Each project has a navigation bar with tabs that give you quick access to tasks, docs, related budgets, and other areas.
Project Managers and users with sufficient permissions can customize which tabs appear and how they're organized. All users can create private tabs for their own use.
Adding a Tab
To add a new tab:
Click All tabs at the end of the navigation bar (you might see just a + sign here if there are no other tabs added to the project).
Select + Add new tab.
Choose a tab type from the list.
A few things to keep in mind:
System tabs (Time, Reports, Activity) can only be added once.
All other tabs can be added multiple times.
New tabs are added to the navigation bar if there’s space; otherwise, they appear in the All tabs dropdown in the Other section.
Organizing Tabs
Only Project Managers or users with Add, edit, and delete projects permission can organize public tabs.
The All tabs dropdown groups tabs into two sections:
Tabs — Shown in your navigation bar
Other — Not shown in the navigation bar
Click Set as tab to add a tab to the navigation bar.
Click Remove tab to move it to the Other section — the tab still exists and can be accessed there.
You can also drag and drop tabs to reorder them or move them between sections.
Open the three-dot menu next to any tab name to edit, duplicate, mark as favorite, get an ical link, change visibility or delete.
Filter and field adjustments are available on the right-hand side when editing the tab contents.
Tab Visibility
Tabs can be visible to everyone on the project, or you can make a tab private so only you can see it.
Whether you can make tabs visible to everyone depends on your permissions.
To make a tab private, open the menu next to the tab name and select Hide from others. Private tabs are marked with a padlock icon.
To make a private tab visible to others again, select Show to others from the same menu.
Roles and Permissions
What's visible and customizable in the navigation bar depends on your permission set.
Users with Add, edit, and delete projects permission
This includes Admins, Managers, Restricted Managers (for projects they're added to), Profitability Managers, and Restricted Profitability Managers (for projects they're added to). They can:
Add new tabs to the project
Rearrange tabs in the navigation bar
Add tabs to or remove them from the navigation bar
Rename, duplicate, or delete tabs
Change tab visibility — keep it visible to everyone or limit it to yourself
Apply tabs from a project template
📌 Even if a Project Manager adds Budgets or Invoices tabs to the navigation, users without access to those features won't see them. Visibility is controlled by your permission set, just like in other parts of Productive.
📌 Users in this group can only edit, rename, or delete tabs they created themselves. Tabs created by other users with the same permission level cannot be modified.
The Project Manager's name appears in the upper left, next to the client and project name. To change the Project Manager, open the sidebar and select Edit project.
Note on roles vs. permission sets: The Project Manager is a role that can be assumed by any user with a Manager, Profitability Manager, or Admin permission set. Roles define project responsibilities; permission sets determine what users can actually see and do.
Staff users and Coordinators
These users can:
Create unlimited private tabs — these are private by default and cannot be made visible to others.
Use tabs shared by others, but can't modify or remove them.
See their private tabs at the end of the navigation bar.
They cannot:
Rearrange tabs in the navigation bar.
Delete or change the visibility of tabs created by others.
Add tabs to or remove them from the navigation bar.
📌 Staff and Coordinators' permissions include project access rights (For example, "View tasks," "Add/edit tasks") but no project-level edit rights.
Folder Picker
The folder picker appears only in task-based tabs. It's positioned on the right side of the navigation bar and uses the project's color. It's not available in Docs, Budgets, Time, or other non-task tabs.
Creating a New Project
When creating a new project (or using a project template), you can choose which tabs to include by selecting their icons — Tasks, Docs, Deals, Budgets, Invoices, Forms, Expenses, Purchase Orders, Scenarios, Time, Reports, and Feed.
Click an icon to select it. The chosen tabs will be added to your project automatically.
After creating the project, you can still adjust these tabs — add, remove, or reorder them as needed. Selecting them upfront gives you a starting point.
Example
Here's how different users might use tabs on the same project:
A Project Manager sets up the project with Tasks, Docs, and Budgets tabs.
They add Tasks and Docs to the navigation bar for everyone, but remove Budgets to keep things simple.
A staff member creates a private tab showing only their assigned tasks — visible only to them.
