Rename, reorder or change the starting workflow status

Rename a status Nova provides, change the order statuses appear in, and choose which status new projects, tasks or work orders start in and which one Nova uses for each category.

In the sidebar, open Settings, then choose Workflow Statuses under Records & Fields, and pick the record type under Status family. The page address is /settings/org/managed-statuses/ followed by the family, for example project, task or work-order, so you can bookmark one family and come straight back to it.

Adding and archiving statuses is covered in Add or change a workflow status. This article covers the statuses you already have: renaming Nova's own, reordering them, and choosing where new records start.

Before you start

• Your role needs permission to create statuses (for Create override) and to update them (for Save). Without them the buttons are missing.
• Projects, tasks and work orders let you change everything below. Every other family (bookings, tickets, assets, inventory, checklists, feedback, alert incidents) only takes label, description, colour, icon and order changes; the page shows a note about that where Add status would be.

Steps

1. Under Active statuses by category, click a status to open its card.
2. If the card shows Create override, the status is one Nova provides and its fields are greyed out. Press Create override. Nova says Override created. and the card becomes your organization's own copy, with the same key.
3. To rename it, change Label, and Description if you like. The Key never changes, so records already in this status keep it and show the new name.
4. To move it, change Sort order. Within a category, statuses are listed from the lowest number up. Numbers with gaps (10, 20, 30) leave room for later.
5. Change Color (a hex code such as #2563eb) or Icon if you want.
6. Press Save. Nova says Status updated. and the card moves to its new place.
7. To change which status new records start in (projects, tasks and work orders only), open a status you added in the family's starting category: Draft for projects, Todo for tasks, Queued for work orders. Add one first if you have none; on Nova's own statuses the switch stays greyed out.
8. Turn on Default for new records.
9. Press Save. Nova moves the default: this card's summary now shows Default, and the old starting status loses it.
10. To choose the status Nova picks on its own when a record moves into a category (for example the status a project gets when it is archived), open a status you added in that category, turn on Primary for category and press Save. The previous primary status in that category loses its Primary marker.

What you see

• Each card's summary line lists its category, its key and markers such as Default, Primary, Required or Archived. Nova's own statuses end in System.

If something looks different

• Default for new records or Primary for category is greyed out: the status is one Nova requires, it is in a different category, or this family only allows label, colour, icon and order changes.
• An error under the card says the family must have exactly one default status: you turned the switch off without turning it on somewhere else. Turn it on for the status you want instead; Nova turns off the old one.
• Archiving your status fails: it is the one new records start in, or the primary one for its category. Make another status the default or primary first.
• You cannot move the starting status back to one of Nova's own: its switch is greyed out, so pick another status you added.

Open Workflow Statuses