Basil: Creating Projects

Projects are a feature of Basil that lets you bundle the tasks of a project together so you can see completed items of a project as a whole, instead of finding and examining the status of each individual task. Another benefit of using a Project is that the creator of the project and all of the task assignees will be notified when the project has been created, when they have tasks to do in the Project, and when all of the Tasks that encompass the project have been completed.

You can create a Project for any project or workflow that has multiple tasks to be completed. In the Project, you can assign task owners, required completion dates, and additional details relevant to each of the tasks. The Project can be launched with or without the Cora Assistant.

A Project can be created and launched or saved as a template for repeated use. The Project can have several tasks, each consisting of a type of task, assignee, required by date, and additional details. The assignee is the owner of the task and is expected to complete the task before the date specified. The Project is completed when all the individual tasks are completed.

To Create a Project:

1. Click on the ‘Tasks’ tab at the top of Basil.
2. This brings you to the Task list view. To view Projects instead of individual tasks, select ‘Projects’ on the toggle button towards the top-right.
3. Next, click the ‘+ Projects’ button towards the top right.
4. The ‘Create a New Project’ button is used when you need to prepare a unique set of tasks for specific users just once. A Project Template can be created and used for a process that is commonly performed by many different users or Team Members. You can create a template then assign users to specific tasks when necessary to save time preparing the project in the future. 
   
   
5. Enter a name and description, then assign the Project to a Client and a Workspace
   1. The Client drop-down menu will show all Clients you’ve added to Basil. Please view the ‘Add Clients’ help guide if you need to add a Client.
   2. The Client Workspace drop-down menu will show the Workspaces for the specific Client you’ve selected above. If the user only has one workspace, it will be auto-populated in this field when selecting the client. Please view the ‘Create a Workspace’ instructions if necessary.
6. You can now begin to list the Project tasks. You can choose a task from the list of preset task options by selecting the 'Use Task Template' option or enter the name of a task type manually. The task can then be assigned to a specific user, made billable, and a description can be added. For Task Template tasks:
   1. The ‘Upload a File’ task will ask you to select which folder you’d like the assigned user to upload to. 
   2. The ‘Download’, ‘Review’, and ‘eSign a File’ tasks will ask you to select the specific file you’d like the user to perform the task for.
   3. The ‘Setup a Meeting’ task will ask to select a user’s calendar where the meeting will be added.
   4. There are also many other tasks to choose from such as ‘Provide consultation’, ‘Reconcile bank account’, and many others. Custom Task Types can also be created by the Account Owner from their ‘Settings’ menu. Please see our Creating and Assigning Tasks article for more detail.
      
7. Click on the ‘Add Details’ button at the end of the Task Row for each task to enter specific information regarding the task. Then click ‘Done’.
   
8. Additional tasks can be added to your project after filling out the current task row and clicking on ‘Done’ in the "Add Details" screen. A new row will appear in the Project allowing you to add another task.
   1. You can also create tasks in freeform mode. To do this make sure the ‘Use Task Template’ option is unchecked. With freeform mode, the only required fields will be the ‘Task’ for naming the task, and the ‘Assigned to’ field. You can then click on the ‘Save’ icon at the end of the task row to confirm this task and add it to the list.
9. A completion order can be set by checking the ‘Enforce Workflow’ box.
   1. The tasks must be completed in the order they are listed if this box is checked. When workflow is enabled, the start date for the next task will be the end date of the previous task. The next task will not show up on the Task Kanban boarding until the previous task is marked complete. The due date of the new task is set based on the new start date and is set for seven days after the new task’s start date.
10. Tasks can be cloned, deleted, or moved in the sequence using the icons on each side of a given task.
    1. Click and drag the 'Move' button on the left to move the selected task.
11. Click 'Launch' when you are ready to proceed. If you aren’t ready to launch the Project and would like to come back to it, you may click the ‘Save as Draft’ button. You can also click on the ‘Delete Tasks’ option to start over or ‘Save as Template’ to save this project as a template.
    
    1. If you click the ‘X’ in the top right corner, you will leave the Project and what you’ve entered will be saved as a draft as well.
    2. If you save a Project as a draft, you can come back to it by clicking the Tasks tab, toggling to view Projects, clicking the funnel icon to sort by statuses in 'Draft', and clicking the pencil icon to the right of the Project name. You can then edit the Project details and/or launch the project by clicking 'Launch'.
12. After launching the Project, you will be asked if you want to make use of the Cora Assistant. Cora will help remind the people who were assigned tasks in your Project that they have action items to complete. Cora can be set to an ‘Easygoing’, ‘Regular’, or Critical’ mode.
    1. In an ‘Easygoing’ mode, Cora will send an email reminder to the task owner once every 72 hours, until the task is completed.
    2. In a 'Regular' mode, Cora will send an email reminder to the task owners once every 48 hours, until the task is completed.
    3. In a ‘Critical’ mode, Cora will send an email as well as a text reminder once every 24 hours until the task is completed. The task owner needs to have verified their mobile phone number to receive text messages. Phone carrier SMS text charges may apply.
    4. Custom follow-up modes can also be configured in the Account Owners 'Settings' menu.