Sharing and comments
Projects can be shared with other people who have an account on the same OpenTodo server: your partner for the house move, your team for a launch. Everyone sees the same tasks, edits sync to everyone within seconds, and each task has a comment thread.
On this page
Share a project#
- Open the project and select Share at the top (or press Shift+S).
- Type the person's email address.
- Pick a role and select Share.
The project appears on their devices the next time they sync, with all its tasks. Shared projects have a small people icon in the sidebar.
Adding by email works only for people who already have an account on your server. For anyone else, send an invite link (next section).
Invite with a link#
An invite link adds one person to the project, whether or not they have an account yet.
- Open Share and select Create a link… under Invite with a link.
- Pick the role they get. Owners can also invite admins; admins can invite viewers and editors.
- Optionally enter their email: then only an account with that address can use the link.
- Choose how long it stays valid (1 hour to 30 days, 7 days by default) and select Create link.
- Select Copy link and send it however you like. OpenTodo never sends it for you.
The link is shown only once and works once. The dialog lists the links that are still waiting, with their role, email, expiry and who created them; Revoke stops one from working. Creating and revoking links need a connection.
When the person opens the link they see who invited them, the project and the role:
- Already have an account? They select Sign in to join, sign in (with single sign-on too), and select Join project. Someone who is signed in already just selects Join project.
- New to the server? They select Create an account, choose a name and password, and land in the project. This option appears only when the link is allowed to create accounts (see below). Otherwise the page tells them to get an account on the server first, then come back and sign in.
A link stops working when it expires, is revoked or has been used, when the project is deleted, or when the person who created it is no longer the project's owner or an admin. Someone who is already a member is told so, and the link stays unused for whoever it was meant for.
Who can bring new people#
New accounts are created through a project link only when one of these is true:
- the link was created by the owner or an admin of the server;
- open sign-up is on for the server;
- the server owner switched on Members can invite new people with project links in Settings → Administration. It is off by default.
When none applies, the Share dialog says so under the new link: it then works only for people who already have an account. The switch is checked when a link is used, so turning it on or off also affects links that were already sent.
Choose a role#
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| viewer | see the project and its tasks, and comment |
| editor | also add, edit, complete and delete tasks, and assign them |
| admin | also rename, recolor and archive the project, and manage members |
| owner | everything, including deleting the project and handing it over |
Every project has exactly one owner. To change someone's role, open Share and pick a new one next to their name. Remove takes them out of the project.
For viewers, the project is read-only: the add box and edit controls are switched off, with a note saying so.
Invite someone new#
Sign-up on an OpenTodo server is closed by default. The quickest way to bring someone into one project is an invite link. To invite someone to the server without a project, if you're the owner or an admin of the server, go to Settings → Administration → Members, optionally enter their email, choose how long the link stays valid, and select Create invitation. Copy the link and send it to them however you like; OpenTodo doesn't send emails. The link works once.
If you're not an admin of the server and your invite link can't create accounts, ask whoever runs it to invite the person, or to switch on Members can invite new people with project links. Once they've joined, you can share projects with them yourself.
Leave or hand over a project#
- Leave: in the Share dialog, select Leave next to your own name. The project disappears from your devices; everyone else keeps it.
- Make owner: the owner can hand the project to another member. The previous owner becomes an admin. Owners can't leave until they've done this.
When someone leaves or is removed, tasks assigned to them become unassigned.
Assign tasks#
In a shared project, each task can be assigned to one member. Open the task and choose someone under Assignee, or select the task and press Shift+A, type a name and press Enter. The assignee's avatar shows on the row, and they get a notification.
Assigned to me in the sidebar (g a) lists every open task assigned to you, across projects.
Comment on a task#
Open a task and scroll to Comments, or press Shift+C with the task open. Write your comment and post it with Comment or Ctrl+Enter (⌘+Enter on a Mac).
- Mention someone by typing
@and picking their name. They get a notification. - Reply to a comment to keep a conversation together. Replies are nested under it.
- Edit or Delete your own comments. Edited comments are marked as edited. Project admins and the owner can delete any comment.
- Comments support simple formatting:
**bold**,*italic*,`code`, lists, quotes and links.
Everyone who can see a task can comment on it, viewers included. Rows with comments show a speech bubble and a count. Comments work offline too and are sent when you're back online.
The same thread shows the task's activity: who created it, completed it or changed its date.
See what others changed#
Activity in the sidebar (g h) lists the latest changes in all your shared projects, newest first and grouped by day. Each shared project shows a count of unread changes next to its name, and opening the feed marks them as seen. Filter by project, person or kind of change (completed, created, commented, assigned, rescheduled).
Inside a project, Activity at the top (Shift+H) shows the changes for that project only.
Things to know#
- Labels and reminders stay personal. Labels you add to a shared task are only visible to you, and so are your reminders.
- Moving a task out of a shared project to your own project or Inbox makes a copy there and removes the original from the shared project for everyone.
- Deleting a shared project is something only the owner can do. It disappears for every member, and its open tasks are copied into the owner's Inbox.
- End-to-end encryption and sharing don't mix. Shared projects are never encrypted, and an account with encryption turned on can't share new projects.