Come Home – WP Project Manager

Team Walkthrough

The purpose of WP Project Manager is to give the whole team one shared place to see what is happening, who is doing what, what is finished, and what still needs attention.

You do not need to understand every part of the system. Most collaborators only need to know how to use their tasks, comments, discussions and project updates.

1. Logging in

Log into the WordPress website using the account you have been given. Login via http://www.cnts.life/wp-admin

Once logged in, go to:

WP Project Manager → Projects → Come Home

This opens the shared project workspace.

2. Start with Project Status

Whenever you return to the project after being away for a while, check the discussion:

PROJECT STATUS – Come Home

This is the main whole-project update area.

It should tell you things such as:

  • what stage the project is currently in
  • what is actively being worked on
  • major blockers or delays
  • important upcoming work
  • anything the whole team needs to know

Think of this as the project’s noticeboard.

3. Understand the Task Lists

The project is divided into seven main areas:

Project Foundation
The overall purpose, goals, audience, resources, budget and project structure.

Research & Safety
Research, permissions, risks, safety planning and contingency arrangements.

Story & Script
Story development, script writing, revisions and preparation for filming.

People & Collaboration
Collaborators, roles, availability, responsibilities and communication.

Production
Locations, equipment, filming, audio, photos, backups and re-shoots.

Post Production
Editing, audio, music, graphics, captions, colour, exports and final versions.

Launch & Promotion
Publishing, social media, promotion, audience response and final project review.

You may only be involved in one or two of these areas. That is completely fine.

4. Your Assigned Tasks

Your assigned tasks are the most important part of the system for you.

Open a task to see:

  • what needs to be done
  • the task description
  • who it is assigned to
  • any milestone connected to it
  • comments and previous updates
  • attachments or links where applicable

Read the description before starting. We have deliberately written the descriptions in detail so everyone understands what “finished” actually means.

5. Starting a Task

When you begin working on a task, leave a short comment inside it.

For example:

Starting this today. I’ll update here once I’ve spoken to the location contact.

You do not need to write an essay every time.

The important thing is that somebody looking at the task later can tell that it is being worked on.

6. Updating a Task

Keep updates inside the task whenever the information relates specifically to that piece of work.

Useful updates might be:

Contacted Sarah. Waiting for confirmation.

First draft complete. Google Drive link added below.

Location approved, but they have asked us not to film before 10am.

Equipment checked. One microphone needs replacement.

I’m blocked on this until the script is approved.

This creates a useful history of the task.

7. Sharing Documents and Files

The Files section of our current WP Project Manager setup is not available to us, so project files will live in our external shared storage.

That may include things like:

  • scripts
  • research
  • footage
  • photos
  • graphics
  • release forms
  • run sheets
  • final exports

When you need to share a file with the team, place it in the agreed shared storage and then put the relevant link inside the task comment.

Avoid sending important project files only through private messages, Messenger or text messages because other collaborators may need them later.

8. When You Are Blocked

If you cannot continue a task, say so inside the task.

Include:

  • what is stopping you
  • what you need
  • who you are waiting on, if known

For example:

BLOCKED: We can’t confirm the filming date until the venue gives us written approval. Waiting on their response.

This is much better than leaving a task sitting quietly while everyone assumes it is progressing.

9. Completing a Task

Only mark a task complete when the work is genuinely finished.

Do not mark something complete simply because:

  • you started it
  • you sent an email
  • you handed it to somebody else
  • you are waiting for approval

If approval is part of the task, it is not complete until that approval has happened.

Before marking it complete, leave a final comment if useful:

Complete. Location confirmed and written permission saved in the shared project folder.

Then mark the task complete.

10. Discussions

There are three main project discussions.

PROJECT STATUS – Come Home

Use this for information affecting the whole project.

Examples:

  • major delays
  • change of filming date
  • project stage updates
  • significant problems
  • major progress announcements

COLLABORATORS – Roles, Access & Responsibilities

Use this for information about the people involved.

Examples:

  • someone new joins
  • someone’s role changes
  • somebody becomes unavailable
  • responsibilities are handed to someone else

PROJECT DECISIONS – Come Home

This is the permanent record of major decisions.

