Importing Tasks and Stages

LaunchBay's Import functionality allows you to bring tasks and project stages from an existing template into an active project or another template—without starting from scratch.

This article will explain how importing works and how you can use it to selectively add tasks and stages to your projects and templates.

How Importing Works

Because there are various ways you can use the Import feature in LaunchBay, the best way to understand how this functionality works is through a real-world example:

Let's say you operate a marketing agency, and a client signs up to have you rebuild their website. To onboard the client, you create a new project using your "Website Redesign" template. Down the road, the client also signs up for an SEO package you offer. Using the Import functionality, you could bring in tasks and stages from a separate "SEO" template and add them directly to the client's existing project.

How to Import Stages

Importing a stage is the right move when you want to add a fully built-out stage—complete with its tasks and automations—from an existing template.

To import a stage into a blank project or template, click the "Add Stage" button in the center of the page and select "Import Stage" from the dropdown.

If stages already exist, the "Add Stage" button moves to the top right of the page. Click the dropdown arrow next to it and select "Import Stage."

In the modal that appears, select a template, then the stage you'd like to import. Click the blue "Import" button, and the stage will instantly be added to your project or template.

A stage will import in its original format and order, and with its existing automations

How to Import Tasks

If you want to add individual tasks to an existing stage rather than bringing in a full stage, use Import Task instead. Here's how this looks in practice:

Let's say you initially onboarded a client for a website design. Now they've added your SEO services. Rather than building a new stage from scratch, you can import specific tasks from your SEO template directly into an existing stage in the client's project.

To import tasks, navigate to the Tasks page of your project or template. Click the dropdown arrow on the blue "Add Stage" button in the top right corner and select "Import Task."

In the modal that appears, select a template, then the individual tasks you'd like to import. Click the blue "Import" button and the tasks will instantly be added to the project or template.

When importing tasks, your selection will come over along with the stage they belong to—but automations will not be imported. If you'd like to move an imported task into a different stage, use the drag handles to drag and drop it as needed.

Importing Tasks and Stages with Automations

You can import tasks and stages automatically with automations. Open a project or template, go to the Automations tab, and add an Import task or Import stage action.

Imported items land in a set position:

• Import task: Adds the task to the stage in your project with the same name as the stage it came from, after any tasks already there. It doesn’t create a duplicate stage.
• Import stage: Always adds a new stage at the end of the project, even if a stage with the same name already exists. It doesn’t merge with the existing one.

When an automation imports a task, you can set it to be active on import. When it imports a stage, you choose how the stage starts:

• Import without changing status: The stage arrives in draft so your team can review it before it goes live. This is the default.
• Set first task as active: The first task goes live right away, and the rest wait their turn. This works best for step-by-step stages where each task leads into the next.
• Activate all tasks: Every task goes live at once. This works best when tasks can be done in any order, like a batch of intake forms.

When an automation activates tasks from an imported stage, LaunchBay makes sure none go unassigned. If you use project roles, tasks are assigned by role as usual. If you don’t, activated portal tasks go to the first client added to the project, and activated private tasks go to the project owner. Tasks imported as draft aren’t assigned automatically unless you use project roles. Existing automations keep their current behavior until you change them. Learn more in Automations in LaunchBay.