Update work
The highlighted information on this page refers to functionality not yet generally available. It is available only in the Preview Sandbox environment.
- The new experience
- The legacy experience
- The new and the legacy experience
- Home
- Summary panel in lists
- Summary panel in timesheets
- Summary panel in the Workload Balancer
Considerations about updating work
-
You can add comments to most objects in Adobe Workfront in the Updates section. For more information about which objects display the Updates section, see Updates section overview.
-
You can add comments to Workfront objects from other applications that are integrated with Workfront or from the Workfront mobile app.
Not all applications that are integrated with Workfront can add comments to Workfront objects.
Not all features that are available in the Updates section of an object in Workfront are available in other applications, when accessing Workfront objects from the application. For example, Rich Text capabilities or making a comment private to someone’s Company might not be available when adding comments to a Workfront object from a third-party application.
-
You can communicate about progress on a Workfront object (project, task, or issue), as you comment on the object. Users who are assigned or subscribed to the object can receive a notification about your update. Anyone with View access to the object can view your update.
-
You can tag users to bring their attention to the update. Tagged users receive an in-app notification and an email about your update.
note tip TIP In the new commenting experience, comment owners are automatically tagged. For more information, see Tag others on updates. -
You can add a comment to an object that you can view, or you can log in as a Workfront or group administrator and add a comment on behalf of another user. For more information, see Log in as another user.
-
You can add an update to projects, tasks, and issues from the following areas of Workfront:
- From a Workfront object, in the Updates section
- From the Home area (for tasks and issues)
- From the Summary panel in a list of objects, a timesheet, or from the Workload Balancer (for tasks and issues)
The information on this page describes how you can comment on Workfront objects and how you update projects, tasks, and issues while adding comments to them.
For information about commenting on goals, see Manage goal comments in Adobe Workfront Goals. You must have an additional license to access Workfront Goals.
For information about commenting on cards in the Boards area, see Add an ad hoc card to a board.
Access requirements
You must have the following access to perform the steps in this article:
For more detail about the information in this table, see Access requirements in Workfront documentation.
Add an update to a work item
Adding an update to a work item differs depending on what version of the Updates section you use.
You can add updates to the following objects:
- Projects
- Tasks
- Issues
- Programs
- Portfolios
- Templates
- Template tasks
- Users
- Timesheets
- Teams
- Goals
- Cards in the Boards area
- Iterations
Add an update to a work item in the legacy Updates section
-
Go to the work item for which you want to provide an update (such as a project, task, or issue).
-
Click the Updates section.
-
(Conditional) If it is enabled, click the New commenting option in the upper-right corner of the Updates section to disable it and enable the legacy commenting experience.
-
Click Start a new update, then type your update.
-
(Optional) Use the options in the Rich Text toolbar to format your text, add emojis, links, or images to your update, to enhance your content. For more information, see the Use Rich Text in a Workfront update section in this article.
-
(Optional) Update any of the following information about the work item:
table 0-row-2 1-row-2 2-row-2 3-row-2 4-row-2 5-row-2 layout-auto html-authored no-header Notify Identify users who must be notified of the update. Users assigned or subscribed to the object automatically receive notification when an update is made.
For information about how to include others on an update, see Tag others on updates.
Commit Date In the date picker, select the date that you commit to complete the work item. For information about Commit Date, see Commit Date overview. Condition Select a new condition for the task or issue. For information about selecting a condition, see Update Condition for tasks and issues. Status Click the arrow beside the current status, then select the desired status from the drop-down menu. For information about setting a Status, see Update task status.
Updating the status of a work item does not automatically change the status of a project. Depending on how your project is set up, you might make updates to the project status separately. For more information on the various project update types, see Select the project Update Type.
NOTE
You cannot change the status of a work item while it is in a Pending Approval status.
Completion Bar (Only available on tasks) Indicate the percentage of work completed by sliding the progress bar to the desired percentage. You can also double-click the completion bar and enter the percent complete. Private to my company Disable this option to prevent users outside your company from having access to view this update.
NOTE
This option displays only when the user is associated with a Company.
This option is not available in all areas where you can add updates from. For example, this is not available in third-party applications where you can add updates from.
