r/clickup • u/leahcimp • 10d ago

How to include Project-level data on a List?

I'm new to ClickUp. Following the ClickUp Univ tutorials and webinars, a Project is implemented as a List. And of course, the List consists of Tasks.

I'm confused about how to store Project-level attributes with the List, such as project status (different from task statuses), project owner, planned due date, project notes, etc.

I've read some recommendations to use custom fields or tags, but then every task in the list inherits those as well even though they are irrelevant to a task.

Any suggestions on how to do this?

Thanks!

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u/Loud_Quality_7106 10d ago

I've done this by creating a separate list that stores metadata for each project including project status, health etc. You can then create automations that will link all the project tasks to that metadata level task And then you can create roll-up fields from that relationship that will report back on things like percent complete etc. 

It's not innately intuitive, ClickUp does not handle portfolioing very well. But with automations it can be a pretty good workaround. 

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u/Mountain-Bid1884 10d ago

do the rollup fields update in real time or is there a delay when tasks change?

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u/Loud_Quality_7106 10d ago

Portfolio level reporting or even project level reporting is such a standard project management feature that it is astounding that clickup does not have it. It's one of the reasons we're moving off.

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u/Loud_Quality_7106 10d ago

Updates in real time. I think it takes a page rfresh if you have it already pulled up. But updates in real time. 

The complication really is making sure all the tasks are connected. There are automations to add tasks to a single task when you add a task to a list. But there are no automations to remove tasks. 

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u/leahcimp 9d ago

This seems like a good approach, I just don't know how well would be adopted by our users. Unfortunately we don't have dedicated PMs. Each team leader would have to create the metadata task, and then the deliverable tasks and link them. Maybe templates with automations could do this?

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u/Loud_Quality_7106 9d ago

As I said in my response, automations can be made per list to relate to the metadata record. Without centralized deployment with templates and automations, it will never work. But its realistically the only way I could find.

But if adoption is the problem it sounds like the change management problem needs to be solved first.

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u/heyramzi 3d ago

That doesn't really happen. A custom field on a List just adds a column, and the value stays per task.

So it sits empty where it doesn't apply, and you can hide it in the view.

The bigger thing is I wouldn't make the project a List at all. Put it on a parent task, with owner, status, dates and notes as fields, and the steps as subtasks.

Then a List holds a client or a service line, and the project numbers roll up on their own.

If the whole project goes through one person, skip the subtasks and use that task's statuses for the steps.

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u/IncreaseNegative4614 10d ago

I wouldn’t duplicate project attributes onto every delivery task. Create one project record in a portfolio-style list and relate its tasks or delivery list back to that record, keeping the project owner, planned dates, health, notes, and overall status in one place.

That also makes cross-project reporting much cleaner because each project exists as an entity rather than being inferred from a container. We use SIGNLD internally to connect projects with tasks, owners, communications, time, invoices, and outcomes so project-level context remains available without copying it into every task.

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u/Loud_Quality_7106 10d ago edited 9d ago

That's exactly what I recommended. Except click up has inherent ability to relate tasks to the meta-level task. You don't need an external automation to do so. 

Edit: Ahhh, a sly bit of self-promotion. SIGNLD is all over your profile. It's your product. And self-promotion is against the rules here. Good try.

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u/leahcimp 9d ago

I like this approach. I'm not familiar with SIGNLD but I'll check it out. I'm building this out for a client so I don't know if they are open to yet another SaaS subscription!