Custom Workflows

The default stages work well for a standard production workflow, but every producer works differently. Maybe you have a dedicated “Sound Design” phase, or your client work goes through “Revision” and “Approval” stages. Custom workflows let you define your own stages so Producer Dashboard matches how you actually work.

What Custom Workflows Give You

With custom workflows, you can:

• Add new stages that reflect steps unique to your process
• Name them whatever you want — use language that makes sense to you
• Assign custom colours so each stage is visually distinct
• Control the ordering to match the flow of your pipeline
• Apply workflows to specific projects or use them globally

Creating a Custom Workflow

Custom workflows are managed in the Settings area of the app.

1. Open Settings from the main navigation
2. Navigate to the Workflows section
3. Click Create New Workflow (or Add Stage if you’re editing an existing workflow)
4. For each stage, configure:
   • Name — What you want to call this stage (e.g., “Sound Design”, “Client Review”)
   • Colour — Pick from the colour palette
   • Position — Where it sits in the sequence

Building Your Stage List

Add stages one by one in the order they typically occur. For example, a film scoring workflow might look like:

1. Brief Received
2. Sketching
3. Composing
4. Orchestration
5. Mixing
6. Client Review
7. Revision
8. Approved
9. Delivered

A beatmaker selling instrumentals might use:

1. Idea
2. Cooking
3. Arranged
4. Mixed
5. Listed for Sale
6. Sold
7. Archived

You’re free to have as many or as few stages as you need.

Editing Stage Names

To rename an existing stage:

1. Go to Settings > Workflows
2. Click the stage name you want to change
3. Type the new name
4. Save your changes

Renaming a stage updates it everywhere — every track that’s currently in that stage will show the new name in the grid, kanban, and all widgets.

Changing Stage Colours

Each stage needs a colour so you can identify it at a glance across the app.

1. In the workflow editor, click the colour swatch next to the stage
2. Choose a new colour from the palette
3. The colour updates across all views immediately

Try to keep colours distinct from each other. If three stages are all blue, you lose the visual scanning benefit. Spread your colours across the spectrum.

Reordering Stages

The order of your stages matters for the Kanban view and for general flow logic. To reorder:

1. In the workflow editor, drag stages up or down in the list
2. The new order is reflected in the Kanban columns and stage dropdowns

Put your earliest stages at the top and your final stages at the bottom. This way the Kanban view reads left to right from start to finish.

Applying Workflows to Projects

You can scope a custom workflow to specific projects or use it as your global default:

Global Workflow

Set a workflow as your default, and every new project uses it automatically. All existing projects without a specific workflow assignment also use the global default.

Project-Specific Workflow

Assign a different workflow to a specific project. This is useful when:

• Client work has approval and revision stages your personal work doesn’t need
• Live performance prep has different phases than studio production
• Collaboration projects have stages like “Waiting for Partner” that solo work doesn’t

When a project has its own workflow, tracks in that project show that workflow’s stages in their dropdowns and kanban views.

Deleting a Stage

If you remove a stage from a workflow, you’ll need to decide what happens to tracks currently in that stage. Producer Dashboard will ask you to pick a replacement stage for affected tracks before the deletion goes through. No tracks are left in limbo.

Deleting a Workflow

Deleting an entire workflow moves all projects using it back to the default workflow. Tracks keep their closest-matching stage where possible.

Practical Examples

Electronic Music Producer

Stages: Loop/Sketch > Arrangement > Sound Design > Mixing > Mastering > Release Prep > Released

“Sound Design” gets its own stage because that’s a distinct phase of electronic production that deserves tracking.

Singer-Songwriter

Stages: Lyric Draft > Demo Recording > Full Production > Mixing > Mastering > Artwork & PR > Released

“Lyric Draft” comes first because songs start with words, and “Artwork & PR” captures the pre-release admin.

Mixing Engineer

Stages: Received > In Progress > Client Review > Revision > Approved > Delivered > Invoiced

This workflow is about the business process of mixing for clients, not personal music creation.

Sync Licensing

Stages: Brief Received > Writing > Submitted > Shortlisted > Placed > Invoiced > Archived

Tracks the path from music brief to placement and payment.

Tips

• Start with the default stages and add custom ones as you identify gaps in your process. You don’t need to design the perfect workflow upfront.
• Keep stage names short. They appear as badges in the grid, and long names get truncated.
• Use project-specific workflows when the process genuinely differs, not just for a slight naming preference. Too many different workflows can be confusing.
• Review your workflows every few months. As your process evolves, your stages should too.

Related

• Understanding Stages — How the default stages work
• Tracking Progress — Visualise your workflow with Kanban and filters
• Creating Projects — Set up projects that use your custom workflows