-
Click Update to add the update to the Workfront object.
note note NOTE A small pop-up window will appear for seven seconds after clicking Update, allowing you to undo the update and return to the editing pane before the update is posted. The update is posted if you dismiss the undo pop-up, wait for it to disappear, or navigate away from the page. If your Workfront administrator selects the “Never allow users to delete comments” setting in your access level, you cannot undo a comment. For more information, see Create and modify custom access levels. -
To reply to an update, see Reply to updates.
Add an update to a work item using the new commenting experience
-
Locate the object you want to update (project, task, or issue), then click its name to open the object’s page.
-
Click Updates in the left panel.
-
(Conditional) If the New commenting option is disabled, click to enable it.
This enables the new commenting experience. The Comments tab is selected by default.
-
Start entering a comment in the New comment box.
Example new comment box in the Preview environment:
Example new comment box in the Production environment:
note tip TIP Navigating away from the Updates section before you finish typing and submitting a comment keeps the comment on the page in draft mode even after you log off and log back on. Any images that are added to the comment are also saved in the draft. Drafts are saved for 7 days after which they are discarded and cannot be recovered. Drafted comments are only visible to the user entering them. -
(Optional) To undo or redo a change, use the following shortcut keys:
- CTRL + Z (⌘+z for Mac) to undo a change
- CTRL + Y (⌘+y for Mac) to redo a change
-
(Optional) In the Tag people or teams area, start typing the name or the email of a user, or a team that you would like to include in this comment, then select it when it displays in the list.
-
(Optional) Use the options in the Rich Text toolbar to format your text, add emojis, links, or images to your update, to enhance your content. For more information, see the Use Rich Text in a Workfront update section in this article.
note tip TIP If another user submits a comment to the same item you are updating, there is a red line with a “New” indicator to inform you of the newer comments. The indicator displays only after the comment was submitted on the item, and not when the comment is still composed. The “New” indicator displays only when both the user that entered a new update as well as the user who is currently entering an update are using the new commenting experience.
-
Click Submit to add the update to the Workfront object.
-
(Optional) To edit a comment, click the More menu
note important IMPORTANT You can edit your comment only within 15 minutes from submitting it. -
Edit the information in the comment, add or remove images or remove any of the tagged users. An “Edited” indicator is added to the left of the date stamp that displays when the comment was entered.
note tip TIP Comments from the current year do not display the year in the date stamp. Hovering over a timestamp displays the full date, including the year. 
note tip TIP - An email is generated to notify users of your update only when you submit the original update. No email is generated after you edited your update.
- The date stamp next to the comment is the date of the original comment, not the date of the last edit.
- When you add a comment on behalf of another user (when logging in as another user as a Workfront or group administrator), you cannot edit the comment if you are logged in as the other user. You can edit the comment only after you log out as the user and log back in as yourself.
-
(Optional) Click Reply or start typing a comment in the Add reply … area, to reply to an existing comment, then follow the steps 4-8 above. For information about replying to an update, see Reply to updates.
-
(Conditional and optional) If other users have added comments that display outside of the visible area in the Updates section while you were adding your comments, click View inside the blue new comments banner at the bottom of the screen to display these comments.
Additional comments display at the bottom of the screen.
note note NOTE The “new comments” indicator and “View” button display only when both the users that entered the new updates as well as the user currently looking at the Updates section are using the new commenting experience. -
(Optional) Click the Like icon
-
(Conditional and optional) If you included additional people in your comment, click the number of members included in the update to display a list of entities that the comment you entered is shared with.
note tip TIP The names of the first two tagged entities display next to their avatars. If more than two entities are tagged only the name of the first one and the number of additional entities display. -
(Optional) Click the System Activity tab to view updates logged by the system. When the object or any of its children are updated, Workfront generates a note about that update and displays it in the System Activity tab.
For more information, see Updates section overview.
note tip TIP You cannot add a comment to a system update. -
(Optional) Click theAlltab to view both user comments and system activity comments in one place. This is a view-only tab.
note tip TIP You cannot reply to comments or tag other users in existing comments in the All tab. To reply to a comment in the All tab, clickReply in Commentsto open the comment in the Comments tab.
