Properties

Properties are a premium feature that allow you to automate your team's workflows within spaces, Google Drive, and your team's other favorite cloud apps.

You can also use properties to display key info in the space header or contextually autofill docs depending on the space the doc is being created within.

• How properties work
• Properties vs. property fields
• Use property fields in a space template
• Use property fields in a space
• Use property fields in a doc template
• Create a property
• Edit a property
• Specify a date format for date properties
• Share a property
• Delete a property
• Manage properties
• Manage team properties

How properties work

Property fields allow you to add additional custom data to your Workona spaces, space templates, and doc templates. You can create a property for Client, Customer Level, Project Start Date, or anything else that’s important to your workflow, team, and company.

If you've worked with custom fields in other applications like Asana, Airtable, Notion, or Salesforce, then Workona's property fields should be quite familiar to you. Although Workona currently only supports Text, Date, & Single-Select type fields, support for additional field types (Multi-Select, People, etc.) is planned.

Within spaces, property fields let you display useful or important info about a project or client right in the space header. Rather than adding the same property field (e.g. Client Name) to your spaces over and over, we recommend setting up a space template that contains the property fields.

Getting the most out of properties

The same property can be used across multiple spaces, space templates, and doc templates. In addition, the same property can be autofilled in a space or doc based on context, saving you setup time for similar projects. For example, you can use the same property in both a space template (for a repeating type of project, e.g. New Client Space, New Event Space, etc.) and a doc template (for a doc you regularly create for that type of project, e.g. New Client Kickoff Presentation, New Event Planning Doc, etc.).

If a doc template includes a property in its default doc name (e.g. default doc name = Kickoff Presentation - {{Client}}), then the property will be automatically set based on the space you're in. For example, let's imagine you're in a space for a client project you're working on, and that space has the Client property set to Acme Inc. If you create a new doc from your Kickoff Presentation doc template, then the doc name will be autofilled as Kickoff Presentation - Acme Inc. We call this feature contextual autofill.

Properties can even be replaced within the content of the generated Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Set up a doc template for docs your team frequently duplicates to give them a simple form they can use to easily spin up new copies of the doc — properly filled out every time. Say goodbye to have to click around in the document and fill each spot in manually. And since you can mark property fields as required, no team member will ever forget to fill something in again.

Properties vs. property fields

Properties are their own top-level object in Workona, which means the same property can be used across multiple spaces, space templates, and doc templates. When a property is used in a space, space template, or doc template, it's referred to as a property field (i.e. an instance of the property). Properties themselves are only a label (e.g. Client, Start Date), while property fields also contain a value (e.g. Client: Acme Inc, Start Date: 01/25/2023).

You can create properties for personal use, or share them with your team so they can use the properties in their spaces, space templates, and doc templates to help streamline their workflows. Your properties can be managed in the property manager. Your team’s properties can be managed from team property settings in the admin dashboard.

Use property fields in a space

If you'd like to keep key info about a project top of mind, adding a property field to the project's space is the perfect solution.

However, the real power of properties reveals itself within space templates, which allow you to define the key info you always want to see within spaces created from the template, as well as enable powerful features like space template automations & contextual autofill.

Use property fields in a space template

Properties play a critical role within space templates. Think of them as the properties of the projects that your spaces represent which can be used for a variety of purposes:

• Auto-create Google Drive Folders, Docs, Sheets, Slides, & more within each space
• Contextually autofill properties in the doc template creation form based on the space the doc is being created within
• Display key info in the header of spaces

For example:

• If it was a Customer space template, you could add some key info about the customer as properties (e.g. Customer Name, Subscription Level).
• Or, if it was an Event space template, you could add some key info about the event as properties (e.g. Venue, Event Date).

Use property fields in a doc template

Use properties within doc templates to keep docs names consistently & organized in the right place, or even to automatically replace content within the generated Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Create a property

Property fields are only useful once they are added to a space, space template, or doc template, so we recommend creating new properties you need directly in the space/template by following the appropriate instructions:

• Add property fields to a space
• Add property fields to a space template
• Add property fields to a doc template

However, it is possible to create properties that don't yet live in any spaces, space templates, or doc templates:

1. Open Workona.
2. Click Templates at the top of the sidebar. Alternatively, click the + at the top of the sidebar, then click Manage templates.
3. Click the Properties area within the template manager.
4. Click the + in the top right of the template manager to create a new property.
5. Fill out the fields described below.
6. Click the Create button.

However you decide to create the property, you'll need to specify the fields below:

• Property Label: The label of the property field (e.g. Client, Project Start Date, Point of Contact, etc.). This label will be the same across every location (space, space template, or doc template) where the property is used. This label can be easily updated later across all locations.

• Property Type: The type of property field.

  • Text field: A plain text field. Any text can be typed into the field.
  • Date field: A date field. A date picker can be used to specify date values in forms. You will need to specify a default date format for the field.
  • Single-select field: A field that allows the user to pick a single option from a list of options. You will need to designate the list of options for your single-select field. You can reorder or remove an option from the ⋮ that appears on the right side the option upon hover.
  • Multi-select field: This field type is planned, but not yet supported.
  • Person field: This field type is planned, but not yet supported.

