> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.terriqon.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a Project in Terriqon

> Create a Project — the container that holds your registry or form, team, KPIs, submissions, documents, and AI reports. Step-by-step field-by-field walkthrough.

A **Project** is the top-level container everything else in Terriqon lives inside. Your forms, registries, KPIs, activities, documents, and AI reports all belong to one project each — which is why creating a project is the second thing you do (after inviting your [team](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/managing-team-members.md)) and before anything else. This guide walks you through the create-project form field by field, then covers what you see once the project exists.

For the underlying model — what a project holds, and how Path A vs Path B fits in — see [Projects](https://docs.terriqon.com/concepts/projects.md).

## Before You Start

A project is a container for one funding cycle or programme implementation phase, so give it real scope before you start clicking. A few minutes of thinking here saves rework later:

* **What is this project actually doing?** "Food-security programme in rural Sindh, 2,000 households, 12 months" is a project. "General M\&E work" isn't specific enough to design the rest around.
* **Are you tracking entities over time, or running one-off collection?** If you're following individuals, facilities, schools, or assets across multiple visits, you'll build a [Registry Type](https://docs.terriqon.com/concepts/registry-types.md) next (Path A). If you're running surveys or monitoring checklists, you go straight to a standalone [Form](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/building-forms.md) (Path B). Either choice works inside one project; you can also do both.
* **Who's overseeing this?** You'll assign one or more Managers to the project, so know who they are before you start (or invite them from the [Team Members](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/managing-team-members.md) page in a separate tab).
* **Who's funding it?** You can add Donors during creation or later, but having the answer handy speeds things up.

## Creating a Project

**1. Open the Create Project form**

Go to **Projects** in the left sidebar and click **Create Project**. A three-section form opens.

**2. Fill in Project Fundamentals**

This is the section that gives your project its identity in the platform. Required fields are marked; everything else can be added later.

| Field | Required | Notes |
| - | - | - |
| **Project Name** | Yes | The project's primary display name across every view — submissions, reports, exports, dashboards. |
| **Project ID** | Yes | Auto-assigned (e.g. `PRJ-001`). Toggle **Manual ID** if you want to enter a custom identifier that matches your donor's or organization's project-code convention. |
| **Start Date** | Yes | You can't set an End Date until this is filled. |
| **End Date** | No | Must be after Start Date. Once this date passes without the project being marked Completed, it's flagged **overdue** on the dashboard. |
| **Status** | No | Active, Pending, Completed, or Cancelled. Set the current stage; you can change it later. Completed and Cancelled projects are locked for editing (see [Editing Later](#editing-later) below). |
| **Thematic Area** | No | Free text — for example, Health, Education, WASH, Livelihood. Used for filtering across your projects and for reporting context. |
| **Description** | No | Up to 500 characters. A live character counter appears in the bottom-right of the field. Use it to capture the project's goals in one paragraph. |

> [!TIP]
>
> Consistent project IDs pay off at scale. Prefix related forms and documents with the project ID — for example, `PRJ-001 — Beneficiary Registration` and `PRJ-001 — Monthly Follow-up` — so the global submissions view, reports list, and document folders stay easy to navigate once you have ten or more projects running.

**3. Set Location and Scope**

Location is optional but worth filling in — it powers the Map View in dashboards, ties submissions to a place, and gives donor reports geographic context.

* **Country** — pick from the searchable dropdown. Selecting a country unlocks the State list for that country.
* **State** — unlocks after Country is chosen; the list is filtered to that country.
* **Cities** — unlocks after State. Multi-select — add every city the project operates in.

If your programme covers multiple countries or states, create one project per operational area rather than trying to fit everything into one. Multi-country reporting rolls up through the Portfolio Report and Portfolio Dashboard.

**4. Assign Stakeholders**

Two multi-select fields — both optional, both can be added or changed later.

* **Donor(s)** — the organizations funding the project. If a donor isn't in the dropdown yet, click **Create new** to add them inline without leaving the page. Donors surface on donor reports and in the project's Donors & Managers tab.
* **Manager(s)** — the Managers overseeing the project. Same quick-create option: if the Manager you need isn't on the roster yet, add them inline. Managers assigned here get project-level access to the Dashboard, Forms, KPIs, Documents, and Reports tabs.

Field Officers are **not** assigned at the project level — they're assigned per form, once forms exist. See [Building Forms → Assigning Field Officers](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/building-forms.md#assigning-field-officers).

**5. Create**

Click **Create Project**. You land on the project's detail page, ready to attach the rest of your setup.

## What You See After Creation

Every project has a sticky top navigation with the same seven tabs. Some will be empty until you attach things to them.

| Tab | What lives here |
| - | - |
| **Dashboard** | Real-time analytics: KPI progress rings, submission charts, activity timelines, response rates, GPS map. Exportable as PDF. Populates as data arrives. |
| **Overview** | Project metadata — name, ID, status, thematic area, dates, overdue flag, location. |
| **Forms** | Every form in this project, with submission counts, publish status, and bulk actions. |
| **KPI & Activities** | KPIs and the activities under them, with progress bars and status colors. |
| **Donors & Managers** | Stakeholder cards with unassign actions. |
| **Documents** | Project-scoped file storage — folders, uploads, previews, trash bin. |
| **Reports** | AI-generated reports. Only appears once the project has at least one published form with submissions. |

## Next Steps

With the project in place, follow the setup path that matches how you're collecting data:

**Path A — tracking entities over time.** If you're following beneficiaries, facilities, schools, or assets:

1. Create a [Registry Type](https://docs.terriqon.com/concepts/registry-types.md) that defines the entity's schema (attributes, primary identifier, lifecycle statuses).
2. [Build a Form](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/building-forms.md) whose fields match the registry, and link the two.
3. [Set up KPIs and Activities](https://docs.terriqon.com/concepts/projects.md#kpis-activities-and-reports) on the project.
4. [Field Officers start submitting data](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/collecting-data.md).

**Path B — one-off surveys or monitoring.** If your data collection doesn't need to update entity records:

1. [Build a Form](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/building-forms.md) directly — no registry needed.
2. [Set up KPIs and Activities](https://docs.terriqon.com/concepts/projects.md#kpis-activities-and-reports) on the project.
3. [Field Officers start submitting data](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/collecting-data.md).

You can run Path A and Path B forms in the same project side by side — for example, a registry-linked beneficiary registration form and a standalone monthly monitoring form.

## Editing Later

Most project fields can be updated at any time from the **Overview** tab — rename it, adjust the end date, add another city, change the thematic area.

One behavior is worth knowing about: once a project's **Status** is changed to **Completed** or **Cancelled**, the project is **locked for editing**. Submissions, reports, and dashboards remain fully readable — historical data is never removed — but new edits are blocked to preserve the record. If you need to reopen a locked project temporarily, an Organization Admin can append `?bypass=true` to the project URL to override the lock.

> [!NOTE]
>
> On plan downgrade, existing projects and their data are never removed — only your ability to create **new** projects above the new plan's cap is paused. Complete or cancel projects you no longer need, or upgrade again, to unlock new-project creation.


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