Getting Started with The One Projects
This guide walks you through navigating to Projects, understanding the key concepts, and creating your first project end-to-end.
Navigating to Projects
- Log in to The One Hub at
app.theonestack.com - In the Hub Bar at the top of the screen, click Projects — or navigate directly to
app.theoneprojects.app - Hub SSO signs you in automatically using your Hub credentials. No separate login is required.
If you see a login screen instead of your dashboard, your Hub session may have expired. Return to Hub and log in again, then relaunch Projects from the Hub Bar.
Initial Setup Checklist
Before you create your first project, complete this checklist in Admin Settings:
- Choose your industry engine — Go to Admin → Settings and select the engine that matches your business (MSP, agency, legal, etc.). This sets the default terminology and workflow stages across your entire org.
- Configure engine terminology — Go to Admin → Engines to customize labels, stages, and task types for your chosen engine.
- Set your project number prefix — In Admin → Settings, set the prefix used for auto-generated project numbers (e.g.,
PRJ,CLT,MTR). - Add your branding — Upload your logo and set your primary color in Admin → Settings. This branding appears in the client portal.
- Connect PSA (optional) — Enter your PSA tenant ID, API URL, and integration key in Admin → Settings if you want to link PSA contracts and tickets.
- Invite your team — Go to Team → Invite Member to add project managers and contributors.
Key Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Engine | An industry-specific configuration that defines terminology, workflow stages, task types, and custom fields for your org. You choose one engine per organization. |
| Project | The top-level container for a piece of client work or internal initiative. Has a name, client, dates, budget, members, and status. Auto-assigned a sequential project number (e.g., PRJ-000001). |
| Milestone | A date-bound delivery checkpoint within a project. Milestones can have dependencies on other milestones and can trigger client notifications when completed. |
| Task | The unit of work within a project. Tasks belong to milestones (optional), have assignees, priorities, due dates, and move through the engine's workflow stages on the kanban board. |
| Time Log | A record of hours worked against a specific task. Each entry is marked billable or non-billable and can be approved by a manager before being exported to PSA. |
| Budget | The monetary ceiling for a project. The system tracks actual cost (billable hours × billing rate) against the budget and shows variance in real time. |
| Template | A reusable project blueprint that pre-populates phases, milestones, and tasks when creating a new project. |
Creating Your First Project — Step by Step
Step 1: Open the new project form
From the Projects dashboard, click New Project in the top-right corner. This opens the project creation wizard.
Step 2: Select an engine
The engine picker shows all nine industry options with icons:
| Icon | Engine |
|---|---|
| General | Any business / generic |
| MSP | Managed Service Providers |
| Construction | General contractors |
| Agency | Marketing and creative |
| Software | Development teams |
| Church | Ministry organizations |
| Association | Trade associations |
| Legal | Law firms |
| Accounting | Accounting firms |
Select the engine that best fits this project. If your org is MSP-focused, choose MSP — it gives you stages like Scoping → Scheduled → In Progress → Testing → Client Review → Completed.
Step 3: Choose a template
After selecting an engine, the template picker shows builtin templates for that engine plus any custom templates you have saved, and a Blank option.
Examples of builtin templates:
- MSP: Network Refresh, Cloud Migration, Client Onboarding
- Agency: Campaign Launch
- Software: Sprint Cycle, Product Launch
- Legal: Litigation Lifecycle
- Accounting: Tax Season, Audit Engagement
Select a template to pre-fill phases, milestones, and tasks. Select Blank to start from scratch.
Step 4: Fill in project details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Project Name | Required. Short, client-facing name (e.g., "Acme Corp — Network Refresh Q2"). |
| Description | Optional. Internal context about scope, objectives, or background. |
| Client | Select an existing client or mark as Internal. Client name appears on the project card and in the Portal. |
| Start Date | When work begins. Used for progress calculations. |
| Due Date | Target completion date. Overdue detection is based on this field. |
| Budget | Optional monetary budget (e.g., 15000). Leave blank for non-billable projects. |
Step 5: Add team members
In the Members section, invite teammates to the project by searching for their name. Assign each member a role:
| Role | Permissions |
|---|---|
| Owner | Full control including delete |
| Admin | Create/edit/delete everything within the project |
| Manager | Manage tasks and approve time entries |
| Member | Create and edit tasks, log time |
| Viewer | Read-only access |
You can add more members or change roles at any time from the project's Team tab.
Step 6: Create the project
Click Create Project. If you selected a template, Projects auto-creates all the phases, milestones, and tasks defined in that template.
You are taken to the Project Detail page with six tabs:
| Tab | Contents |
|---|---|
| Overview | Budget vs. actuals, progress timeline, member list, recent activity |
| Board | Kanban task board with all tasks organized by workflow stage |
| Milestones | All milestones with status, dates, and dependencies |
| Time | Time entry log for this project |
| Documents | Uploaded files, wiki pages, and external links |
| Team | Project members and their roles |
Step 7: Customize milestones and tasks (if using Blank template)
If you started from Blank, add your milestones first:
- Click the Milestones tab
- Click Add Milestone
- Enter the milestone name, due date, deliverables, and whether to notify the client on completion
- Save
Then add tasks under each milestone:
- Click the Board tab
- Click + Add Task in the first column
- Set the task name, assignee, due date, priority, and milestone
- Save and drag the card to its correct column as work progresses
Step 8: Share with your client (optional)
To give your client visibility into this project:
- Go to Admin → Portal in the sidebar
- Click Invite Client User and enter the client's email address
- The client receives an invite email with a magic link to set up their portal account
- Once activated, they can see all projects associated with their client record at
portal.theoneprojects.app
The portal uses your org's logo and primary color set in Admin → Settings. Make sure your branding is configured before inviting clients.