Portal widget

A Portal is a window onto another desk. It shows a small, live picture of that desk, with each widget drawn where it sits, so you can keep an eye on it from where you are working. Click the portal to go to that desk.

A portal is also a way to bring a whole desk into a wire. Wire a portal into a Desk agent and the agent reads the desk the portal shows. Several portals on one desk make a control room. See Watch several desks from one control-room desk.

Before you start

• The Portal widget is on every plan.
• You need at least one other desk. A portal cannot show the desk it is on, and archived desks are not offered.

Add a Portal

1. Open the desk you want it on.
2. Click Add widget in the centre of the header.
3. In the Desk layout column, click Portal.

Other ways to add one:

• Right-click an empty part of the desk and choose Add object > Advanced > Portal. It appears where you clicked.
• Press ⌘ K on a Mac or Ctrl K on Windows, type portal and choose Add Portal.

Choose the desk to show

A new portal says Open a window into another desk and lists your other desks.

1. Click the desk you want to watch.
2. The portal shows a miniature of that desk, with a small green live marker in its top-right corner.

If you have no other desks yet, the portal says No other tasks yet. Create another task and it'll show up here. Create a desk, and it appears in the list.

What the portal shows

• The desk's name along the top. Click it to go to the desk.
• A miniature of the desk. Each widget is drawn as a small preview in its place, scaled to fit the portal. Widgets inside sections, pinned widgets and archived widgets are not drawn. A desk with nothing on it shows Empty desk.

The miniature refreshes every few seconds while the portal is on screen, and again whenever you come back to the PlexiDesk window. You see changes made on that desk, including changes made by other people or by agents, without opening it.

Make the portal bigger to see more detail. Drag its edges, or use the − and + buttons in its title bar. See The controls on every widget.

Go to the desk

Click the miniature, the desk's name, or the open button (the arrow into a door) at the top right. The desk opens.

Show a different desk

1. Click the swap button (two arrows) at the top right of the portal. Its tooltip says Point at a different desk.
2. The desk list comes back. Click the desk you want.

Let a Desk agent read the desk

1. Add a Desk agent to the same desk as the portal.
2. Point at the portal, click the link button in its title bar, then click the agent.
3. In How should this connect?, choose Feed in as context.

When the agent runs, it reads the desk the portal shows: the desk's name and a short summary of each widget on it. As with the miniature, widgets inside sections and pinned widgets are left out. See Link widgets and set up wires.

Combine several sources in one portal

You can also wire widgets into a portal. The portal then passes on everything wired into it, as well as its own desk.

• A portal with a desk chosen shows a small badge beside the desk's name, such as +2, when other widgets are wired into it. Rest the pointer on the badge to see their names.
• A portal with no desk chosen, but with widgets wired into it, becomes a Rollup. It says Combines 3 sources into one feed: (with the number) and lists them. To make it show a desk instead, click the swap button, whose tooltip says Point at a desk instead.
• A portal wired into another portal passes on its whole desk, so one portal can gather several desks. Portals inside portals are followed a few levels deep, and a portal that leads back round to itself is counted once.

Wire a Rollup or a gathering portal into a Desk agent, and the agent reads everything it combines. This is how a control-room desk works. See Watch several desks from one control-room desk.

Publishing a live view

When you publish a live view of a desk, a portal is not published. Visitors see a placeholder in its place. See Publish a live view of a desk.

Common questions

The desk I want is not in the list. A portal does not offer the desk it is on, or archived desks. To show an archived desk, restore it first. See Archive, trash and restore rooms and desks.

The miniature looks empty, but the desk has widgets. The miniature leaves out widgets inside sections and pinned widgets. If everything on the desk is in sections, the portal shows Empty desk.

Does a portal let me edit the other desk? No. The miniature is a picture. Click it to go to the desk and work there.

What is the difference between a Portal and a Task link? A Portal shows the other desk live. A Task link is a small card with the desk's name, due date and buttons to open it or start a five-minute focus session.

Related tasks

• Desk layout widgets
• Watch several desks from one control-room desk
• Task link widget
• Desk agent widget
• Link widgets and set up wires