Examples:

  • changing the direction of the story
  • approving the final script
  • changing a major location
  • approving a significant project expense
  • changing the release strategy

11. The Golden Rule

This is probably the most important rule in the entire system:

If it affects one task, put it in the task. If it affects the whole project, put it in Project Status.

That alone will keep a lot of clutter out of the project.

12. Milestones

The project has major milestones that show when a stage has been successfully completed.

They are:

Foundation Approved
The basic project direction has been agreed.

Research Complete
Research and major safety requirements are sufficiently complete.

Script Locked
The story and script are approved for production.

Ready to Film
People, planning and production requirements are ready.

Filming Complete
Required production work has been captured.

Rough Cut Complete
The first complete edit exists.

Final Approval
The final project has been approved for release.

Final Project / Launch milestone
The project has been released and formally completed.

Collaborators generally do not need to manage the milestones themselves. They mainly need to complete the tasks that allow us to reach them.

13. Kanban Board

The Kanban board gives us a visual overview of project tasks.

Our board contains:

Open
Work that still needs to be completed.

In Progress
Work currently underway.

Done
Completed work.

Overdue
Tasks that eventually have due dates and pass those dates without completion.

Because movement between Kanban columns has not worked reliably in our current installation, do not rely on the Kanban column as the official task status.

The important information is:

  • who the task is assigned to
  • what has been written in the comments
  • whether the task has been marked complete

14. Communication Outside WP Project Manager

We can still use phones, Messenger, email, group chats or face-to-face conversations.

But if something important is decided outside the project system, bring that information back into WP Project Manager.

For example, if three people discuss something on Messenger and decide to change a filming location, somebody should record that decision in the project.

Otherwise six weeks later somebody will ask:

“Why did we change that?”

And nobody will remember.

15. Don’t Change the Project Structure

Unless Anthony or Jessie specifically asks you to, please don’t:

  • create new task lists
  • create new milestones
  • delete tasks
  • rename project sections
  • create new whole-project discussions
  • restructure the project

If you believe something is missing, tell us.

We can then decide whether a new task should be added.

16. You Don’t Have to Wait for Everything Before Starting

The project is structured in stages, but some work can overlap.

For example, research might still be happening while early story ideas are developing.

The important thing is not to move ahead with something that depends on an unresolved decision.

If you’re unsure whether you should start something, ask in the relevant task.

17. How Much Updating Is Expected?

We don’t want the project manager to become another full-time job.

A useful update could literally be one sentence.

Good:

Venue contacted today. Expecting confirmation Wednesday.

Not useful:

Working on it.

Better:

Started reviewing the footage. About halfway through and no major gaps found yet.

The idea is to leave enough information that another team member can understand the situation without having to call you.

18. When Someone Else Needs to Take Over

If you need to hand a task to someone else, don’t simply disappear from it.

Leave a comment explaining the handover.

For example:

I’ve completed the research side of this. Jessie is taking over from here to confirm the final wording.

Then the task ownership can be changed.

That gives us a clean history.

19. When You Need a Decision

If your work cannot continue without a decision, make that very obvious.

For example:

DECISION NEEDED: We have two possible filming locations. We need to choose one before the run sheet can be finalised.

If it is a major project decision, the outcome should also be recorded in PROJECT DECISIONS – Come Home.

20. What Success Looks Like

The system is working properly when anybody on the team can open Come Home and quickly answer:

What are we working on?

What am I responsible for?

What has already been completed?

What are we waiting on?

Who owns the next action?

What major decisions have already been made?

Where is the latest version of the material?

If we can answer those questions without chasing people through messages and phone calls, the system is doing its job.

Quick-reference version for the team

1. Open Come Home.
2. Check PROJECT STATUS.
3. Check your assigned tasks.
4. Read the task description before starting.
5. Put task-specific updates in task comments.
6. Say clearly when you’re blocked.
7. Link shared files from the relevant task.
8. Mark tasks complete only when genuinely finished.
9. Put major project matters in PROJECT STATUS.
10. Don’t change the overall project structure without checking first.

And the one line I would put right at the top of any team guide:

If it affects one task, put it in the task. If it affects the whole project, put it in Project Status.