Portfolios

What a portfolio is

A portfolio is a named group of projects inside an organization. Every project is in exactly one portfolio. A portfolio has a name, an optional one-line description, and a position in the list on the overview.

No two portfolios in an organization can have the same name. The check is exact, and it is case-sensitive. “Platform” and “platform” are two different names, and the product accepts both. A deleted portfolio's name is free again at once.

Every organization starts with one portfolio, named Unsorted. This is the default portfolio. You can rename the default portfolio and move it in the list, but you cannot delete it.

The New project dialog shows a Portfolio field only when the organization has more than one portfolio. The field starts on the first portfolio in the list, which is the default portfolio only while it is first. With one portfolio, the product files every new project in it. See Projects.

The overview

NeedsView view

The overview is the first screen of an organization, headed Projects. At the top, people with Manage the organization see New portfolio, New project and, on the Free plan, a plan usage line. See Organizations and Roles and permissions.

Below that, the overview shows one section for each portfolio, in the order set with Move up and Move down. Each portfolio header shows the portfolio name and a count, such as 1 project or 3 projects. On the Pro plan, people with Manage the organization see the count against the cap, as in 3 of 10 projects. A full portfolio also shows the pill no more projects in this portfolio. The description follows when one is set.

Below the header, the section shows the project cards in alphabetical order by name. Each card shows the project key, the name, and the Product Goal when one is set. Click anywhere on a card to open the project. See Projects.

A portfolio has no screen of its own. The portfolio name is not a link, and the project cards are the only links in the section.

A portfolio with no projects shows one sentence in place of the cards. For a person who holds Manage the organization, it reads No projects here yet. Use New project to make the first one. For everybody else it reads No projects here yet. Creating one needs the Organization capability.

A member whose roles grant no View gets the not-found page instead of the overview. The product shows no message about permission and discloses nothing else.

On the Free plan, the page can end with an ad slot below the last portfolio. See Ads and cookie choices.

Create a portfolio

NeedsManage the organization org_manage

The New portfolio button sits at the top of the overview, beside New project. It is absent for people without Manage the organization.

The dialog has two fields. The Name label carries a star, which marks a field the product needs. The Description field shows the hint Optional. One line about what belongs here.

1. Click New portfolio.
2. Type a name in Name.
3. If you want a description, type one line in Description.
4. Click Create portfolio.

While the request runs, the button reads Creating…, and neither it nor Cancel accepts a click. Then the dialog closes, and the new portfolio appears at the end of the list with 0 projects. A new portfolio is never the default portfolio. The activity feed records the creation. See The activity feed.

The product refuses a new portfolio in four cases. It shows the message in the dialog and saves nothing.

• The name is empty or only spaces: A portfolio needs a name.
• The name is longer than 100 characters: Keep the name under 100 characters.
• The description is longer than 500 characters: Keep the description under 500 characters.
• Another portfolio in the organization has the same name. The message names it: A portfolio called "…" already exists.

The product trims spaces from both ends of the name and the description before it checks them. The product saves a blank description as no description.

If you lost the Manage the organization bundle after the page loaded, the dialog shows You do not have permission to perform this action. This is an error line above the fields, not the plan panel.

The plan caps

NeedsManage the organization org_manage

The Free plan includes 1 portfolio. The Unsorted portfolio fills it at signup, so on the Free plan the product refuses every new portfolio. The Pro plan includes 5 portfolios, the Unsorted portfolio among them. The Enterprise plan has no cap on portfolios. See Plans and billing.

When the plan refuses the new portfolio, the dialog shows no error. Its body changes to a plan panel in place of the form. The panel does not look like an error. On the Free plan it reads This plan includes 1 portfolio, and it is in use. On the Pro plan it reads This plan includes 5 portfolios, and all 5 are in use. Both then read Nothing you typed was lost — go back to keep it.

On the Pro plan, a portfolio also holds at most 10 projects. The product refuses the next project in a full portfolio, whether you create it there or move it there. On Pro, a deleted empty portfolio frees a place for a new one. See Projects.

The panel has a Back button and a See plans link. Back returns to the form with your name and description intact. See plans opens the billing screen.

