Project Stages

Project stages break a project into dated checkpoints — discovery, design, development, launch, or whatever phases your work actually has. Each one carries a name and a due date, and Atarim shows how close it is at a glance.

The point is not scheduling for its own sake. It is that a client looking at a project can see where it has got to without emailing to ask, and your team can see what is about to slip before it does.

Stages are not statuses

This is the distinction worth getting straight before you start, because the two are easy to confuse and do completely different jobs.

A project can have every task complete and still be mid-stage, or be approaching a deadline with plenty of tasks open. They answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Who can set stages

Stages sit behind two gates, so check both if the option is not where you expect.

1. They are a paid feature. On plans that do not include them, selecting the option opens an upgrade panel headed Project Stages, describing them as a way to keep your team and stakeholders aligned so no deadlines are missed.
2. They are also permission-gated. If your role does not carry the set-stages permission, the option will not appear in the project’s menu at all.

Opening the stages panel

Stages are set per project, from the project’s own actions menu on the Projects screen.

Instructions:

1. Go to Projects and find the project you want.
2. Open its Project Actions menu.
3. Select Set Project Stages. A panel opens headed Milestones for followed by the project name, with a help icon beside it.

Adding a stage

The panel opens with a Create a new Milestone form at the top. It takes two pieces of information.

Due dates can only be set in the future, so a stage is always something still to come rather than a record of what happened.

Instructions:

1. Enter a Milestone Title. Name it after the outcome rather than the work — “Design sign-off” reads better to a client than “Phase 2”.
2. Choose a Due Date. The picker only allows dates in the future, so a stage cannot be created already overdue.
3. Select Create. The stage appears under Active Milestones with a colored badge showing how far away it is.
4. Repeat for each stage in the project.

Reading the badges

Each stage carries a badge that changes colour as its date approaches, so a glance tells you where a project stands without reading any dates.

Updating and completing stages

Existing stages are listed under Active Milestones, each with its own controls. Changes apply to that stage only.

Edits happen in place and nothing changes until you save, so you can back out of a change part-way through.

Instructions:

1. Find the stage under Active Milestones.
2. Open More actions and select Edit Milestone. The title and date become editable, and the controls change to Save changes and Cancel editing.
3. Select Save changes to apply, or Cancel editing to discard.
4. When a stage is finished, select the clock icon, Mark milestone as complete. Its badge turns green, and the project reads as having cleared that checkpoint.
5. To remove a stage entirely, open More actions and select Delete Milestone. The stage is removed immediately — there is no confirmation step.

Where stages show up

Once set, stages are not confined to the panel you created them in. They surface in five places, which is what makes them worth maintaining.

Stages in Collaborate

This is the one that matters for clients. While viewing a site in Collaborate, a control in the bottom bar shows the project’s stages without anyone leaving the page they are reviewing.

Instructions:

1. Open the project in Collaborate.
2. Select the stages control in the bottom bar. Its tooltip reads Track project stages and deadlines.
3. Read the panel, headed Project Stages and Deadlines. Outstanding stages appear under Active Stage with their badge and time remaining. Finished ones appear under Completed Stages with a Complete badge and their due date struck through.

Time remaining is written plainly — as remaining while a stage is still ahead, and as overdue once its date has passed — using whichever unit fits, from seconds up to days.

Analytics and workflows are covered separately. Explore Analytics And Metrics, or Learn More About Workflow Automation.

Known limitations

Where stages stop:

1. Stages are per project. There is no shared template to apply the same set across several projects at once.
2. Due dates must be in the future when created, so past milestones cannot be backfilled.
3. Stages are a paid feature and permission-gated on top of that.
4. Stages do not change task statuses. Completing a stage does not close its tasks, and closing tasks does not complete a stage.
5. There is no dependency between stages. Each stands alone; completing one does not affect another.
6. The reminder schedule is fixed. Assignees are emailed 14, 7, 3 and 1 days before the due date and 1, 3 and 7 days after — the intervals cannot be changed or switched off.
7. Tasks cannot be attached to a stage. Stages track the schedule, not the work items.
8. Deleting a stage is immediate and has no confirmation step.

FAQs

Common issues

• Set Project Stages is missing from the menu. Your role does not include it. It isn't set in Settings → Workspace Permissions, so ask an administrator about your role.
• Selecting it opens an upgrade panel. Stages are not included on your plan. The panel names the minimum plan required.
• You cannot choose a past date. Expected — the picker only allows future dates. Create the stage with a future date, or leave it out.
• A badge is red. The due date has passed and the stage is not complete. Either mark it complete or move the date.
• A stage badge is not on the project card. Only active stages appear there. A completed stage will not show.
• A client cannot see the stages in Collaborate. The control needs a signed-in account that isn’t a guest or collaborator, and at least one stage on the project. It’s also hidden on small screens.
• Your edit did not stick. Editing needs Save changes to apply. Navigating away or selecting Cancel editing discards it.

Conclusion

Stages work best kept few and honest. Three to five dated checkpoints per project, moved openly when they need moving, tell a client more than any status report — and the colour on the badge means nobody has to ask how it is going.

Stages sit alongside the rest of a project’s configuration, which is covered separately.

Learn More About Setting Up And Customizing Projects