Status

A status is a small colored label, such as Done or In progress, that sits in a line of text or a table cell. Readers see the state of something at a glance, before reading a word: what is finished, what is stuck, what has not started. Use statuses in project trackers, meeting notes, checklists and anywhere else things move from one state to the next.

Insert it

Type the command at the start of a line, or after a space, and press Enter. Or choose + on the toolbar, then Status. If you had text selected, the status takes its place.

Its menu opens under it, with the cursor in the label: replace STATUS with your own words, then choose a color.

Typing /status makes a status; type its label and choose a color.

The six colors, and when to use each

The label says what the state is; the color says how readers should feel about it. Agree in your team what each color means, and keep to it, so a page of statuses reads at a glance.

Not started Gray: nothing is happening. Not started yet, on hold, or not needed. For example: NOT STARTED, PAUSED, N/A.

In progress Blue: under way. Being worked on, or waiting for its next step. For example: IN PROGRESS, IN REVIEW, PLANNING.

At risk Yellow: needs attention. Still moving, but something could go wrong. For example: AT RISK, WAITING, NEEDS INFO.

Done Green: finished or going well. For example: DONE, APPROVED, ON TRACK.

Blocked Red: a problem. Stopped, late or failed, and someone has to act. For example: BLOCKED, OVERDUE, FAILED.

New Purple: out of the ordinary. Something the other colors do not cover, such as a label for a kind of thing rather than a state. For example: NEW, BETA, IDEA.

In a sentence or in a table

In a sentence

One status in a line of text says where one thing stands:

In a table

A column of statuses turns a table into a tracker, where the colors show at a glance how the whole piece of work is going:

A status can also go in a page’s Page properties, to give the page itself a state.

Changing and removing it

Click a status while you are editing and its menu opens under it:

• The label: up to 40 characters. It is always shown in capitals, however you type it.

• The six colors: Gray, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Choose one to change it.

Press Enter to go back to writing. To remove a status, click it and press Delete.

Good practice

• One or two words. A status is read at a glance; a sentence belongs in the text.

• Keep it current. A status does not change by itself, and an old green one is worse than none.

• Let the word carry the meaning. Some readers cannot tell the colors apart, so BLOCKED has to say it on its own.

Related elements

• Date goes beside a status for when something is due.

• Page properties gives the whole page a status that reports can collect.

• Task list tracks things to do with checkboxes.