Managing Projects in Copper

Managing Projects in Copper

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Written by Success at Copper
Updated over a week ago
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Important: New customers as of February 2023 do not have access to this feature. Click here to learn about how to use Pipelines for Project Management.❗

Our built-in Projects tool enables you to manage projects without leaving your CRM. We've paired the power of our collaboration tools with customizable task boards.

In this article, we will cover:

About Projects

Copper Projects is our built-in project management tool designed to help your team collaborate on projects and deliverables. It is available to all users.

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Each project contains two views:

  1. The Task Board, which displays and sorts tasks into sections for easy management.

  2. The Overview, which stores project information such as the description, owner, related companies or people, files, and any other information your team adds.

Together, the task board and overview give your team full visibility on how a project is progressing.

Your Project List

To access your project list, open the Copper web app and select the briefcase icon on the left hand navigation bar. Here you can see existing projects, add a new one, or filter and sort them.

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Click on a project name to open its task board. Or, click on a project’s briefcase icon to open its details panel, where you can edit information such as the project status or owner.

Creating a New Project

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To create a project, go to your project list and click “Add New.” Fill in the project name, along with any of the information fields below it such as the project owner. Note, you can assign a project to either an individual or a team, depending on your team settings.

Click “Save” and the new project will be added to your project list. Open a project's Task Board by clicking on its name in the project list.

Creating a New Template

Project template allow you to create preset task boards and tasks to use for new projects. To create one, click the "Add New Template" button on from your project list.

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From there, you'll enter the name and basic details of your template. Copper will open up task board, where you can customize your task sections and populate tasks. We'll discuss how to do this in our next two sections.

If later on you need to edit your template, it will be available in the project list with a "Template" label.

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Once your template is complete, you'll see an option to use it under the "Template" dropdown when you create a new project.

Alternatively, you can create a project directly from an opportunity in a pipeline. When you mark an opportunity as Won, you'll see a prompt that allows you to create a corresponding project from a template:

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The resulting project will pull information from the opportunity, including the company, owner, description, and the activity log.

Now that we know how to create projects and templates, let's take a closer look at task boards.

Project Task Board

The task board is a convenient and collaborative way to track your project’s to-dos. To open it from your project list, click on the project’s name.

By default, project tasks are sectioned by “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done,” but you can add or edit sections to match a project’s workflow. For example, some teams may need a section for “Approved” or “On Hold.”

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To add a section to the task board, click the "+Add Section" button on the right side.

To rename a section, click the [...] in the top right corner of a section and select "Rename Section."

To delete a section, click the [...] in the top right corner of a section and select "Delete Section."

For a more in-depth guide on customizing your task board, click here.

Manage tasks by moving them up and down or between sections. For example, if you’ve completed a task, drag it from the “In Progress” section to the “Done” section.

By default, tasks in the Done section will be marked as complete to streamline your workflow. You can disable this feature or enable it in a different column by customizing your task board.

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Adding a New Task

To add a new task, click the “+” at the top of a task board section and enter the task name. By default, the task is assigned to the user who created it, but you can change the task owner or other information by clicking on and opening the task details panel.

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Viewing Task Details

Each task card shows basic information such as the task name, the priority level (low, medium, or high), the due date, and task owner’s profile picture.

Click on a task to open its details panel, where you can view or edit information, access the activity feed, or attach files from your computer, Google Drive, or Dropbox.

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Marking a Task as Done

To mark a task as Done, open the task detail panel and click the “Mark Done” button at the top right corner. Clicking the same button again will change it back to Incomplete.

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You can also customize your task board to automatically mark any tasks in a certain section as Done.

Sorting and Filtering Tasks

Use the Sort and Filter to narrow-in on the tasks you need to look at. Click on the Sort or Filter button in the top right corner to select your sort or filter settings.

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Sorting rearranges the tasks by priority or due date.

Filtering displays only tasks that fit certain criteria, including:

  • Task ownership: show all tasks, or only tasks owned by you

  • Task status: show only Incomplete or Done tasks

  • Due date: show only tasks that are overdue, that are due this week, or that are due next week

Project Overview

The project overview page give you easy access to your project details, activities, and related records or files. Switch to the project overview from the task board by clicking the “Overview” button just below the project title.

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Similar to other records in Copper, the project overview page has three sections:

  1. The Details Panel on the left, which displays information such as the project name, owner, status, and any custom fields you have added.

  2. The Activity Feed in the center, where your team can view or add activities, notes, emails, or events associated with the project.

  3. The Related section on the right, where your team can view or add relevant people, companies, tasks, files, and opportunities.


Combined with the task board, the project overview gives your team visibility full visibility on project’s progression.

Ready to Use Projects?

Get started by clicking on the briefcase icon in the left navigation bar in the Copper web app. Or, learn more about use cases you can build out using the Task Board.

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