Create projects

Set up your first project where your team can organize work, track progress, and collaborate effectively.

In this tutorial, you'll:

• Navigate the Projects section and understand project visibility
• Create a project with proper configuration
• Enable essential features for your team's workflow
• Set up workflow states that match how your team works
• Add team members and organize work with labels

Explore the Projects section

Before creating your project, let's understand where all projects live in your workspace.

1. Look for Projects under the Workspace section in your sidebar.
2. You might see a few projects already there that other members may have created.
3. This is where all workspace projects are displayed.

Understand project visibility

• Public projects show for all workspace members with the Join option.
• Projects you're part ofdisplay directly in your sidebar under the Projects section.
• Private projects are only visible if you're specifically invited.

Create your project

Start building a space for your team's work and collaboration.

1. Begin the creation process

   • Click Projects in your workspace sidebar to view all projects.
   • Click Add Project button (top-right).
   • The project creation form opens.
   tip

   You can also create projects quickly using the + button next to the Projects section in your sidebar.

2. Configure basic project information

   

   • Project name: Enter something clear and recognizable. Choose names your team will instantly understand. Examples: "Website Redesign", "Mobile App v2.0", "Q4 Marketing Campaign"

   • Description: Add 1-2 sentences explaining the project's purpose.
     Example: "Complete redesign of company website focusing on improved user experience and modern design"

   • Project ID: Plane automatically suggests a Project ID based on your project name (like "WEB" for "Website Redesign"). This ID will prefix all your issues (WEB-1, WEB-2, etc.).You can customize it, but keep it short (3-5 characters).

   • Set project access: Keep Public selected for now. This allows all workspace Admins and Members to see and join the project. You can change this to Private later if needed.

3. Create the project

   • Click Create project to finish basic setup.
   • You’ll see a modal with all the features enabled for this project. Leave the defaults as they are and click Open project.
   • Your new project appears in the sidebar under the Projects section.

Configure project settings

Customize your project to match how your team works.

1. Access project settings

   • Click the three dots (...) next to your project name in the sidebar.
   • Select Settings.
   • You'll land on the General tab by default.

2. Customize project details

   • Project icon and cover: Choose an emoji and a header image for your project.

   • Project visibility (Network): Choose based on your team's collaboration needs.

     • Public: All workspace members can see and join the project.
     • Private: Only invited members can access the project.

   • Project timezone: Set the timezone for project scheduling and deadlines.

3. Save your changes

   • Click Update project to apply your modifications.
   • Your project now reflects the updated configuration.

Add team members to your project

Get the right people contributing to your project.

1. Access member management

   • In project settings, select Members in the left pane.
   • You'll see the Members section with current project members

2. Configure project lead

   • Project Lead - Select a project lead from the dropdown.
   • Default Assignee - Set a default assignee for new work items.
   • Guest access - Toggle ON to allow guests view access to all project work items.

3. Add team members

   • Click Add member.
   • Click Select co-worker to see all workspace members.
   • Add 2-3 key team members who will actively contribute.

Key team members are added and can access the project to start contributing.

Set up workflow states

Workflow states define how work moves through your team's process.

1. Access states configuration

   • In project settings, click States in the left pane.
   • You'll see default state groups already created

2. Understand state groups

   • Backlog: For ideas and future work
   • Unstarted: Ready to work on but not yet started
   • Started: Work currently in progress
   • Completed: Finished work
   • Cancelled: Work that won't be completed

3. Customize states for your workflow

   • Click on any state group to see individual states inside.
   • Use the + button to add new states.
   • Rename states to match your team's language.
   • Reorder states to reflect your actual process.

   Example workflows

   Simple development workflow:

   • Backlog: "Backlog"
   • Unstarted: "Ready", "Assigned"
   • Started: "In Progress", "In Review"
   • Completed: "Done"

   Design workflow:

   • Backlog: "Ideas"
   • Unstarted: "Scheduled", "Ready for Design"
   • Started: "Designing", "Review", "Revisions"
   • Completed: "Approved"

Don't overthink this - you can always adjust states later as your team's process evolves.

Create useful labels

Labels help categorize and organize your work.

1. Access labels configuration

   • In project settings, click Labels in the sidebar.
   • You'll see any existing labels (may be empty)

2. Create essential labels

   • Click Add label to create new labels.
   • Add a few labels that match your work types Examples: frontend, backend, database, API, design, documentation, testing, research

3. Customize label appearance

   • Choose colors for each label to make them easily distinguishable.

What's next?

Your project foundation is complete. You're ready to:

• Create your first work items to begin tracking tasks.