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Creating Your First Project Creating Your First Project =========================== Updated 23 hours ago · 5 min read Search Search A project is the core unit of community engagement in Civio Engage, it's where you bring together content, participation tools, events, and updates for a consultation. This article walks you through creating your first one. Where projects live ------------------- Click **Projects** in the left-hand menu to see all existing projects. From here you can open any project or create a new one. ![The Projects item in the left-hand admin menu, traced to show where to click to see all projects.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/efgZf7ieJAp45DOypHayjwbAtmttcuUsgrP0r3o7.png) Creating a project ------------------ ![The Projects list in the admin interface, showing every project with the Add project button](/storage/kf3UgFWW7XAi8HQwFNybBYOznAd6iX2BMAXzJikK.png) To create a new project: 1. Click **Projects** in the left-hand menu. 2. Click **Add project** in the sub-menu (or the **+** button in the top-right corner). 3. Click the **title placeholder** at the top and type your project name. ![The top section of the project edit form, showing the Title, Summary, Body, Primary image, Consultation status and End date fields.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/bC4XdaGVOXXs6x7GQ8upWTvfl7q17yz847R4ZMiz.png) ### Essential fields **Field****What it does****Title**The name of your project, displayed on the public site and in project listings.**Summary** (Required)A short description shown in the project header and on project cards in listings.**Body**The main content of your project landing page. Uses the rich content editor for formatting.**Primary image**Appears in the project header and on project cards. Upload from the right-hand sidebar.**Consultation status** (Required)Tells the community what stage the project is at (e.g. "Open for feedback"). Shown on the public site.**End date**Tells users how long they have to submit feedback.For the full list of project fields including contact details and location settings, see [Create and publish a project](/articles/9180564376975-Create-and-publish-a-project). Applying categories ------------------- Categories help the community discover your project through search and filtering. To apply them: ![The Categories field on a project, used to help the community find the project through search filters](/storage/fAsKajWUXue1jkqC6gc12A1liohHgbbclSFaDXf9.png) 1. Scroll down the right-hand sidebar to **Categories**. 2. Select the relevant **Tags** and **Regions** for your project. Tags and Regions are set up in your site settings. For more on managing these, see [Manage site categories (regions and tags)](/articles/9176480859023-Manage-site-categories-regions-and-tags). Setting a project location -------------------------- Adding location details to your project lets community members find it using the map search on the public site. To set a location: ![The Location details panel in the project edit form’s Advanced settings, showing the Regions, Location name and Location coordinates fields.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/CP0FlQTIt6tuiEBEZeJL6823uUdf2NeKnfv7cClf.png) 1. Scroll down the right-hand sidebar to **Location details**. 2. Select the relevant **Regions**, these are geographic categories configured in your site settings. 3. Add a **Location name** (e.g. "Kings Park" or "Main Street Precinct"). 4. Add the **Location coordinates**, enter the latitude and longitude for your project (e.g. `-33.8688, 151.2093`). When you add Location coordinates, the project will appear as a pin on the public site's map search, making it easy for community members to browse projects by location. For the full list of project fields and location settings, see [Create and publish a project](/articles/9180564376975-Create-and-publish-a-project). Adding a content block ---------------------- ![The Add block and Add group buttons used to build a project page](/storage/985R4VkIZhNXZLjz0uLshFd2TPgxg216zmx4a1l5.png) Content blocks let you add different types of content to your project landing page, such as participation tools, documents, events, or rich text sections. 1. On the project create or edit page, scroll below the Body editor. 2. Click **+ Add block**. 3. Choose a block type (e.g. Surveys, Polls, Rich Text, Events, Documents). 4. Follow the prompts to configure the block. 5. Click **Add \[block type\]** to save it. You can drag and drop blocks to rearrange their display order on the public page. For a full guide on all available block types and how to use content groups (tabs, accordions, columns), see [How to use content blocks and groups](/articles/9179124696591-How-to-use-content-blocks-and-groups). Saving and publishing --------------------- The workflow buttons you see at the top of the page depend on your [user role](/articles/9176861358095-User-roles) and permissions: **Your role****What you can do****Engagement Officer**Save as **New draft**, then **Send for approval** so a Reviewer can check it.