Project Prefix To Identify Team

I have found it helpful to add a prefix to a Project that identifies the Team because to the best of my knowledge there are a lot of Advanced Searches that do not identify the Team. If I am incorrect about this, please let me know. This allows me to immediately identify the Team that a Project belongs to. For instance the Team Accounting Department has all projects begin with ACTY|. Thoughts? See the attachment. I am still thinking about this because I know that Teams can be selected in Advanced Search-Add Filters-More-Teams. I am trying to determine if this adds immediate identification when Teams are not selected in Advance Search or it clutters. It does reduce the risk of duplicate project names which I have indicated in previous posts messes with Project Conversation email address.

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It would be nice if Advanced Search Custom had a primary sort and a secondary sort.

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yes I like this idea-- because I have a “marketing” or “general” project in multiple projects, and it gets confusing; right now there is nothing too sensitive, but I could imagine dropping the wrong task into the wrong project and having some really bad or embarrassing things happen as a result; so I think any move that improves the User Experience is a good move, and being able to easily identify which “Team” the projects of same names belong to would be good, bc last I checked it was a bit confusing.

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@JCarl We use a prefix system and it has proven to be super helpful. It helps me distinguish between teams, solves the problem of multiple projects with the same name, and keeps everything organized in my side bar, as well. I organize projects by prefix and color coordinate by prefix, too. For instance, everything specific to the customer success team has the prefix CS. Ex. “CS Content Plan.”

I recommend that you do use the prefix system. However, it looks like the long prefix you listed, ACTY|, would make things feel cluttered. If you can shorten all prefixes to 2 or 3 letters, you’ll probably find that your projects and side bar don’t feel so cluttered. Color coordination helps, too! Just use the drop down arrow next to project title, decide if you want the color to be changed for everyone (see the checkbox), and then select the color.

Here’s how my sidebar looks…without revealing too much :wink:



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you need icons to satisfy the users who learn via visuals; and for the sake of efficiency-- an icon is quicker to identify than some letters

@FATBOY Yes, an icon is a good option, as well. Whatever system works best for you and your team. :slight_smile:

@alexis Just wanted to drop you a note that the prefix is working just fine, even some that are slightly longer :slight_smile: Maybe its the CFO background but I would never remember 19 different icons across my example of the Church I am helping. I guess some are visual identifiers and some are prefix. We all learn and recognize differently. I guarantee I know that ACTY is accounting versus an icon of a head with a green visor and thick glasses :slight_smile: Always good to keep a sense of humor here :slight_smile:

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I’ve seen prefixes, abbreviations, the full team name, or unicode characters work well. As you mentioned @JCarl, if often depends on the preferences of the team.

@FATBOY You can use Pictograph unicode characters as “icons” in the name. I’ve done that with Milestones in my project, and it works well for visual distinction in the project and also for quick searches.


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Still need to be careful that special characters are not recognized by Asana for creation of Team and Project Conversation email addresses so duplication could occur if you think they are what distinguishes.

! " # $ % & ’ ( ) * + , – . : ; < = > ? @ [ \ ] ^ ` { | } ~

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@JCarl - You’re always helping me learn something new about Asana! I hadn’t come across the special characters issue yet…and I work here! :smiley: Thanks for the feedback, as well.

@Kaitie I like your pictograph idea! Great solution. I’ve learned a lot in this thread. :blush:



thanks everyone this should work! :smile: @JCarl @Kaitie @Alexis

I found this great resource to quickly find and copy/paste the various Unicode characters SYMBL (◕‿◕) Symbols, Emojis, Characters, Scripts, Alphabets, Hieroglyphs and the entire Unicode

When you click on a specific character you get a modal that allows you to copy it directly to the clipboard and then you can paste where you need. I found a few that I wanted to use and put it in a Card where I started tracking our Colors, Tags, and Prefixes to use throughout Asana for our organization.

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Ooh this is so cool, @briankb!

When I do a search for a special character ! " # $ % & ’ ( ) * + , – . : ; < = > ? @ [ \ ] ^ ` { | } ~ or a pictograph, everything in my list comes up! I think you need to use a two-letter combination to enable searching.

I’m searching for a way to indicate people who are outside of the project. My ideal would be to use a special character plus initial such as >sjr That use case is what brought me to this conversation. Any suggestions welcomed!

As I have indicated earlier in the thread, special characters seem to be problematic. On email addresses to Asana, they are converted to a dash “-”. Try using a “-” and see if this works.

Thanks for the suggestion. Searches for “-abc” and “abc” return the same results, so the “-” offers no benefit.

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Thanks for sharing the unicode link @briankb ! I regularly use characters from Emojipedia in my tasks. I’m especially a fan of the :infinity: infinity symbol to distinguish ongoing tasks and the color blocks for demarcating steps in a process from section to section. :red_square: :orange_square: :yellow_square:.