Project Work Item Types Pro

Every work item in Plane has a type. When you enable Work Item Types, Plane creates two types for your project automatically: Task (the default) and Epic. Work Item Types let you go further by creating named types like Bug, Story, or Feature Request with the exact custom properties each type needs.

A Bug might need Version, Environment, and Steps to reproduce. A Content Request might need Channel, Reviewer, and Go-live date. A Feature Request might need Business value and Customer impact. Once you define a type, those properties appear automatically on every work item of that type.

INFO

On the Enterprise Grid, types are managed at the workspace level rather than at the project level. See Workspace Work Item Types for that configuration.

Create work item types

WARNING

Work Item Types cannot be disabled once turned on for a project. The feature itself is irreversible, though individual types can be disabled at any time.

Role: Project Admins

1. Click the … icon next to your project name on the sidebar and click Settings.
2. Select Work item Types in the settings panel. If Work Item Types haven't been enabled yet, you'll see the option to turn them on.
3. Click Enable. A confirmation prompt reminds you that this cannot be reversed. Confirm to proceed.
4. Two types appear in the list - the default Task type and an Epic type. You can now create additional types.
5. Click the Add Work item Type button to create a new work item type.
6. In the Create work item type modal, type name, and description, and choose a background color and an icon to represent the work item type. Click the Create work item type button.
7. Switch on the toggle button to allow users to select the work item type when creating work items and sub-work items.

Examples of work item types

• IT development teams
  Bug Improvement Epic Story

• IT support teams
  Incident Change Service request New feature

• Product management
  Product launches User research Feature development Market analysis

• Production units (automobile)
  Production planning, Material procurement, Quality control, Inventory management

• Design agencies
  Revision requests Design drafting Client presentation Quality assurance

Add custom properties

Role: Project Admins

You can add custom properties to all your work item types.

1. Under the work item type, click Add New Property to create custom fields.

   

2. Specify values for Title, Description and Property type of the new property.

3. Select the Mandatory property checkbox if it's a required field. Select the Active checkbox to make the property visible in work items.

4. Click Create to add the property to the work item type.

WARNING

Before you delete properties, switch off the Active toggle button to avoid data loss.

Property types

Here's a list of all the property types and attributes that Plane provides for creating custom fields:

Property type	Attributes	Notes
Text	Single line, Paragraph, Read-only	The Read-only attribute cannot be marked as mandatory. Enter text in the Read only data box for this option.
Number	Default value	An optional default value can be given to this property type.
Dropdown	Single select, Multi select, Add options	Specify the values for the dropdown under Add options.
Boolean	True/False	Default value is false. This attribute cannot be marked as mandatory.
Date	Date Format	Consistent date format across all properties.
Member picker	Single Select, Multi select	Displays a list of all project members. Members selected via a member picker property are automatically added as subscribers to the work item, so they receive notifications for updates, comments, and status changes.
Release picker	One or more releases	Multi select
URL		A URL field for linking to external resources.

Examples of custom properties

• Product launch
  Launch date Geography Budget Approval status Stakeholder

• Bug
  Affected version Resolved version Environment Steps to reproduce Approval status Customer impact

• Final design approval
  Final design files Approval checklist Client approval date Responsible person

Use work item types

Once the project Admin sets up the work item types any project member can use them when creating work items or sub-work items.

• In the Create new work item modal, the user can choose the desired work item type from the list at the top left corner. By default, the work item type Task is selected displaying both system-defined and custom properties.

• Changing the work item type will update the modal to display the relevant properties for that type.

• When a member picker property is filled in, the selected members are automatically subscribed to the work item. This means reviewers, stakeholders, or anyone added through a member picker stay informed without needing to be manually subscribed.

• The system ensures that all properties marked as mandatory are filled before creating the work item.

  

When viewing work items, the work item type is displayed with an icon near the title for easy identification. Any custom properties added will also appear in the list of properties, and changes to these values are tracked in the work item's activity trail.

Switch work item types

You can easily switch the work item's type at any time. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the work item you’d like to update.

2. Hover over to the right of the work item ID and click Switch work item type. Alternatively, you can click Edit from the work item's ellipsis (•••) menu to open the Update work item modal directly.

   

3. Choose the new work item type from the dropdown next to your project name.

4. Click Update to save your changes.

Bulk update work item types

You can change the work item types for several work items at once. Here’s how:

1. Switch to the Table layout in the Work Items page.
2. Select the work items you want to update. A bulk operations bar appears at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select the new type. An Update button appears.
4. Click Update.

Set the default work item type

The default work item type is pre-selected whenever someone creates a new work item. Initially this is set to the built-in Task type, but you can change it to any active work item type.

1. Navigate to Project Settings → Work item Types.
2. Click the … menu next to the work item type you want to make the default.
3. Select Set as default.

The selected type now shows a Default badge and is automatically pre-selected in the Create new work item modal. You can change the default at any time by repeating these steps for a different type.

Edit or delete work item types

To modify an existing work item type, click the … menu next to it and select Edit. You can update the name, description, icon, and background color.

To remove a work item type, click the … menu and select Delete. Existing work items of that type are not deleted — they retain the type until individually changed.

Disable work item types

Disabling a type hides it from the type selector when creating new work items. Existing work items of that type are not affected.

1. Go to Project Settings → Work item Types.
2. Find the type you want to pause.
3. Toggle off the Active switch next to it.

To re-enable, toggle it back on.

INFO

The default type cannot be disabled.