Guide
Work on a deliverable
Open a deliverable to set who owns it and when it is due, talk it through with your team, and keep its files in one place.
Before you start
- A project with at least one deliverable.
- To edit a deliverable you need the Manager or Admin role, or to be working on your own. Anyone on the team can join a discussion.
One deliverable: its details, its people, its conversation, and its files.
Set the details
Open the deliverable
From any view, click a deliverable to open its page.
Change the status
Use the Status menu in the header to move it along, for example from In Progress to Completed. The change saves right away.
Set the rest
Set the Priority (Low, Medium, High, or Urgent), Estimated Hours, and the Start Date and Due Date right on the deliverable, then click Save changes in the footer. This page is the full editor and every view opens it, so it is always there when you need it. For a small change you do not have to come here at all: the Table view lets you edit most fields straight from the row.
Edit straight from the table
Click a cell to edit it
Move the pointer across a row and each cell that can be edited draws a box around itself as you reach it. That is the tell: a cell that boxes edits in place, a cell that does not opens the deliverable, so you can see which is which before you click.
In the Table view, click a cell and it turns into an editor in place. Status, Priority, Start Date, Due Date, Estimated Hours and Description work this way, and so do your own text, number, date, dropdown, multi-select, person and checkbox fields.
Description opens a small text box with room to write. Assignees open the same people picker you use on the deliverable itself, in a small window with a Done button. Pick or type the new value and the row updates as soon as it saves.
Some cells open the deliverable instead
Every cell does one of two things: it edits, or it opens the deliverable. The ones that open it are the row number, the Title, computed fields, and image fields. Title stays a door on purpose, because your organization can build titles from a formula, so the name in that cell is assembled from other fields rather than typed into it.
The row number is the door to rely on. It is a button, pinned to the left of every row: click it, or Tab to it and press Enter or Space, and the deliverable opens. Every other door is a column you can hide, so when Title is hidden this one is still there.
Fill in a row without the mouse
Tab moves to the next editable cell in the row and Shift+Tab moves back, so you can work along a row from left to right. At the end of the row it wraps around to the first editable cell.
Save, cancel, or clear
Enter saves the cell. Esc cancels and leaves the old value in place. Clearing a cell and leaving it empty clears the value on the deliverable.
Assign teammates
Add an assignee
In the Assignees panel on the right, click Add, search for a teammate by name or email, and pick them. You can assign more than one person.
Remove an assignee
Click the x on an assignee to take them off the deliverable.
Assign from a list instead
You can also assign without opening the deliverable: in the Tree or Table view, use a deliverable’s Assign action to set its owners in place.
Discuss and attach
Start the discussion
Click Start Discussion to open a thread on the deliverable. Type a message and send it. Type @ to mention a teammate and pull them in.
Reply, edit, or delete
Reply to any message to keep a point together. You can edit or delete your own messages for a short window after posting; a deleted message leaves a small “This message was deleted” note.
Attach files
In the Files panel, drag files onto the drop zone or click to browse. Each file uploads to the deliverable, where anyone with access can download it.
Good to know
Files are archived, never hard-deleted. Archiving a file simply stops it being available to download; the work history stays intact.
Estimated Hours is a planning number. Compare it with the time your team logs against the deliverable to see how the estimate held up.
If you cannot see the Edit button, your role is view-only on that deliverable. You can still read it and join the discussion.
Editing from the table follows the same permissions as the deliverable itself. Whenever you cannot edit a deliverable, its cells stay plain: there is no editor to open, and clicking one opens the deliverable so you can read it.
Archiving a deliverable that has time logged against it asks first, and tells you how many hours are involved and how many of them are billable but not yet invoiced. The hours are never touched.
Archiving several deliverables at once asks the same question, with the figures added up across the whole selection and a note of how many of the selected deliverables carry time. That is the case worth reading, because a batch is exactly where an unbilled deliverable is easiest to forget.
Ready to see it on your own work?
WorkWiser is in early access. Tell us where to reach you and we will send an invite when it is your turn.