Spaces and phase templates

A space is the top of your hierarchy, and it carries a phase template — the set of stages every project created inside it begins with. Getting the template right once saves every project manager from rebuilding the same structure by hand.

Creating a space

1. 1Go to Spaces → New Space, or use the link on the dashboard if your workspace is empty.
2. 2Give it a name that matches how your organization actually talks — “Payments Platform”, not “PP-2026”.
3. 3Save. The space is created with seven default phases already in place.

The seven defaults are Discovery, Development, QA / Testing, Go-to-Market, Pilot, Beta and General Availability. They suit a product-delivery shape. If your work does not look like that, change them — the defaults are a starting point, not a recommendation.

Editing the template

Open Admin → Setup & Data → Forms & Templates, find the space, and choose Edit Phases. You can add, rename, reorder and recolour phases.

General Availability is special

A phase named “General Availability” is treated as a landmark: a single date rather than a span, with no tasks inside it. It marks the moment something ships rather than a period of work. If you rename it, it becomes an ordinary phase.

How phase dates work

Once a phase contains tasks, its dates derive automatically from the earliest task start and the latest task due date, and show as “(auto)”. You only set dates by hand on phases that have no tasks yet. This keeps the plan honest: a phase cannot claim to end before the work inside it does.

How many spaces?

Most organizations want one per department or business area, and fewer than you expect. Spaces are a reporting boundary, not a filing system — if nobody ever asks “how is X doing?” as a whole, X is probably a program rather than a space.