Assignees can be firm members or contacts (for example, a client or co-counsel you track as a contact).
4. Remove an assignee by clicking the x on its chip.
5. Save the task.

When the list is cloned onto a matter, each assignee is copied to the new task, so the work is routed automatically. If an assignee can no longer be matched at clone time, the task is still created; it simply arrives without that assignee.

See recent activity on a task list

Below the Tasks table, a list's detail page shows Recent activities: a timeline of who changed what on the list and when, newest first. It covers past changes as well as new ones.

It includes:

• Changes to the list itself, such as renaming, archiving, or restoring it.
• Changes to the tasks and sub-tasks inside the list, each naming the task: created (Created task Draft complaint), updated (followed by the fields that changed), priority changed, archived, restored, deleted, and people assigned or unassigned (Assigned Jane Doe to task Draft complaint).

The timeline shows 10 entries at a time. Use the back and next buttons beneath it to page through older entries, and click an entry to open its full details. See Activity timelines and audit logs.

The timeline updates on its own while you work on the page. After you add, edit, archive, restore, or delete a task, or change its priority, the new entry appears without reloading the page. Changes you make to sub-tasks from inside a task's editor appear once you close that editor. If you are looking at an older page of entries when this happens, the timeline returns to the first page. On larger screens, the refresh button beside the heading reloads the timeline by hand.

Archive, delete, and restore a task list or its templates

Esqase uses a two-step lifecycle so you never lose work by accident: first Archive (reversible), then Delete (permanent, and only available once archived).

Archive vs. delete

• Archive moves a list or task out of your active view. It is hidden from the default Active tab but stays under Archived, and you can Restore it at any time. Archived lists are not offered when you create a matter.
• Delete permanently removes an item and cannot be undone. You can only delete something that is already archived.

Archive or delete a single task list

From the list's detail page:

1. Open the list, then click Edit to confirm you are on the right one, or just use the header actions.
2. To archive, open the ... (more actions) menu next to Edit and click Archive. Confirm in the dialog. The list moves to Archived.
3. To restore an archived list, open it and click Restore from the ... menu, or use the row action on the Task lists page.
4. To delete an archived list, open the ... menu and click Delete, then confirm. This is permanent.

Archive, restore, or delete several task lists at once

1. On the Task lists page, select the checkbox on each list you want to act on.
2. A batch action bar appears. Choose Archive, Restore, or Delete.
   • Archive is available for Active lists.
   • Restore and Delete are available for Archived lists.
3. Confirm the action in the dialog. Esqase reports how many lists were affected.

Archive, restore, or delete tasks inside a list

Inside a list's Tasks table you manage the templates the same way:

1. Use a task's Edit button and ... menu, or select task checkboxes and use the batch bar.
2. Archive hides a task from the Active tab; archived tasks are not cloned onto new matters.
3. Restore brings an archived task back.
4. Delete permanently removes an archived task.

Sub-tasks go with their parent

A sub-task is part of the task above it, so archiving, restoring, or deleting a top-level task takes its sub-tasks with it. A list never ends up with a live sub-task under an archived or deleted parent.

• Archive archives the task and every sub-task under it that is still active. A sub-task you had already archived on its own stays archived.
• Restore restores the task and every archived sub-task under it, including any you archived on its own earlier. If you want one of them to stay archived, restore the parent first, then archive that sub-task again.
• Delete permanently removes the task and all of its sub-tasks.

The confirmation tells you what you are about to change, for example 'Draft complaint' and its 2 sub-tasks will be moved to Archived, and the message afterwards names the same count. A task with no sub-tasks reads the way it always has. When several tasks are selected, the batch confirmation says the sub-tasks are included.

Once a sub-task is archived this way it is skipped when the list is cloned onto a matter, exactly like any other archived task, and it drops out of Number of tasks on the Task lists page.

To act on one sub-task on its own, use its own row. Expand the parent in the Tasks table and use the ... menu on the sub-task's row, or open the parent's editor and use the row actions in its Sub-tasks section. Either way only that sub-task changes.

How task lists clone onto a new matter

Task lists do their real work when you create a matter. The cloning happens in the matter's creation wizard, on the Tasks step.

1. Start a new matter (see Creating a matter).
2. On the Tasks step of the wizard, you will see two settings:
   • Task stage template: chooses the columns (stages) for this matter's task board. Leaving it blank uses the default To do, In progress, and Done columns. A Stage preview shows the columns you will get.
   • Task list: chooses which list to copy onto the matter. Leaving it blank (the placeholder reads Don't clone tasks) means no tasks are cloned. A Tasks preview lists exactly which tasks will be copied.
3. Finish creating the matter.

When the matter is created, Esqase copies every active task (and its sub-tasks and assignees) from the chosen list onto the matter's task board as real, working tasks. At this point each task's relative date rule is resolved into actual start and due dates using the matter's open date. The original task list is unchanged and ready to reuse.

Assign a task list to an existing matter

You do not have to decide at creation time. You can copy a task list onto a matter that already exists, straight from the matter's Tasks tab.