The controls on a portfolio header

NeedsManage the organization org_manage

Each portfolio header on the overview carries up to four buttons: Move up, Move down, Edit and Delete. The buttons are absent for people without Manage the organization. While the request runs, the buttons do not accept a click.

Move up and Move down

One click moves the portfolio one place in the list. Move up is absent on the first portfolio, and Move down is absent on the last. A lone portfolio has neither. The default portfolio moves like any other.

1. Click Move up or Move down on the portfolio header.
2. Repeat until the order is correct.

Each click sends the complete new order, and the overview reloads in that order. The activity feed records the new order.

If somebody created or deleted a portfolio after your page loaded, the product refuses the move. It shows The order does not match the portfolios in this organization. Reload and try again. under the header. The page then reloads by itself.

Every other refusal leaves the page as it is. The message stays under the header, and the order on screen does not change. Reload the page yourself to see the current order.

The two buttons are the only way to change the order, and there is no drag and drop.

Edit

Edit opens a dialog titled Edit portfolio with the fields Name and Description. They are the same two fields as in New portfolio, with the same star and the same hint. The fields hold the portfolio's values from the moment the dialog opens. A rename by somebody else does not change what you type.

1. Click Edit on the portfolio header.
2. Change the name, the description, or both.
3. Click Save.

The product sends only what changed. If you changed nothing, Save closes the dialog and sends nothing. An empty Description clears the description. While the request runs, the button reads Saving…, and neither it nor Cancel accepts a click. Then the dialog closes, and the overview reloads with the new values. The activity feed records the change, with the previous name when the name changed.

If you close the dialog without Save, the product discards your edits. The next Edit opens with the portfolio's current values, not with what you typed.

The two limits from Create a portfolio also apply here: a name of 1 to 100 characters, and a description of at most 500 characters. The product refuses a name that another portfolio already has. The dialog shows A portfolio called "…" already exists. If somebody deleted the portfolio after your page loaded, the dialog shows Portfolio not found.

You can rename and describe the default portfolio like any other.

Delete

The product offers Delete only when the portfolio is not the default portfolio and holds no projects. Otherwise the button is absent, and the Edit portfolio dialog says why in a note under the fields:

• For the default portfolio: This is the default portfolio — where a project lands when no portfolio is chosen — and it cannot be deleted.
• For a portfolio with projects, the note gives the count: To delete this portfolio, move or delete its 3 projects first. With one project it reads To delete this portfolio, move or delete its project first.

The dialog shows one note only. The default portfolio always shows the first note, whatever number of projects it holds. The count is in the second note alone.

To empty a portfolio, move each project to another portfolio. The Portfolio section at the foot of the project screen holds the controls.

1. Open the project from the overview.
2. Go to the Portfolio section at the foot of the project screen.
3. Choose a portfolio in Move to.
4. Click Move.

The Move button accepts a click only after you choose a portfolio. Everybody who opens the project screen sees the Portfolio section, and it names the portfolio the project is in. The controls inside it need Manage the organization, and the section also holds Delete project. Without that bundle, Move to, Move and Delete project are absent. The section then reads Where this project is filed in the organization. Moving or deleting it needs the Organization capability. See Projects.

Once the portfolio holds no projects, Delete appears on its header.

1. Click Delete on the portfolio header.
2. Read the confirmation: Deletes “…”. Its name becomes free again.
3. To confirm, click Delete …. The button carries the portfolio's name.

The confirmation is not a dialog. It takes the place of the buttons on the portfolio header. Move up, Move down, Edit and Delete are absent until you confirm or click Keep.

Keep closes the confirmation and sends nothing. After you confirm, the portfolio leaves the overview, and its name is free for a new portfolio at once. The activity feed records the deletion.

When you confirm, the product counts the portfolio's projects again. If a project arrived in the portfolio after your page loaded, the product refuses the delete. It shows Move or delete this portfolio's … project(s) first. under the header. The page then reloads by itself.

Every other refusal leaves the page as it is. If somebody already deleted the portfolio, the message is Portfolio not found. The message stays under the header, and the confirmation closes. The portfolio and its buttons stay on the overview until you reload the page yourself.