**Reviewer**Everything above, plus **Approve** or **Reject** content.**Publisher**Everything above, plus **Publish** approved content to the public site.**Project Manager / Administrator**Can **New draft** and **Publish** directly, skipping the approval steps if needed.To save your project for the first time: 1. Click **New draft** to save your work without making it public. 2. Use the **arrow** next to the status button to see the workflow actions available to your role. 3. Choose the appropriate action, for example, **Send for approval** if you're an Engagement Officer, or **Publish** if you're an Administrator. ![The project edit screen with Save as draft, and the workflow dropdown open beside Publish showing Send for approval and Approve.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/D4uTWWthMSfbk10ApVM1tviyMe3R6CFGsDUS7mpZ.gif) The content workflow is covered in detail in a later article. For now, just save your project as a draft, you can always come back to publish it later. You can also preview your project before publishing by clicking the **Preview** tab after saving as a draft. To share a preview with colleagues before publishing, see [Create and share a project preview link](/articles/9379424565903-Create-and-share-a-project-preview-link). Your project on the public site ------------------------------- ![A published project as visitors see it: the site header, then a banner carrying the project title, its summary, the consultation status and how long feedback is open, with the project photograph alongside, and directly beneath it a tab menu reading Summary, Participate, Events, Updates and Timeline.](https://engage.knowledge.civ.io/storage/zZ9s5qXJ2ZPuZiB0wUWt061WuBl6KsFJFRKkT84B.jpg) Once published, your project appears on the public site with a header showing the title, summary, primary image, consultation status and, if you set an End date, how long feedback is open. On the Default site style the primary image appears in the header on screens 960 pixels wide and above; below that the header is a plain colour. Directly under the header, a **tab menu** gives visitors quick access to the different parts of the project. The tabs shown depend on the content you have added. A tab appears as soon as the project has one item of that kind, even a draft, although the page behind it lists only published items. Common tabs include: **Tab** **Shows** **Summary** The project landing page with body content and content blocks. **Participate** Surveys, polls, idea boards, and other participation tools. **Events** Any events added to the project. **Updates** Project news and progress updates. **Timeline** The project's stages and their dates. For a detailed breakdown of everything that makes up a project, including pages, timelines, documents, and maps, see [Key elements of a project](/articles/9180502042511-Key-elements-of-a-project). Managing your project --------------------- ![A project's admin menu, listing Overview, Edit project and the content and participation tools available](/storage/UGhLcRONLp6Enuch4KhbVDY8TU0bG0TIufVMXYba.png) After creating your project, you'll manage it from the project admin view. The key areas are: - **Project tabs** (top): switch between Report, Preview, Edit, Followers, and more. - **Content sub-menu** (left): manage Pages, Updates, Events, Timeline, Documents, Maps, and Hotspots. - **Participation sub-menu** (left): manage Surveys, Polls, Idea boards, Map feedback, Q&A boards, and Budgets. For details on editing an existing project, see [Edit a project](/articles/9180614773903-Edit-a-project). To learn about the available participation tools, see [Manage your project participation tools](/articles/9182279163663-Manage-your-project-participation-tools). What's next? ------------ Your first project is live. Continue to the next article to learn how content moves through the review and publishing workflow. **Next:** [6. The Content Workflow](/articles/getting-started-article-6) Next in this series [ 6. The Content Workflow ](/articles/getting-started-article-6) Was this article helpful? ------------------------- Your feedback helps us prioritise what to rewrite. Yes No [ Back to Getting Started with Civio Engage ](/articles?category=15) [ Next article The Content Workflow ](/articles/getting-started-article-6) On this page New to Civio Engage? 5 / 9 [ 1 Getting Around Civio Engage ](/articles/understanding-civio-engage) [ 2 Setting Up Your Site Basics ](/articles/setting-up-your-site-basics) [ 3 Creating Site Pages ](/articles/getting-started-article-3) [ 4 Setting Up Your Team ](/articles/article-4-setting-up-your-team) [ 5 Creating Your First Project ](/articles/article-5-creating-your-first-project) [ 6 The Content Workflow ](/articles/getting-started-article-6) [ See all 9 →](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.civio-engage-docs.dh1.amazee.io/articles) ### Still need help? Raise a request in the support portal and track it to resolution. 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