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Pipelines: your process as columns

2 min read · By Stefan Köhn

A pipeline is your way of working, written down as a row of stages. The Board shows them as columns. A pipeline always belongs to one entity.

Stages are states, not tasks

A stage answers where a record stands, not what needs doing. New, Contacted, Quoted, Won, Lost are states. "Call them" is a task and belongs on the record, see Tasks.

How many stages

As many as you genuinely tell apart. Two columns nobody ever moves anything between are one too many. And a column where everything piles up is usually two: the intermediate step people already make in their heads is missing.

A stage in the pipeline view, with its order, colour and the switches for start and closing.
A stage in the pipeline view, with its order, colour and the switches for start and closing.

One entity, several pipelines

You can keep several pipelines for the same entity, for instance when two teams work differently. One of them is the default: whatever arrives without naming a pipeline lands there, in its start stage.

Deleting a stage asks first

If records are sitting in it, the application asks where they should go. The move runs without firing automations. Otherwise everyone affected would get a message because you tidied up a column.

Step by step

  1. Open Settings, Pipelines, New pipeline. Four stages come with it.
  2. Rename them, add more, and drag them into the order you actually work in.
  3. Mark one stage as the start and the end points as closing.
  4. Set description, sum and colour in the stage settings.

What happens to the records if I rename a stage?

Nothing. They stay where they are. The name is a label, not a value on the record.

Can I change the order afterwards?

Yes, by dragging. The order is the reading direction of the board and nothing else; it does not force a route through the stages.

Does every entity need a pipeline?

No. Without one you get the list but no board. For a stock with no process that is exactly right.

What is the default pipeline for?

When a record arrives through the API without naming a pipeline, it lands in the default one, in its start stage.

Can I copy a stage?

Yes. The copy carries the same settings and a name with "copy" added. Records do not come along.