A task is the main work item in OrbitalWP. Tasks can hold a title, description, assignment, dates, priority, progress, completion state, approval state, subtasks, related content, categories, tags, and custom fields, depending on your site settings and your permissions.
How This Fits In OrbitalWP
Tasks are the shared record used across OrbitalWP. The same task can appear in the WordPress task list, the shared Task Views page, reports, notifications, related-content panels, templates, and custom field displays.
A parent task can have subtasks. Subtasks can be used to break work into smaller pieces, and parent task progress can reflect subtask progress. Tasks can also be connected to posts, pages, or supported custom post types, while subtasks inherit the parent task’s related items.
Where To Find It
- Use the WordPress admin menu item Orbital, then All Tasks, to open the main task list.
- Use Orbital, then Add New, to create a task if your account can create tasks.
- Use Orbital, then Kanban & Timeline, to open the Task Views page.
- The Task Views page includes Board View, List View, Timeline View, and Calendar View.
- From the task list, the View action opens a read-only task viewer for users who can read a task but cannot edit it.
On the task edit screen, OrbitalWP groups task-specific controls in the Orbital sidebar box. The visible sections can include Subtasks, Relationships, Fields, and Notifications. Some sites may also show Custom Fields in the main editor area and Permission Overrides for administrators.
Before You Start
- You need task access before OrbitalWP will show task menus, task rows, or task details.
- Being assigned to a task can allow you to view and complete that task without giving you full edit access.
- Editing ordinary fields requires task edit access.
- Changing Approval Status or Closed requires approval authority.
- Changing Assignee requires assignee-management authority.
- Administrators can grant task-specific access with Permission Overrides.
What You Can Do
- Create tasks and subtasks when your account has creation access.
- Edit the task title, description, categories, tags, dates, priority, progress, completion, and custom fields when you have the right edit access.
- Assign tasks to users when you have assignee-management access.
- Approve, reject, reopen, or close parent tasks when you have approval access.
- Use Quick Edit or bulk edit from All Tasks to change task fields more quickly.
- Open tasks from Board View, List View, Timeline View, or Calendar View when your account can access those views.
- Apply task templates with Apply Template when template access and post type settings allow it.
Basic Workflow
- Open Orbital, then Add New, or create a task from a supported related-content panel.
- Add the task title and description.
- Set the task fields you need, such as Assignee, Start Date, Due Date, Priority, Percent Complete, and Completed.
- Add subtasks from the Subtasks section if the task should be broken into smaller work items.
- Use Relationships to connect the task to supported content when your account can manage those links.
- Save the task, then track it from All Tasks or the Task Views page.
Important Controls And Settings
- All Priorities, All Approval Status, and All Due Dates filter the All Tasks list.
- Clear Filters appears on the task list when a task filter is active.
- Assigned to Me appears as a task-list view when you have assigned tasks.
- Task Fields appears inside quick edit and bulk edit for supported task field changes.
- View on Frontend is available from the task viewer for published tasks. Draft, pending, private, auto-draft, and trashed tasks show a disabled frontend state.
- Task Visibility Mode controls frontend task access. Orbital Managed uses Orbital read permissions, while WordPress Standard follows normal WordPress visibility rules for published tasks.
- Lock Approved Tasks can prevent progress and completion changes after a task is approved unless the user has approval authority.
What Affects What You See
OrbitalWP filters tasks by your role permissions, task assignment, task-specific overrides, and task state. Two users may open the same site and see different task rows, different actions, or different field controls.
Some fields may be visible but readonly. Ordinary task fields follow edit access. Approval Status and Closed are parent-task workflow fields, and Assignee has its own permission requirement. Relationship management is more restricted than ordinary task editing.
Filters, closed-task preferences, task dates, and view type also affect visibility. Timeline and Calendar rely on task dates, while Board View and List View can still show tasks without dates.
Deeper Notes
Completion and progress are linked. Marking a task complete can set progress to 100%, and lowering progress below 100% can make the task incomplete. Parent task progress can be recalculated from subtasks.
Approval is for parent tasks. Subtasks do not show the approval and closed controls in the same way parent tasks do. When approved-task locking is enabled, approved parent tasks can lock completion and progress changes until the approval state changes.
Task field labels and option labels can be customized by an administrator in Custom Fields settings. Your site may use different labels for fields such as Priority, Approval Status, or Completed.
Common Problems
- I cannot see Orbital or All Tasks. Your account may not have task permissions, task overrides, or assigned tasks. Ask an administrator to check your Orbital permissions.
- I can view a task but cannot edit it. You may have read-only access, assignment-only access, or a task-specific read override. Use the View page, or ask for edit access if you need to change the task.
- A task is missing from a view. Check task filters, the Assigned to Me view, closed-task preferences, task dates, and whether your account can read that task.
- A field is readonly. You may not have permission for that field, or the task may be locked because it is approved.
- I cannot change Approval Status, Closed, or Assignee. These fields require special access beyond ordinary task editing.
- I cannot add a subtask. New tasks must be saved before subtasks can be added, and your account must be allowed to create subtasks for that task.
- Relationships are not editable. Subtasks inherit related items from the parent task, and relationship management is restricted. Edit the parent task or ask an administrator.
- View on Frontend is disabled. The task is not published, or frontend visibility is controlled by Task Visibility Mode.
- The Notifications section is missing. Task notification controls only appear when notifications are enabled for the site.