Activities and Activity Tags

Activities are the running record of work on a matter. Every activity belongs to a matter and can carry one or more tags that categorize it.

Viewing Recent Activity

  1. Click Recent Activity in the left navigation panel
  2. The Firmwide Activities list opens, showing activities across all matters with their tags, matter, staff member, and date
  3. The number next to Firmwide Activities shows how many activities are listed

Creating an Activity

  1. Click adjacent to Recent Activity in the left navigation panel
  2. The New Activity form opens
  3. Fill in the activity details:
    • Matter - The matter this activity belongs to (required)
    • Tags - One or more activity tags (optional)
    • Activity Date - Defaults to now. Adjusting to a future date makes the activity “Sticky”
    • Description - Enter the activity text in the editor (required)
  4. Click Save

After saving, the Activity Detail preview opens and shows the attached matter, the description, and any tags.

If the selected matter has related cases, a Share this activity with related cases toggle is also shown. See Related Cases.

To discard the form, click Cancel. The form closes without creating an activity.

Editing an Activity

  1. Open the activity from the Firmwide Activities list
  2. In Activity Detail, click Edit Activity Details
  3. Update the description
  4. Click Save

Deleting an Activity

  1. Open the activity to view Activity Detail
  2. Click Delete Activity
  3. Confirm the deletion

If the activity is shared with related cases, deleting it removes it from all related matters.

General Staff users can edit and delete only activities they created within the last 72 hours. For older activities, or activities created by someone else, the Delete Activity button is disabled. Power Users and higher roles can delete any activity. See User Roles and Permissions.

Adding or Changing Tags on an Activity

  1. Open the activity to view Activity Detail
  2. Click Add Tags (or Edit Tags if the activity already has tags)
  3. Select one or more tags from the list
  4. Click Save

The updated tags appear in the preview and in the Firmwide Activities list.

Setting a Default Tag

After you select a tag, an Always add link appears below the tag list. Click it to make that tag your default. Your default tag is filled in automatically when you add tags to an activity that has none. When your default tag is the last tag selected, the link changes to Clear … as default tag; click it to remove the default. The default tag is a personal setting and does not affect other users.

Searching Activities

  1. Click Recent Activity in the left navigation panel
  2. Type part of the activity description in the search box at the top of the Firmwide Activities column
  3. Matching activities are listed with their tags and matter

If nothing matches, the list shows No Items Available and the count shows 0.

Filtering Activities

Each column header in the activity list has a filter menu. Filters can be combined with each other and with the search box:

  • Activities - Filter by one or more tags. Click Pin next to a tag to keep it as a shortcut above the list
  • Staff - Filter by the staff member shown on the activity (shown on wider screens)
  • Date - Filter by a date range

For example, select a staff member under Staff, a range under Date, and a tag under Activities to find a document that person uploaded during that period.

Printing the Activity List

To save the activity list as a PDF, press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) and choose Save as PDF in the browser’s print dialog. The printout includes the activities currently listed, so apply any search or filters first. There is no Excel or CSV export for the activity list.

Managing Activity Tags

Activity tags are managed on the Activity Tags & Sharing page. Open the user menu in the top-right corner, click Firm Settings, then click Activity Tags & Sharing in the left navigation panel.

The page lists every tag. Drag and drop tags to set the default order shown in drop-down menus, or click Alphabetize. Tags marked Built-in are system generated, cannot be edited or deleted, and are not available when creating an activity manually.

Creating a Tag

  1. Click adjacent to Activity Tags & Sharing in the left navigation panel
  2. The Create Activity Tag form opens
  3. Enter the tag details:
    • Name/Label - The tag name (required, up to 128 characters, must be unique in your firm)
    • Description - Optional notes about the tag (up to 255 characters)
  4. Click Save

The tag’s detail page opens after saving.

Editing a Tag

  1. On the Activity Tags & Sharing page, click View Details on the tag
  2. Click Edit
  3. Update the Name/Label or Description
  4. Click Save, or click Cancel to keep the tag unchanged

Deleting a Tag

  1. Click View Details on the tag
  2. Click Delete
  3. Confirm the deletion

Only tags that are not in use can be deleted.

Tags and Automations

Automations can run when an activity is tagged with a specific tag. For example, tagging an activity “Settlement Demand” can automatically create follow-up items. See Automation Overview.

Who Can Manage Tags

Adding tags to activities is available to users who can edit activities. Creating Activity Tags requires additional permissions. General Staff users who click next to Activity Tags & Sharing see the message “Sorry, your account does not have sufficient privileges.” See User Roles and Permissions.

Troubleshooting

  • The activity will not save - Select a Matter and enter a description. An empty description shows “Nothing to say?”
  • “A tag with this name already exists.” - Tag names must be unique within your firm. Choose a different Name/Label
  • Name or description error on save - Name/Label is limited to 128 characters and Description to 255 characters
  • No Delete button on a tag - The tag is in use (“Tags in use cannot be deleted”). Remove it from its activities with Untag, or use Merge to combine it with another tag
  • A tag is missing from the New Activity form - Built-in tags cannot be selected when creating an activity manually

Common Questions

How do I find matters I haven't reviewed recently? How do I include the page title when printing activity notes?
More Matters questions

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