This is useful when a case moves into a new phase (discovery opens, a trial date is set), when the matter was created before the right list existed, or when you simply did not pick a list in the wizard.

1. Open the matter, then click the Tasks tab. See The matter workspace.
2. In the top right of the tab, click Assign task list. The Assign task list dialog opens.
3. In the Task list dropdown, choose the list you want to copy. Type to search by name. Only Active lists are offered.
4. Read the Tasks preview panel that appears below the dropdown. It lists exactly which tasks will be created, with sub-tasks indented under their parent, in the same schedule order as the list's Tasks table (see The order of tasks in the table). Nothing has been added yet, so you can switch to a different list and compare before you commit.
5. Click Add tasks, or click Cancel to close without changing anything.

Esqase confirms how many tasks were added ("1 task added" or "5 tasks added"), and the matter's task list and board refresh with the new tasks in place.

What gets copied

Each task is copied in full, exactly as it would be at matter creation:

• The Title, Description, Task type, Story points, Priority, and the private setting.
• The task's Assignees (members and contacts), so the work arrives already routed. Everyone assigned is notified. A colleague who picks up several tasks from the list gets a single notification saying how many, which opens the matter's Tasks tab, rather than one notification per task. See Notifications.
• Its sub-tasks, still nested under their parent.
• Its scheduling rules. Dates written as When the matter starts, or relative to another task, are worked out against this matter's open date, so the new tasks arrive with real start and due dates rather than blank ones.

The rules are kept, not just the dates they produced. The copied tasks join the matter's normal date cascade, so if you later change an anchor task's date, Esqase offers to move the tasks that depend on it too. See How the matter-wide date cascade recomputes dates.

Every copied task lands in the first stage of the matter's task board (the left-most column, usually To do). Move a task elsewhere with the stage dropdown on its row, or by dragging its card on the Stages board. See Change a task stage.

Troubleshooting

• The preview reads "This task list has no tasks yet." The list you picked is empty, or every task in it is archived. Add tasks stays unavailable until you choose a list with at least one active task. Open the list from the Task lists page and add tasks to it first.
• "This matter has no task stage to add the tasks to. Add a task stage first." The copied tasks need a column to land in. Open the Stages sub-tab on the matter's Tasks tab, add a column, then try again. See Task kanban, stages, and types.
• A message about task numbering. Your firm's task numbering is not set up, so Esqase cannot give the new tasks their ID numbers. A firm owner or administrator can set it under Settings. See Document and record numbering.
• A copied task arrived with no date. This works the same way as at matter creation: a relative date stays blank when its anchor has no date, or when the chain loops back on itself.

How the matter-wide date cascade recomputes dates

Once a list is cloned, the tasks on a matter still remember their date rules. That means dates can keep themselves in sync as the matter's timeline changes.

Each time you add a task to a matter (with New task or Add sub-task) or save changes to one in the task editor, Esqase recomputes every task on that matter whose date is relative (anchored to the matter start, to its own start, or to another task). Only tasks whose computed date actually changed are updated. Tasks that point to a moved anchor shift to stay correctly spaced.

In practice this means:

• If you change a task's start or due date and that would move other tasks scheduled from it, Esqase first shows the Update following tasks? dialog. Choose This task and following tasks to move the whole chain, or Only this task to keep the other tasks on their current dates (on the tasks scheduled directly from it, the dates that would have moved become fixed dates). See When other tasks follow this task.
• If you change the matter's open date, tasks scheduled When the matter starts (and the tasks chained off them) do not move straight away. Their dates are recalculated the next time you add a task to that matter or save one in the task editor.
• A task with a fixed calendar date (set directly on the live task) acts as a stable anchor and does not move on its own.

Apart from that dialog, you do not trigger this manually. It runs after the task is saved, so the rest of the board stays consistent without you re-entering dates.

Common questions

• Can I add a task list to a matter after it is already created? Yes. Open the matter's Tasks tab and click Assign task list. See Assign a task list to an existing matter.
• Do my templates change if I edit a cloned task on a matter? No. Cloned tasks are independent copies. Editing a task on a matter does not affect the original list, and editing the list does not change matters that already cloned from it.
• Why is one of my task's dates blank after cloning? A relative date resolves to blank when its anchor has no date (for example, the matter has no open date yet, or it points to an unscheduled task), or when the rule would form a loop. Give the anchor a date, or simplify the chain.
• Why did a task stop moving with the task it was scheduled from? Someone changed the earlier task's date and chose Only this task, so the following task kept its date as a fixed date. To link it again, open the task and set that date back to Relative to another task. See When other tasks follow this task.
• Why don't I see Add task list or the Edit and delete options? It depends which of the two permissions is missing. Add task list, and renaming, archiving, or deleting a list, need Task lists Create, Update, or Delete. Add task, Add sub-task, the Edit button on a task row, and the archive, restore, and delete options on tasks need the matching Tasks permission. Ask a firm owner or administrator to adjust your role.

Related

• Creating and managing tasks
• Task kanban, stages, and types
• Creating a matter
• The matter workspace
• Roles and permissions
• Workflows and the builder