• Shared With: The teams that the property is shared with. Team members will be able to use the team properties in the team spaces, team space templates, and team doc templates.

Edit a property

1. Open Workona.

2. Click Templates at the top of the sidebar. Alternatively, click the + at the top of the sidebar, then click Manage templates.

3. Click the Properties area within the template manager.

4. Click the Edit property button (pencil icon) that appears when hovering over a property.

5. Update the Property Label field as desired. Note that Property Type cannot currently be updated once a property has been created.

6. Save the changes using one of the following options:

   • If you click the Save Changes button, then the update — e.g. changing the name from Start Date to Project Start Date — will apply across all locations (spaces, space templates, & doc templates) where the property has been used. If the property has been used in any locations, a list of locations will be displayed prior to confirming the update.
   • If you click the Save as New button, then the update will not apply across all locations (spaces, space templates, & doc templates) where the property has been used, and a brand new property will be created instead.

Specify a date format for date properties

You can specify the date format that you would like a date property to display as using Workona's date formatting language. Date properties have a default date format, however this format can be overridden in the different locations a date property is used (e.g. property fields, contents of doc templates, etc.).

The date format for a property can be specified using the following simple date formatting language:

Type in a custom date format using YYYY, YY, MM, M, Month, Mth, DD, or D separated by one or more slashes (/), dashes (-), periods (.) commas (,), or spaces ().

Below are some examples of common date formats and the syntax you would use to achieve them.

Displayed format	Formatting language syntax
2025/01/01	YYYY/MM/DD
2025-01-01	YYYY-MM-DD
1/1/25	M/D/YY
01.01.2025	MM.DD.YYYY
January 1, 2025	Month D, YYYY
Jan 1, 2025	Mth D, YYYY
Jan. 1, 2025	Mth. D, YYYY

Specify date format in specific instances of date properties

When a date property is inserted into a field, a date format can be specified by appending : followed by the syntax to achieve your desired date format. For example, if we wanted a property called "Project Start Date" to have the format 1/1/2025, we would type:

• {{Project Start Date: D/M/YYYY}}

The date format can be specified in this manner anywhere that properties can be inserted, including default space name, default doc name, and the content of template docs.

Current Date property

Workona provides a special date property called "Current Date" that can be used within space templates and doc templates. When a space or doc template is created from the template, the current date will be inserted. For example:

• You might include the Current Date property at the beginning of the default doc name of your Meeting Agenda doc template:

  • {{Current Date: YYYY-MM-DD}} - Meeting Agenda - {{Client}}

• Then you might include a differently-formatted version of the Current Date property within the content of the template doc of Meeting Agenda:

  • This meeting was held on {{Current Date: Month D, YYYY}}

Share a property

Share properties with a team to allow team members to use the properties within the team spaces, team space templates, and team doc templates.

1. Open Workona.
2. Click Templates at the top of the sidebar. Alternatively, click the + at the top of the sidebar, then click Manage templates.
3. Click the Properties area within the template manager.
4. Click the Share property button (people icon) that appears when hovering over a property.
5. Select the team(s) you want to share the property with. If you don't have a team yet, click New team.

Delete a property

1. Open Workona.

2. Click Templates at the top of the sidebar. Alternatively, click the + at the top of the sidebar, then click Manage templates.

3. Click the Properties area within the template manager.

4. Click the Delete property button (trash icon) that appears when hovering over a property.

   • When you delete a property, it will be permanently removed from all locations (spaces, space templates, & doc templates) where the property has been used.

5. If the property has been used in any locations, a list of locations will be displayed. Review the list, then click Delete Everywhere to confirm.

Manage properties

If you're trying to manage the properties of a specific space, space template, or doc template, then follow the instructions below:

• Manage property fields within a space
• Manage property fields within a space template
• Manage property fields within a doc template

If you want to update or manage a property across all locations (spaces, space templates, & doc templates) where it's been used, then follow the instructions below:

1. Open Workona.

2. Click Templates at the top of the sidebar. Alternatively, click the + at the top of the sidebar, then click Manage templates.

3. Click the Properties area within the template manager.

4. You will see a list of all of the properties that you have created, as well as the team properties for any teams you're a member of.

5. To manage a property, hover over it and click the buttons that appear:

   • Edit property (pencil icon)
   • Share property (team icon)
   • Delete property (trash icon)

Manage team properties

1. Open Workona.

2. Click the Teams button at the top of the sidebar, or navigate to workona.com/admin.

3. Select the team you want to manage.

4. Select Templates in the team settings sidebar.

5. Select Properties in the sidebar, and the team’s properties will appear.

6. To manage a property, hover over it and click the buttons that appear:

   • Edit property (pencil icon)
   • Share property (team icon)
   • Delete property (trash icon)