What pipelines are and how to build one

Pipelines are a way of viewing a project as a series of stages — the same idea as a sales or workflow pipeline. A pipeline is not a separate area of SwiftFox: it is a project Table view that has been grouped by a stage column, so each stage becomes its own band and you can see how many items sit in each one.

Because a pipeline is just a grouped project view, everything in the Projects guides applies — columns, rows, linked Contacts, permissions, exporting and saved views all work the same way. Most accounts use either Projects or Pipelines depending on how they prefer to think about the same underlying table.

What you need

• A project (table) to hold your records (see Folders and projects).
• A Select column that lists your stages — for example a Status column with options such as New Lead, Meeting Scheduled, Won and Lost (see Column types). Tick Colour coded if you want each stage to have its own colour.

Turn a project into a pipeline

1. Open the project from the left menu.
2. Make sure you have a Select column for your stages. If not, add one (see Column types).
3. Click Group By in the toolbar.
4. Choose your stage column (for example Status).
5. The table redraws with one band per stage, and each band shows the number of items in it. That grouped view is your pipeline.

Move an item to another stage

• Open the row, or click its stage cell, and change the Select value to the new stage. The row moves into that stage's band.

Save the pipeline as a view

A view remembers its grouping along with its filters, sorts and hidden columns, so you can keep your pipeline as its own tab.

1. Arrange the table — group by your stage column and apply any filters, sorts or hidden columns.
2. Click the three dots (⋯) on the view tab.
3. Choose Save as New View to create a pipeline tab, or Save Current View to update the one you are on.
4. Switch between your table and pipeline views using the tabs at the top (see Search, filter, sort, pin, hide and saved views).

Tips

• Use a Colour coded Select column so each stage stands out.
• Add a Number column set to currency (for example Value) to track the worth of each item as it moves through the stages.
• Keep one project and save several views — for example a plain table for data entry and a grouped pipeline for tracking progress.

Related guides

• Projects — Overview (Excel-style workspace)
• Folders and projects (create, templates, blank)
• Column types
• Search, filter, sort, pin, hide and saved views