Use Rich Text in a Workfront update use-rich-text-in-a-workfront-update
You can enhance your updates by using Rich Text, or adding various items to it, like emojis, links, or images.
-
Go to the Updates area of a Workfront object and start typing a comment.
-
(Optional) To add Rich Text formatting to your update, use any attributes on the Rich Text toolbar as you type.
table 0-row-4 1-row-4 2-row-4 3-row-4 4-row-4 5-row-4 6-row-4 7-row-4 Attribute Toolbar button Mac shortcut keys Windows shortcut keys Bold 
⌘+b Ctrl+B Italics 
⌘+i Ctrl+I Underline 
⌘+u Ctrl+U Hyperlink 
To open the Add links box: ⌘+K
To paste a link over the selected text: ⌘+VTo open the Add links box: Ctrl+K
To paste a link over the selected text: Ctrl+VBulleted List 
⌘+Shift+8 Ctrl+Shift+8 Numbered List 
⌘+Shift+7 Ctrl+Shift+7 Block Quote 
⌘+Shift+9 Ctrl+Shift+9
This is not available in the new commenting experience.To stop formatting text, deselect the attribute on the Rich Text toolbar.
note note NOTE - Formatting also displays in any email notification users receive containing your update.
- Rich Text formatting applied to an update in an email does not display on the update when viewed in the Updates tab.
- If your organization uses Workfront with Internet Explorer, any formatted text pasted into an update loses its Rich Text formatting and displays as plain text. You can reformat the text using the attributes on the Rich Text toolbar.
- Rich Text formatting is not available for updates made in the Timesheets area or for Note and Last Condition objects viewed in a report.
-
(Optional and conditional) If you want to include text from previous updates or from other sources and distinguish it from your own update, you can mark it as a Block Quote. Click the Block Quote icon
-
(Optional) Click the emoji icon
note note NOTE - Workfront does not replace punctuation emoticons such as :) with emojis.
- Emojis are not available for the Note and Last Condition objects viewed in a report.
- The emoji feature in Workfront utilizes Unicode characters and, as such, displays only on browsers and operating systems that support Unicode code points. Users on a platform, browser, or operating system version different from yours might not have access to the same emojis.
- An unsupported emoji is represented by a black or white box.
- Windows 7 supports only black and white emojis.
- Emojis that are applied to an update made via email do not display on the update when viewed in the Updates area.
-
(Optional) To add a URL link to additional information sources:
-
Click in your update where you want to insert a link.
-
On the Rich Text toolbar, click the Hyperlink icon
-
In the Create Link box that appears, under URL, type or paste the URL of the source to which you want to link.
-
Under Text to display, type or paste the link text.
-
Click Save.
-
-
(Optional) To attach an image to your update, do one of the following:
- Save the image on our computer, then drag and drop it in the New comment area.
- Copy a screenshot from your computer, then paste it in the comment. This is not available in the legacy commenting experience.
- Click the Add image icon
note note NOTE -
Your Workfront administrator must enable adding images in the Update Feeds Preferences section of the Workfront Interface area before you can see the Image or the Add attachment icons. For information, see Configure preferences for user updates.
-
The maximum image file size is 7 MB. Supported image file types are .jpg, .gif, and .png.
-
Images are accessible from the Updates section on an object and they are also available in the Documents area under the Main Menu.
-
You can paste the image by right-clicking in the new comment, or by pressing CTRL + V for Windows (or ⌘ + V for Mac) on your keyboard.
-
You can send an update with an image and no text.
-
When you delete a comment that contains an image, the following scenarios exist depending on which experience you choose:
-
In the legacy commenting experience, the image remains in the Documents area but is no longer visible in the Updates section.
-
In the new commenting experience, the image is removed from the Updates section as well as from the Documents area. The image is also deleted from the Documents area when you edit a comment and delete the image.
-
When someone deletes an image attached to a comment from the Documents area, it is also removed from the comment.
-
(Optional) To view an image in the existing update do one of the following:
- Click the Preview icon
- Click the Download icon
- Click the Preview icon
-
Click Submit to add your comment.
Search for an update
You can search for a comment or a reply in the Updates section of an object.
