The WordPress Special Projects Team tracks its projects in Linear. All new projects should be created in Linear using our Project Template. Follow the instructions in the template and refer to the details below for project tracking and project updates.
Project Tracking
All active projects in Zoho (our previous project management and partner management tool) have been imported to Linear as Projects; we will not import historical data. Although the specific team to which a project belongs might depend on who’s involved, all projects are located in our Special Projects team or one of our sub-teams.
Project tracking in Linear is similar to Zoho Projects. It should store our metadata for all projects. Some fields have been replaced, some have been deprecated, and we have some new fields. The most important updates are:
| Zoho | Linear |
|---|---|
| Status | Still status, but we’ll use the In Progress for all active projects. Other statuses: On-Deck -> Proposal Launched -> Active (with Post-launch issue In Progress) Closed -> Completed Retired -> Canceled |
| Stage | Replaced with Milestones. Each milestone requires an issue assigned to it and will automatically update depending on the issue’s status. More below. |
| Partner Name | Add a link in the Linear Project’s Resources to the Zoho Partner. Internal projects don’t need a link to the Zoho Record. |
| Links (Project P2, outreach P2, project brief, Slack channel, GitHub repos, sites, etc.) | All links in Zoho should be added as Resources. |
| Primary TAM | Lead |
| Secondary TAM | Members |
| Launch date | Target date. Note that we can set a “range” for unknown launch dates. For example, if it’s not a hard launch date, but we know it’ll launch in Q3 2025, you can set the target date to Q3 2025. This should be updated as you get closer to launch and when the project is actually launched. |
| Priority – New field in Linear. More below. |
On Milestones and Issues
Each project has milestones that reflect our project stages. As you complete issues within milestones, the milestone’s status is updated automatically.
You have a lot of freedom to organize issues within milestones, but each milestone requires at least one issue to keep track of its status. This issue could be completely empty or multiple issues assigned to one milestone. These issues can also be issues from our dev and design queues. Feel free to organize milestones and issues as it suits your project. However, all our projects should have our project stages’ milestones (Discovery, Content, Design, Development, QA, Launch).
Special note about design issues:
If your project already had a design issue in the design request queue, that issue has already been migrated to Linear.
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If you’ve created a new design issues and now have an empty and unassigned placeholder “Design” issue in your original Project in Linear, you can delete it.
On Priority
The priority field is meant to reflect the project’s priority within the context of all projects across our team, not how they stack on your personal plate. This allows us to better allocate people and prfioritize time on the most pressing projects. While we understand that it might take us some time to properly align on this, you don’t need “approval” to change a project’s priority; we trust that you use your best judgment.
The priority field does not reflect the partner’s or project’s worth, what we can offer, or our commitment to doing high-quality work.
We’ve outlined some guidance on the Priority field below, but we’ll refine and learn more about how we use the field as we go:
- Urgent – Projects with a mix of fast-paced, complexity, imminent launch date, stakeholders, critical functionality, etc. We should aim to not have projects “live forever” in the Urgent state. The project should either launch or the “Urgent criteria” should be resolved and set to High.
- High – Urgent request or otherwise critical partner. Projects with tight timelines, at risk of missing commitments, or that have a churn risk.
- Medium – Fast-paced projects that require heightened attention or commitment from our team. Project or partners that needs special attention.
- Low – All projects start out on Low. A project can live through its entire life cycle on Low.
Project Status Updates
Linear has a project status field similar to what we’re used to in our spreadsheet check-in. It contains an On Track, At Risk, and Off Track (Green, Yellow, Red) health indicator and a message field.
The expectation is that all projects have an update posted within the last two weeks. However, when during those two weeks the update posted is less relevant. If a project has not received an update within the last two weeks, the Project Lead (Primary TAM) will receive a nudge notification. (Please enable your preferred notifications.)
Automattic Special Projects 