> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.saphion.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Projects settings > Set the statuses a Project moves through, what a new Project must state, and where its number comes from. **Settings > Organisation > Projects** decides how your Organisation takes a Project in. You choose the stages a Project moves through, which facts a new Project must state before it can be created, and whether its number is typed, issued by Saphion or owned by another system. > [!NOTE] > > Organisation Admins only. ![Project statuses with their lifecycle choices.](https://mintcdn.com/saphion/F5a0XE-YKidXHEWP/images/admin/projects-settings-1.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=F5a0XE-YKidXHEWP\&q=85\&s=fca99b9a335d2cd6574ced7867b94e30) Project statuses ## Open Projects settings Choose **Settings** in the sidebar, then **Projects** under **Organisation**. The section opens on **Statuses**, then **Fields**, then **Project number** and **Actual start and finish** where your Organisation has those fields. The address `#settings/projects/statuses` opens straight to **Statuses**. The Projects page also links here from its title menu. ## Change the statuses A Project's **Status** is the stage it is in. Each status has a name, a colour and a lifecycle meaning that tells Saphion whether a Project in it is still open, complete or closed. New Organisations start with five statuses: | Status | Lifecycle | | - | - | | **Planning** | Open | | **Active** | Open | | **Closing** | Open | | **Complete** | Complete | | **Cancelled** | Cancelled | **1. Add a status** In the **Add status** row, type a **Status name**, choose its lifecycle and choose **Add status**. Saphion picks a colour for it. **2. Choose its lifecycle** Use the select beside the status. The choices are in the table in How it works. Saphion refuses to change what a status means while Projects are in it. **3. Rename, recolour or reorder it** Open the **⋯** menu on a status. **Rename** edits the name in place, **Colour** offers the colour palette, and **Move up** and **Move down** change the order the statuses are listed in. **4. Delete one you no longer use** Choose **Delete** from the same menu. Projects in that status must be moved to another first, and Saphion refuses the delete while any are in it. A rename changes no stored value, so Projects keep their status. Everyone can read the list. Only an Admin changes it. ## Choose what a new Project must state The **Fields** table lists every fact a Project can state, with its type and two ticks. **1. Find the field** The first row is **Name**, which every Project must have. It is always in the form and always required. Below it come the Project's own facts, such as **Description**, **Client**, **Value**, **Project lead**, **Status**, **Location** and **Target date**, followed by any other Project fields your Organisation has. **2. Tick In create form** The field is then asked for in the form that creates a Project. **3. Tick Required** A Project cannot be created until it states that fact. A required field is also in the form. **4. Choose Save** The **Save** button is at the foot of the section. **Description**, **Project lead** and **Target date** are always offered in the form, so their **In create form** tick is fixed. A new Organisation asks for nothing beyond the name. What a company insists on is its own configuration. When someone leaves a required fact out, Saphion refuses the Project with a sentence such as "Give the Project its Client and Value to create it: your Organisation asks for them at creation." A **Value** of zero counts as not stated. ![Project fields with create form and required options.](https://mintcdn.com/saphion/F5a0XE-YKidXHEWP/images/admin/projects-settings-2.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=F5a0XE-YKidXHEWP\&q=85\&s=7b8852e98bc77cbec8bedbde42b75ea4) Project fields ### Open a field to set its default Select a row to open a panel beside the table. * **Enabled** turns the field on or off. A disabled field is not offered when a Project is created, and Saphion refuses a value submitted for it. **Description**, **Project lead**, **Target date** and **Status** are part of every Project and have no switch. A required field cannot be disabled. * **Default** is what a new Project starts with. It applies when the field is enabled and nobody states a value. * **Edit field** changes the field's name, type, choices and who can see it. The Project's own facts, such as **Client**, are part of every Project and have only the two ticks. A fact a connected system owns is marked **Managed by its connected owner**. Its ticks are unavailable, because nobody creating a Project can state it. ### Add a Project field Choose **Add field** at the top right of the table. Project fields hold one value on the Project: text, a number (including money, percent, rating and duration), a status, a date or a link. An Organisation can define up to 40 Project fields. A field is never required by its definition. Tick **Required** to ask for it at creation. ## Choose where Project numbers come from The **Project number** section appears when your Organisation has the Project number field. Choose a source under **Comes from**: | Source | What happens | | - | - | | **Typed by a person (unique)** | Someone types the number. It must be unique in the Organisation, and a duplicate is refused. | | **Issued by Saphion (prefix and next number)** | Saphion issues the number when the Project is created, for example PRJ-0001, then PRJ-0002. Nobody types or edits one. | | **Owned by a connector** | A connected system owns the number, as an accounts system owns a job number. It is never typed or overwritten in Saphion. | **Prefix, digits and connector** For an issued number, set a **Prefix** of up to 20 letters, digits and `.` `_` `/` `-` characters, such as `PRJ-`, and **Digits** from 1 to 9. The note under Digits shows the first number, for example PRJ-0001. The counter only rises, so a number is never issued twice. For a connected number, enter the **Connector** (the system's name). A number that Saphion issues or a system owns cannot be required of a new Project, because nobody states it. ## Name a system that owns the actual dates The **Actual start and finish** section appears when your Organisation has those fields. A person normally confirms them, and a change of status only suggests the day. To give one to a connected system, enter its name in **Actual start comes from** or **Actual finish comes from**. The date is then read-only in Saphion and shows **Managed by** that system. Leave the box blank for manual entry. ## How it works * **The rules apply to every way of making a Project:** the Projects page, Beacon, a product's own creation and an import. ### Lifecycle meanings Every status carries one of five lifecycle meanings, and the meaning decides whether a Project in it is still open to work. The five statuses a new Organisation starts with are shown against them. When you change a status, Saphion applies these rules: | Lifecycle | Meaning | | - | - | | **Prospective** | Work not yet taken on. It is open to change but off the working list. | | **Open** | A working Project. | | **Complete** | Finished. The Project is closed. | | **Not won** | Lost before it began. The Project is closed. | | **Cancelled** | Ended without finishing. The Project is closed. | Names, colours and order are yours. The five lifecycle meanings are Saphion's, so every Organisation's statuses behave the same way. At least one status must be **Open**, or no Project could be worked on. Two statuses cannot share a name. ### What is enforced where Every way of making a Project asks the same question: the Projects page, Beacon, a product that creates Projects, and an import. A Project that lacks a required fact is refused at all of them, in the same words. * Your changes are saved against the version you opened. If another Admin saved first, Saphion tells you instead of overwriting theirs. * Changes to these settings are recorded in [Audit](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/admin/audit.md). ## Ask Beacon Beacon can read your statuses and what a new Project must state, but it never changes them. An Admin does that here. * "What does a new Project need before I can create it?" * "Which statuses can a Project have in our Organisation?" ## FAQ > **Why can't I tick Required for a field?** > > The field may be switched off, owned by a connected system, or its number may be issued by Saphion. A field must be enabled to be required, and nobody can state a value that a system owns. > **Saphion will not change a status's lifecycle.** > > Projects are in it. Saphion says how many and asks you to move them to another status first, because the lifecycle decides whether a Project counts as open or closed. Deleting a status has the same rule. > **Can I change how existing Projects are numbered?** > > Changing the source affects the Projects created afterwards. Numbers already on Projects stay as they are. ## Related * [Projects](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/work/projects.md): Create and run a Project. * [Teams and Permissions](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/admin/teams-and-permissions.md): The Create projects power. * [Audit](https://docs.saphion.co.uk/admin/audit.md): Who changed these settings. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.