-
Go to the Updates section of an object.
-
Start typing a keyword in the Search box in the upper-right corner of the Comments tab.
note note NOTE You can search only for words that belong to the text of a comment or reply. You cannot search for names of users or teams tagged in an update. Example of searching in the Preview environment:
Example of searching in the Production environment:
The keyword you searched for is highlighted and the comments that contain it display at the top of the Updates section.
Workfront searches the entire update stream of the object, outside the comments that are visible on the screen.
-
Click the x icon in the search field to clear the search results and return to all comments.
Copy update information
There are several ways you can copy an update. After copying a link, you can share the link with others to direct them to the update.
Copying an update differs depending on which commenting experience you use.
Copy an update in the new commenting experience
For information about what features are available for the new commenting experience and for what objects, see New commenting experience.
You can copy information from an existing comment by doing one of the following:
Copy link
The Copy link option copies the comment or thread link to the clipboard so you can share the comment or the entire thread with other users.
-
Go to the update whose link you want to copy.
-
Click the More menu, then click Copy link.
-
Paste the link you copied in the previous step in an email or another application to share it with others. The shared link opens the comment you shared the link from.
note tip TIP When you share the link of a conversation on a child object from a higher-ranking object, the link opens the thread in the higher-ranking object’s Updates area. For example, if you copy the link of a task comment from the project’s Updates area, the comment opens the project page.
Copy body text
The Copy body text option copies the text from a specific update to the clipboard.
- Go to the update or reply you want to copy.
- Click the More menu, then click Copy body text.
Quote reply
The Quote reply option copies the original comment to a new reply as a block quote.
-
Go to the update or reply you want to copy.
-
Click the More menu, then click Quote reply.
A new comment box opens and the quoted reply is included in the new comment and marked as a block quote.
-
Continue adding your update and click Submit to add the comment.
Copy an update in the legacy commenting experience
-
note tip TIP When you copy and share the link of a conversation on a child object from a higher-ranking object, the link opens the thread in the child object’s Updates area. For example, if you copy the link of a task comment from the project’s Updates area, the comment opens the task page.
Copy the update copy-the-update
This option copies the text from a specific update to the clipboard.
-
Go to the update or reply you want to copy.
-
Click the More menu, then click Copy body text.
Copy the thread link copy-the-thread-link
This option copies the full thread link to the clipboard so you can share the thread with other users.
-
Go to the update thread you want to copy.
-
Click the More menu, then click Copy thread link.
-
Paste the link you copied in the previous step in an email or another application to share it with others. The shared link opens the comment you shared the link from.
Copy the update link copy-the-update-link
This option copies a specific update link to the clipboard. When you share the update link, the user who follows it sees a border around the update.
-
Go to the update or reply you want to copy.
-
Click the More menu next to the individual update, then click Copy update link.
-
Paste the link you copied in the previous step in an email or another application to share it with others. The shared link opens the comment you shared the link from.
Quote Reply
The Quote Reply option copies the original comment to a new reply as a block quote.
-
Go to the update or reply you want to copy.
-
Click the More menu, then click Quote Reply.
A new comment box opens and the quoted reply is included in the new comment and marked as a block quote.
-
Continue adding your update and click Reply to add the comment.
Delete an update or reply
Depending on the access your Workfront administrator gives you, you might be able to delete updates you added on the Updates tab of an object. For more information, see Create or modify custom access levels in the article Create or modify custom access levels.
No Workfront user (including the Workfront administrator) can delete updates made by another user. However, if a user’s access level allows them to delete their own updates, the Workfront administrator can log in as that user and delete updates they made. For more information, see Create or modify custom access levels and Log in as another user.
-
Go to the update or reply you want to delete.
-
Click the More menu next to the update or reply you wish to delete, then click Delete.
-
In the message that appears, click Delete.
note note NOTE Deleting an update with an attached image deletes both the comment and the image. For more information, see the Use Rich Text in a Workfront update section in this article. When the comment you delete has replies associated with it, there is an indication that the comment was removed with the name of the user who removed it.
Deleted comments are removed immediately from Workfront. A user using the Updates section sees a comment being deleted by another user in real time.