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Description Field

Regular and external users on all account types can edit the description field.

⏱ 3 min read

Overview

The description field is a real-time live editor available in tasks, folders, and projects. Information in the description field is automatically and instantly saved so that you and your teammates can work on the same item at the same time and see the changes you make in real time. When someone else is editing the same description, you will see a cursor with the name of the user who is making changes.

Access the description field:

  • Tasks: from the Task view.
  • Folders and projects: from the folder or project info panels.

Text Editing and Formatting Tools

Once you place your cursor in the description field of a task, folder or project, the formatting tools panel appears above the description field. Use the icons on the panel to edit and format the description.

Description_Field_-_Formatting_Tool_Panel.png

Icon on the Formatting Tool Panel Function Available Commands

Description_Field_-_Insert_Heading.png Insert Heading

 Adds heading formatting to text Select text, click the “Insert Heading” icon and select a heading from the dropdown menu
Description_Field_-_Bold.png Bold Makes text bold 1) Click the “Bold” icon
2) Press Ctrl+B on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Italics.png Italics Makes text italic 1) Click the “Italics” icon
2) Press Ctrl+i on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Underline.png Underline Underlines text 1) Click the “Underline” icon
2) Press Ctrl+U on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Strikethrough.png Strikethrough Adds a strikethrough to text Click the "Strikethrough" icon
Description_Field_-_Colors.png Colors Highlights text and changes its color.
Resets text to default: black symbols on a white background 		1) To highlight text, click the “Colors” icon and select a color from the “Background” section of the drop-down.
2) To change the text color, click the “Colors” icon and select a color from the “Text” section of the drop-down.
3) To clear all color formatting, select text, click the “Colors” icon, then click “Reset to default” in the drop-down.
Description_Field_-_Tasklist.png Tasklist Creates a new tasklist or converts existing text in a tasklist. In tasklists, each item has a checkbox next to it; when you check the box, the item is greyed out 1) Click the “Tasklist” icon
2) Type "[]" at the beginning of a new line and press a space button on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Toggle_Ordered_List.png 
Toggle Ordered List		 Creates a new numbered list or converts existing text into a numbered list

1) Click the “Toggle Ordered List” icon
2) Type any number followed by a dot at the beginning of a new line, for example, “1.”, and press the space button
Description_Field_-_Toggle_Bullet_List.png Toggle Bullet List Creates a new bulleted list or converts existing text into a bulleted list

1) Click the “Toggle Bullet List” icon
2) Type "*" or “-” at the beginning of a new line and press the space button

Description_Field_-_Indent.png Indent and

Description_Field_-_Unindent.png Unindent

 The first button makes the line of text indented, the second one unindents it 1) Click the “Indent” or “Unindent” icon
2) Press Tab or Shift+tab respectively on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Insert_Image.png Insert Image Inserts image in the description Please see below
Description_Field_-_Insert_Link.png Insert Link Hyperlinks highlighted text 1) Highlight the relevant text and click the “Insert link” icon, paste the link in the window that appears.
2) Highlight the text and press Ctrl+K on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Insert_Table.png Insert Table Creates a new table in the description Please see below
Description_Field_-_Undo.png Undo Reverses your last action in the description field 1) Click the "Undo" icon
2) Press Ctrl+Z on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Redo.png Redo Reverses your last Undo action 1) Click the "Redo" icon
2) Press Ctrl+Y on your keyboard
Description_Field_-_Version_History.png Version History Opens the window showing all changes made to the description field Please see below

Wrike Tips! 

  • Select some text before using formatting tools to apply formatting to the text.
  • To avoid automatic conversion of “*”, “-”, "[]" and numbers followed by a dot into bulleted and numbered list items and tasklists, press down the Shift key before pressing Space on your keyboard. Alternatively, use the “Undo” button on the panel or Ctrl+Z on the keyboard to undo the automatic conversion.
  • Use the “Indent” button to turn items within your numbered and bulleted lists into a sublist. “Unindent” reverses this action.

Images in the Description Field

To add an image to the description field:

  1. Click the “Insert Image” icon on the tool panel.
  2. Click on the “Choose images” button in the window that appears to select an image from your computer. Or click on the “Attachments” tab to select one of the images attached to the current task, folder, or project.
  3. Click "Insert."

