Reports gives OrbitalWP users a task-focused view of work status, deadlines, assignments, approvals, categories, related content, permissions, notifications, and data cleanup needs. Use it when you need a higher-level answer than a single task screen can provide.
How This Fits In OrbitalWP
Reports summarizes OrbitalWP task data without replacing the task editor, task views, custom fields, notifications, or permission settings. Most reports help you review what is happening across visible tasks, then open the relevant task or content item when something needs action.
Some reports use your site’s current custom field labels and options. For example, priority and approval status columns can reflect the labels and choices configured for your site.
Where To Find It
In the WordPress admin, open the Orbital menu and choose Reports. The page title is Task Reports.
The Reports page starts with summary cards for Open Tasks, Unapproved Tasks, and Overdue Tasks. Under View Detailed Reports, use Select Report: to choose a report, then select Generate Report.
Before You Start
- Administrators can access Reports.
- Other users need the View Reports permission, and they must be able to reach the Orbital admin menu.
- Task-data reports are filtered for non-admin users, so they show only tasks the viewer has permission to see.
- Admin-only diagnostic reports are only available to administrators.
- Deadline and timeline-related reports depend on task date fields being filled in.
- Permission, notification, approval, and custom-field reports depend on those features having data to report.
What You Can Do
| Report | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| Task Status Overview | How are tasks distributed by status, how many were created by month, and how long are tasks staying in review-style statuses? |
| Priority & Deadlines | Which visible tasks are overdue, due soon, missing due dates, or grouped by priority? |
| Team Workload | Who has assigned or inherited work, which tasks are open or completed, and which tasks have no assignee? |
| Approval Workflow | How are tasks distributed across approval statuses, and what approval activity has happened recently? |
| Category Breakdown | How are visible tasks distributed across task categories, including uncategorized and multi-category tasks? |
| Posts with Tasks | Which content items have attached tasks and subtasks? |
| Missing Dates Report | Which tasks are missing start dates, due dates, or both? |
| Permission Overrides | Which roles and users have permission grants or task-specific overrides? This is admin-only. |
| Permission Access Inspector | Why does a user or role have, or not have, task and field access? This is admin-only. |
| Orphaned Custom Fields | Is there saved custom field data for fields that no longer exist? This is admin-only and includes cleanup actions. |
| Notification Activity | Which notification events were queued, sent, failed, muted, skipped, or dropped? This is admin-only. |
Basic Workflow
- Open Orbital, then Reports.
- Review the Open Tasks, Unapproved Tasks, and Overdue Tasks summary cards.
- Choose a report from Select Report:.
- Select Generate Report.
- Use the report’s links, filters, or buttons to inspect the details that matter.
Important Controls And Settings
- Missing Dates Report includes a search field with the placeholder Search tasks by name, status, or author… and an Edit Task button beside listed tasks.
- Team Workload includes Show Unassigned Tasks when unassigned tasks exist. Selecting it loads the unassigned task list.
- Notification Activity includes From:, To:, Action:, All Actions, and Filter controls.
- Permission Access Inspector includes User, Role, Task ID, Detail Row Limit, and Inspect Access controls.
- Orphaned Custom Fields includes Delete for a single orphaned field and Clean Up All Orphaned Data for all orphaned rows shown in that report.
What Affects What You See
Administrators see report data across all tasks. Non-admin users with Reports access see a Filtered View: notice on task-data reports, and the report results are limited to tasks they have permission to view.
This means two users can open the same report and see different counts. A manager with access to all tasks may see more overdue tasks, category totals, workload rows, or related content than an assignee who can only view assigned work.
Custom field setup also affects reports. Priority, approval status, assignee, start date, due date, completed state, and custom option labels can change report headings, buckets, and totals.
Deeper Notes
Some large reports keep summary counts complete while limiting the number of detail rows shown on screen. When this happens, the report displays a notice so you know you are viewing a capped detail list.
Missing Dates Report is useful when timeline-related views feel incomplete. It lists tasks that are missing start dates, due dates, or both, and the report’s quick-fix instructions point users back to the task editor.
Notification Activity explains why an email may not have reached someone. It separates sent messages from queued, failed, muted, no permission, self-excluded, no email, global disabled, type disabled, and dropped activity.
Common Problems
- I cannot see Reports: ask an administrator to check that you have View Reports and that the Orbital admin menu is available to your account.
- A report is missing from Select Report:: administrator-only reports are hidden from non-admin users.
- My counts do not match another user’s counts: task-data reports are filtered by each viewer’s task permissions.
- A timeline task is missing: run Missing Dates Report and check whether the task is missing a start date or due date.
- Workload looks too high or low: check direct assignments, inherited subtasks, completed state, and whether your account can see all relevant tasks.
- A notification email did not send: an administrator can review Notification Activity for skipped, muted, failed, disabled, no permission, or no email statuses.
- Permission results are confusing: an administrator can use Permission Access Inspector with a user, role, and optional task ID to compare task visibility, field access, and expected behavior.
- Orphaned Custom Fields shows cleanup buttons: those actions remove stored data for deleted custom field definitions, so review the listed field keys before using Delete or Clean Up All Orphaned Data.