Project Tools → Briefs
Briefs
Build a project brief from your service templates, send the client a link, and read their answers back in one place.
How to create a brief form
A brief is a short form you send a client at the start of a job. Pick the services it covers and the matching question set drops in, ready to edit.
Open Project Tools → Briefs from the sidebar.
Click New brief, top right.
Type a title in the big field at the top, for example "Marlow & Finch – Branding". This is what the client sees at the top of their form.
Under Services, click the chips this job covers: Branding, Website, App or Graphic Design. Each one drops its question set into the Questions card below.
Click a chip again to turn that service off. Its questions are removed with it.
Click Save, top right. A new brief has to belong to a client's project, so the Save Brief dialog opens next.
Tip: You can start a brief from inside a project instead: the project page's brief action opens the same builder with the client's name and email already filled in and the project already linked.
How to build and edit the questions
The service templates are a starting point, not a rule. Reword anything, drop questions you don't need, and add your own before you send.
In the Questions card, click a question's text to reword it, and use the smaller field under it to add helper text the client sees below the question.
Use the type dropdown on the right to change what the client answers with: Short text, Long text, Email, Phone, Choose one, Choose many or File upload.
For Choose one and Choose many, type the options into the box that appears, one per line.
Tick Required to stop the client moving past that question without answering it.
Use the ↑ and ↓ arrows on the left to reorder a question, and the ✕ on the right to remove it.
Click + Add question for a new question at the end, or + Add section for a heading that groups the ones below it.
Click Save when you're done.
Tip: Sections aren't questions — the client never answers them. They just break a long form into readable chunks, and their names show above each question as the client works through.
How to assign a brief to a client and project
Briefs live inside a client's project, so the first save asks which one. That's what links the brief to the rest of the job and lets sending it move the project along your pipeline.
Click Save on a new brief. The Save Brief dialog opens.
Start typing in the search box to find the client by name, company or email, then click their row.
If they aren't there yet, click New client, fill in their name (and email and company if you have them), and click Create client.
Pick the project the brief belongs to from the list, or click New project, name it and click Create project.
The brief saves and opens. Its client name and email are filled in from the client you chose.
Tip: Lost projects aren't offered as a target. Reopen the project as a lead first if you're picking the job back up.
How to send a brief to a client
Sending emails the client a private link to their form. Nothing is sent until you do this, so you can leave a brief as a draft for as long as you like.
Open the brief and click Send brief, top right.
Check the Client name and Email. The email is required, and it's where the link goes.
Add anyone else who should get it in Also send to, separated by commas. This is optional.
Click Send brief. Your latest edits are saved first, then the email goes out.
The status chip at the top left changes to Sent, and the linked project moves to the Brief sent stage.
Tip: Prefer to send it yourself? Click Copy link instead and paste the URL into your own email or a message. It's the same link the email carries.
How to see what your client sees
The link opens a one-question-at-a-time form on your studio's dark brief screen. Preview walks the same flow from the admin so you can check it before it goes out.
Click Preview, top right of the builder, to open the client's view in a new tab. Your latest edits are saved first, and nothing you type in a preview is recorded.
The client starts on a title screen and clicks Begin.
They answer one question at a time, using Back and Next to move, with a progress ring and "Question X of Y" at the top.
The save icon next to Next saves their progress and tells them to come back later. Progress also saves by itself as they type, so the same link picks up where they left off.
After the last question they get a Review your answers screen, where they can click any answer to change it.
They click Submit brief and get a thank-you screen. You get an email, and the brief turns Completed.
Tip: A File upload question lets the client attach guidelines, logos or references, up to 20MB per file. Previews can't take attachments, so that question shows a placeholder instead.
How to read a submitted brief
Once a client submits, the brief stops being editable and opens as their answers instead, laid out against the questions you asked.
Open Project Tools → Briefs. A red dot marks a brief whose answers you haven't opened yet.
Click the brief. It opens as a read-only page with a Completed chip and the date it was submitted.
Read down the answers. Anything the client skipped shows as "No answer".
Click a file name to download an attachment the client uploaded.
Opening the page clears the red dot, here and on the client's row.
Tip: You'll also find the brief on the client's page under the Briefs tab, and on the project it belongs to.
How to find a brief and read its status
Every brief you've made is listed newest first, with its services and where it's got to. A brief is a Draft until you send it, Sent once the client has the link, and Completed once they submit.
Open Project Tools → Briefs from the sidebar.
Read each row: the brief title, the client under it, the services it covers, and the status chip on the right.
Draft means only you can see it. Sent means the client has the link. Completed means they've submitted their answers.
Click the Filter picker above the list and choose a status to show only those briefs.
Choose All to go back to the full list.
Tip: Sending a brief moves its project to the Brief sent stage, so the client's row in Clients changes too. Re-sending never pushes a project backwards.
How to edit or resend a brief
A brief stays editable after it's sent, and the client always sees the current version — the link never changes. Resend it if the email got lost or you've added questions.
Open the brief from Project Tools → Briefs.
Change the title, turn services on or off, or edit the questions as usual.
Click Save. The client sees the new version next time they open their link.
To send it again, click Send brief and confirm the dialog. The same link goes out, to the same address or a different one.
The status stays Sent and the original send date is kept.
Tip: Editing a brief a client has part-filled can strand their saved answers against questions that no longer exist. Tell them before you change one mid-flight. Completed briefs can't be edited at all.
How to delete a brief
Deleting removes the form, the link and any answers the client sent. There's no undo, so it's for tests and duplicates rather than tidying.
Open the brief you want to remove.
Click ••• at the top right.
Choose Delete brief.
Confirm when your browser asks. You land back on the Briefs list, or on the project the brief belonged to.
The client's link stops working straight away.
Tip: If you only want it out of the way, leave it as a draft instead — drafts are never sent and never seen by anyone but your team.