A thumbnail of the image is added to the description field and if the image was uploaded from the computer, it’s added as an attachment to this task, folder, or project. Hover over the thumbnail and click the three-dot menu to either open, expand, or delete the image.
Also, you can add images from the description of other items in your Wrike account, or from outside of Wrike, simply by copying and pasting them into the description field. This way, a thumbnail of the image is added to the description field and the same image is added as an attachment.

Tables in the Description Field

You can create a new table or copy a table from any place outside of Wrike and paste it into the description field.

To create a new table click the “Insert Table” icon on the tool panel. Next, apply the size for the table (the maximum size of a new table is 8x15 but you can add more rows and columns later).

To edit the table:

  1. Hover over the cell in the row or column you wish to edit.
  2. Click the three-dot menu which appears in the right corner of the cell.
  3. Select one of the following options that are available from the menu:
    • Insert row above
    • Insert row below
    • Insert column on the left
    • Insert column on the right
    • Delete row
    • Delete column
    • Delete table

Table Hot Keys

  • To automatically create a new table row, press the "Tab" key on your keyboard while the cursor is in the last cell of the table (the cell on the right side of the bottom row).
  • Press Tab once to move the cursor from the current cell to the neighboring one on the right. Once you reach the last column, pressing Tab moves the cursor to the first, left-most cell in the row below.
  • Press Shift+Tab to move the cursor between cells from right to left and to the above row.

Description Updates in the Activity Stream

When someone makes a change in the description field, an entry is added to the task, folder, or project’s Activity Stream showing that a user updated the description. Click on the “Updated description” text in the activity stream to see a pop-up of the changes that a user or users made. If several users were editing the description at the same time, each user’s changes are highlighted with a different color.

Track Changes in the Description Field

The Version History tool allows you to:

  • See all changes that have been made in the description field.
  • Restore a previous version of the description field's content.
  • See when changes were made and by whom.

To see the Version History:

  1. Open a task in Task view.
  2. Click the “Version History” icon on the tool panel.
  3. The “Version history” pop-up window opens.

The list of all description versions is displayed to the right of the description field content in the pop-up window. Each entry contains changes made within a one-minute period or less.
Users who edited this version are listed in the upper-right corner of the description field. Each user's profile image is outlined with a colored line. That same color is used to highlight all changes made by the user within the description field.

To open the needed description version:

  1. Click the entry with the needed date and time to the right of the description field.
  2. If multiple changes were made within one minute, the dropdown list with all these versions opens.
  3. Select the needed version from the list.
  4. The description to the left changes to the version that was saved at this exact moment.

To restore a version:

  1. Click on the needed entry from the list to the right of the description field.
  2. Click the “Restore” button at the bottom of the pop-up window.

The selected version will be displayed in the description field.

Hyperlinks in the Description Field

Adding links to the task, folder, or project description field is available to all users (except collaborators) on all account types.
When you add a link to the description field and hit "Space" or "Enter" Wrike will recognize it and make it clickable.
Please note that this only works for links from the list of supported URL schemes. Account owners and admins on Enterprise accounts with the specific right enabled can configure which links should be added to the list.

Supported URL schemes

Following URL schemes are supported by default and are recognized by Wrike:

  • "http://"
  • "https://"
  • "mailto:"
  • "sftp://"
  • "ftp://"
  • "ftps://"
  • "file://"
  • "smb://"
  • "afp://"
  • "nfs://"
  • "man://"
  • "x-man://"
  • "gopher://"
  • "txmt://"
  • "conisio://"
  • "starteam://"
  • "calshow://"
  • "onenote://"
  • "onenote:http://"
  • "onenote:https://"
  • "notes://"
  • "shareddrive:"
  • "d3://

Add URLs to the List

Account owners and admins on Enterprise accounts with the right to configure advanced security settings can add other URLs to the list. To do so:

  1. Click on your profile picture at the upper-right hand corner of the workspace.
  2. Select "Settings" from the list.
  3. Open the "Security" tab.
  4. Scroll to the URL Whitelist.
  5. Click the "Add URL" button.
  6. Enter the URL and click "Add."
  7. Click "Save changes."

To delete a URL from the list of schemes click the X to the right of the URL.

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