Workspace tags

By default, tags in Dovetail live in a specific project and can’t be shared across projects. Workspace tag boards enable you to pull in and apply common 'global' tags that can be linked to and re-used across different projects.

When you create a workspace tag board, you’ll need to link the tag board to one or more projects so each project can use the tags.

Inside a project, nothing changes – tags are seamlessly integrated with existing tags inside a project. You can create highlights like normal, choosing workspace tags or project tags without too much thought.

Workspace tag boards are ‘live’ – changes you make to tags in a workspace tag board will immediately be reflected in all linked projects. In this sense, workspace tag boards in Dovetail are similar to Masters in Keynote, Symbols, and Libraries in Sketch, and Components in Figma.

Managers can create workspace tag boards. To create a workspace tag board in Dovetail:

1. To create a workspace tag board, navigate to ⚙️ Settings > Tags > Create new workspace tag board.

2. From there, you can populate this board with individual tags by selecting + New tag or importing a spreadsheet of existing global tags.

Contributors can add individual tags to a workspace tag board.

You can also create a workspace tag board by linking and converting another project's local tag board.

For example, in Project A you can view Project B's tag board created. If Project B's board is linked to Project A, Project B's tag board will be converted to a workspace tag board as it is used in 2 projects. To link and convert a project's local tag board to a workspace tag board:

1. Click on the ••• next to the tag board name

2. Click Convert to workspace tag board

Once you’ve created your workspace tag board, you’ll want to link it to relevant projects. To link a workspace tag board to a project:

1. Navigate to a project.

2. Click + next to Tags in the side menu

3. Click Use and existing board

4. Search for and select the tag board you want to link

5. Click Link to project if you want to link the project to the tag board, or Duplicate if you'd like to create a local copy of the board.

Workspace tags can be organized into boards and groups. This works the same as a project – you can organize your tags, change their color, rename the groups, and so on. There are two ways to organize, edit, and delete the tags:

1. Navigate to the tag board through workspace settings; or

2. Edit tags in-context inside any linked project by opening the tag board from the side menu.

Move tags

You can move tags from a project to a workspace tag board, or from one workspace tag board to another. To move a tag:

1. Hover your mouse over the tag you'd like to move and click on the (•••) button.

2. Click Move to….

3. Choose a tag board, and tag group to move the tag to.

You can undo this action immediately after by clicking the Undo button on the confirmation message in the bottom right corner.

Merge tags

You can move tags from a project to a workspace tag board, or from one workspace tag board to another. To merge a tag:

1. Hover your mouse over the tag you'd like to move and click on the (•••) button.

2. Click Merge into….

3. Choose the tag you want to merge your current tag into.

You can limit who has full, edit, and view access to a shared workspace tag board in the workspace.

• To do this, open the workspace tag board, select Share, and assign View only access to the workspace. You will be the only user with Full access to the board.

• From there, you choose to invite other team members or groups to share Full access, Edit access, or View access to the board.

Any manager or contributor with View only access to the board can link the tag board to a project, but cannot add or remove tags from this board.

Templates help you standardize user research across your organization by giving other people a starting set of data, tags, and project configuration to begin new projects from.

Workspace tag boards can be linked directly to project templates. By linking a board, any new project created from your template will automatically include your workspace tag boards and connect related data across projects.

Learn how to link a workspace tag board to a project template.

When you unlink workspace tag boards from a project, any tags, boards, and groups in the workspace tag board will be duplicated into the project once the link is broken. This may result in a lot of duplicated tags and highlights which you’ll need to clean up. To unlink a project and an extension:

1. Navigate to Tags in the side menu within project.

2. Click on the linked project

3. Toggle on or off the projects you'd like to link the workspace tag board to

A deleted workspace tag board goes to workspace trash where it can be restored for 30 days. Managers and contributors who have Full access to a tag board can delete this by:

1. Navigate to a workspace tag board and click on the (•••) button.

2. Click Delete.