What you get
- Updates in a Slack channel as work moves: new tasks, sign-off requests, finished work and more. You choose which.
- A tidy message for each update, with a button that opens the task.
- An optional morning summary of what’s overdue, due today and waiting for sign-off.
There are two ways to connect. Both post the same updates. The Slack app can do more.
| What’s different | Add to Slack | Use a link |
|---|---|---|
| Set-up time | A minute | About five minutes |
| Approve or request changes from Slack | Yes | No: the button opens Taskshire |
/taskshire commands and Create a task |
Yes | No |
| Previews of Taskshire links | Yes | No |
| @mentions the right people | Yes, once they’ve linked their account | No |
| Each task’s updates in one thread | Yes | No |
| When you can use it | When the Slack app is set up on your Taskshire | Always |
If you see an Add to Slack button on the Integrations page, use that. If you only see Connect, use a link.
Who can set it up
- In Taskshire: a project admin.
- In Slack: anyone who’s allowed to add apps to your workspace. Many companies only let workspace admins do this. If that’s you, Slack asks an admin to approve the app. You can send them this page.
Option 1: Add to Slack
- In your project, select Tools → Integrations.
- On the Slack card, select Add to Slack.
- Slack opens. Check the workspace name in the top-right corner. If it’s the wrong one, switch workspace there.
- Choose the channel Taskshire should post to, then select Allow.
- You’re taken back to Integrations. The channel appears under Connected channels, and a hello message arrives in Slack.
- To change what gets posted, select Edit on the channel. See Choose what to post.
To post in a private channel, choose it in step 4. Private channels only show in the list if you’re a member. For threads and @mentions in a private channel, also invite the app: type /invite @Taskshire in that channel.
To connect another channel, select Add to Slack again and choose a different channel.
Link your Slack account first
Before you can approve work or use the commands, link your Slack account to Taskshire. You only do this once for each Slack workspace, and it takes a few seconds. See Link your chat account, or type /taskshire link in Slack.
If you press a button before linking, nothing changes in Taskshire. Slack shows you a private message with a link to connect your account.
Approve or request changes
When work needs sign-off, the message has Approve and Request changes buttons.
- Approve signs off the task as you, just as if you’d done it in Taskshire. The task moves on, and the message updates to show it’s been approved.
- Request changes asks What needs to change? Type your comment and select Send back. The task goes back with your comment on it.
Request changes only shows when that stage lets work be sent back.
You can only approve what you’re allowed to approve in Taskshire. If you can’t, Slack tells you why, privately.
Client sign-off stages don’t have buttons. Clients approve through their own review link.
Slash commands
Type these in a channel. Only you see Taskshire’s answer.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/taskshire new Write the launch post |
Adds a task called “Write the launch post” to the project this channel gets updates from. |
/taskshire mine |
Lists the open tasks assigned to you, due soonest first. |
/taskshire link |
Links your Slack account to Taskshire. |
/taskshire help |
Shows what Taskshire can do in Slack. |
If the channel isn’t connected to a project, /taskshire new uses the only connected project you can add tasks to. If there’s more than one, it asks you to use Create a task instead, so you can pick.
Create a task from a message
- Hover over any message (or press and hold it on a phone).
- Select More actions (⋮), then Create a task. The first time, you may need to select More message shortcuts… to find it.
- Choose the project. Check the title and details, which Taskshire fills in from the message.
- Select Create task.
The task is added as you, with a link back to the Slack message. You’ll get a private confirmation in the channel.
Link previews
When someone pastes a link to a Taskshire task in Slack, Slack shows a short preview with its title, stage, who it’s assigned to and when it’s due.
Previews only work for projects connected to that workspace with Add to Slack. Tasks on private boards are never previewed, because everyone in the channel would see them.
Option 2: Use a link
If Add to Slack isn’t available, create a small Slack app of your own with an incoming webhook. A webhook link is a private address that lets Taskshire post into one channel. Treat it like a password.
- Go to api.slack.com/apps and sign in to Slack.
- Select Create New App, then From scratch.
- Call it “Taskshire”, choose your workspace and select Create App.
- In the menu on the left, open Incoming Webhooks. Switch Activate Incoming Webhooks on.
- Scroll down and select Add New Webhook to Workspace. (Newer screens may just say Add New Webhook.)
- Choose the channel, then select Allow.
- Back on the Incoming Webhooks page, select Copy next to the new webhook URL. It starts with
https://hooks.slack.com/services/. - In Taskshire, open Tools → Integrations and select Connect on the Slack card. (If you also see Add to Slack, select Use a link instead.)
- Paste the link into Webhook link, then give it a Channel name, such as
#marketing. - Choose what to post, then select Connect Slack.
You can give the app the Taskshire logo: in your Slack app’s settings, open Basic Information and scroll to Display Information.
Warning
Use an incoming webhook link. Links from Slack’s Workflow Builder (starting https://hooks.slack.com/triggers/ or https://hooks.slack.com/workflows/) won’t work. Taskshire tells you if you paste one.
Private channels
A webhook can post to a private channel. You need to be a member of the channel to choose it in step 6.
If your workspace needs approval
Some workspaces only let admins add apps. If so, Slack shows Request to Install (or similar) instead of Allow. A workspace admin gets your request. Once they’ve approved it, come back and finish from step 5.
Choose what to post
Under Post a message when…, tick what the channel should hear about. The recommended choices are ticked for you: New tasks, Work needs sign-off, Changes are requested, Work is done or published, Publishing fails and Tasks become overdue.
To change them later, select Edit on the channel. The integrations overview explains every choice, plus boards and the morning summary.
With Add to Slack, each task’s updates stay together in one thread. To turn this off, select Edit and untick Keep each task’s updates in one thread.
Troubleshooting
Nothing arrived
- Under Connected channels, check the channel says On, then select Send test.
- Select Recent messages to see whether the message was Delivered or Failed, and why.
- Check what’s ticked under Post a message when…, and which boards are ticked.
- With a webhook link: check your app still exists at api.slack.com/apps, and that its webhook is still listed under Incoming Webhooks.
- Archived channels can’t receive messages.
It says “Stopped”
Slack told Taskshire the channel can’t be used any more, or 10 messages in a row failed. The reason is shown next to Stopped. Common causes:
- The webhook or your Slack app was deleted. Create a new webhook, connect it, and disconnect the old channel.
- The Taskshire app was removed from your workspace. Every channel connected with Add to Slack stops. Select Add to Slack again and choose the same channel. Taskshire turns the existing channel back on, keeping your choices.
- The channel was archived or deleted. Unarchive it and select Turn on, or connect a different channel.
Once it’s fixed, select Turn on, then Send test.
I want to change the channel
- Using a link: a webhook always posts to the channel you chose. Add a new webhook for the new channel (step 5 onwards), connect it in Taskshire, then Disconnect the old one.
- Using Add to Slack: select Add to Slack again and choose the new channel. Then Disconnect the old one.
The buttons ask me to link my account
You haven’t linked your Slack account in this workspace yet. Follow the link in the message, or see Link your chat account. Then press the button again.
“That’s a Slack Workflow link”
You copied a Workflow Builder link. Follow Option 2 to make an incoming webhook instead.