Turn a widget into its own desk
Right-click a widget and choose Make this a Desk to start a new desk named after it, with a synced or independent copy of the widget on it.
Some work outgrows the desk it started on. A sticky note with an idea becomes a project, or a checklist needs a canvas of its own. Make this a Desk... creates a new desk named after the widget, files it in one of your rooms, and can bring the widget along, either kept in sync with the original or as a separate copy.
Before you start
- Every plan includes this. Desks are unlimited on every plan.
- New rooms count on the Free plan. You can create a room from the same dialog. On the Free plan it counts towards your three rooms, and if you already have three, PlexiDesk offers an upgrade instead of creating a fourth. See Create and organise rooms.
- Start on the desk that holds the widget. The dialog opens from the widget's right-click menu.
Make a desk from a widget
Right-click the widget's title bar, the strip along its top.
Choose Advanced, then Make this a Desk.... The Make this a desk dialog opens.
Under Add it, click As a new desk (its own canvas). The dialog starts on To this desk, which adds a task to the current desk instead (see Add a task to this desk instead, below).
Check the name in Task title. It is filled in from the widget's title, or from the start of its text if the widget has no title. Type over it to change it.
Under Folder, choose the room for the new desk:
- Click a room in the list. If your current desk is in a room, that room is already selected and marked current.
- Type in Search folders… to narrow a long list.
- Click + Create new folder… to make a new room, then type its name in the box that appears. If you typed in the search box first, the button shows that text and it becomes the room's name. Click ← Pick an existing folder to go back to the list.
Leave Copy this widget into the new desk ticked to bring the widget along, then choose how:
- Keep in sync (live): content, title and colour mirror both ways between the original and the copy.
- Independent copy (point-in-time): a snapshot of the widget as it is now. After that, the two never affect each other.
Untick Copy this widget into the new desk if you want only the new desk, with nothing copied onto it.
Leave Switch to the new desk ticked to go straight to it. Untick it to stay where you are.
Click Create task, or press Enter in the title box.
The new desk appears in the room you chose. If you kept Switch to the new desk ticked, it opens straight away. If you copied the widget, the copy is on the new desk at the same size and colour as the original.
The original widget always stays on the desk where you started. If you chose Keep in sync (live), both the original and the copy show a small link icon in their title bars, so you can tell they are connected.
To close the dialog without creating anything, click Cancel or press Esc.
Keep in sync or make an independent copy?
- Keep in sync suits something both desks work from, such as a project brief, a list of decisions or a checklist. Edit either copy and the other follows. Each copy keeps its own position and size.
- Independent copy suits a starting point that the new desk will rework, such as a draft, a template or last quarter's plan.
- You can change your mind later. To stop a synced copy following the others, right-click its title bar and choose Advanced > Unlink from synced copies. See Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync.
Add a task to this desk instead
When the dialog opens, Add it is set to To this desk, with the name of the desk you are on. Leave it there and click Create task to add a task with that title to the current desk, with no new canvas. The task shows in any Tasks widget on this desk.
With To this desk chosen, the dialog hides Folder, the copy options and Switch to the new desk, and the widget stays exactly as it is.
Make a desk from a section
A Section widget Coming soon has its own right-click menu.
- Right-click the section's coloured name tag at its top-left corner.
- Choose Make this a task…. The same Make this a desk dialog opens, named after the section.
- Follow steps 3 to 8 above.
If you copy a section onto the new desk, the copy is the section frame with its name and colour. The widgets inside the section stay on the original desk.
Another way in: Duplicate into another Room / Desk...
Right-click a widget's title bar and choose Advanced > Duplicate into another Room / Desk.... It opens the same Make this a desk dialog. Choose As a new desk, pick a room, and leave Copy this widget into the new desk ticked: the copy goes onto a new desk in that room.
Widgets inside a section do not show this row. Use Make this a Desk... instead, which opens the same dialog.
To put a synced copy on a desk you already have, open that desk and use Bring a synced widget… in the tool rail's Add widget menu. See Duplicate widgets and keep copies in sync.
Common questions
Why do the labels say task when I am making a desk?
The dialog can make a desk or a task on the current desk, so its title box is called Task title and its button Create task. With As a new desk chosen, what you get is a desk with its own canvas.
Where did my new desk go?
If you unticked Switch to the new desk, you stayed on the desk you were on. The new desk is in the room you picked under Folder. Open Rooms in the side menu and click that room, or open All desks to see every desk. See Browse All rooms and All desks.
Can the new desk sit at the top level, outside any room?
The dialog always files the new desk in a room. To take it out of the room afterwards, use Move to room… in All desks and choose Top level. See Rename a desk and move it to a room.
I do not see Copy this widget into the new desk
Those options appear only after you choose As a new desk under Add it.
I do not see Advanced in the right-click menu
If the widget is one of several selected widgets, the right-click menu shows actions for the whole selection. Press Esc or click an empty part of the canvas to clear the selection, then right-click the one widget again.
Related tasks
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