Overview
Project durations give you a built-in benchmark for how long a project should take. By setting an expected duration on a project template, Ailo automatically calculates the due date when a project is created — and flags projects that run over time so nothing slips through the cracks.
Setting up expected durations on templates
To add a duration to a project template:
- Go to Settings > Project templates and select a template (or create a new one)
- Find the Expected project duration (optional) field
- Enter the number of days this project type should take (e.g. 30 days for a standard repair and maintenance project)
- Click Save
From now on, any project created from this template will have its due date automatically set based on the start date plus the expected duration.
Ailo's default templates come with pre-set durations out of the box.
How due dates are auto-populated
When you create a project from a template that has an expected duration, Ailo sets the due date for you. For example, if the template duration is 30 days and the start date is 15 January, the due date will be set to 14 February.
You'll see a note beneath the due date field: "Expected duration for this project template is 30 days".
The due date is still editable — you can change it manually if a specific project needs a different timeline.
Seeing duration status on a project
On the project detail page, you'll see the number of days the project has been open beneath the due date (e.g. "Open 15 days" or "Open 32 days").
- If the project is within its expected duration, a clock icon appears next to the day count.
- If the project has exceeded its expected duration, a warning icon appears and the text changes to reflect how long it's been open. Hovering over the icon shows the expected duration (e.g. "Expected duration for this project is 30 days").
Spotting over-duration projects in the project list
On the Projects list, projects that have exceeded their expected duration show a warning icon next to their due date. Hovering over the icon shows how many days over the expected duration the project is (e.g. "2 days over expected duration (30 days)").
Over-duration projects also display their due date in red for quick visual scanning.
Filtering by duration
A new Duration filter is available on the project list. You can filter by:
- Under expected project duration — shows only projects still within their expected timeframe
- Over expected project duration — shows only projects that have exceeded their expected timeframe
This makes it easy to pull up a focused view of all projects that need attention.
FAQs
- Existing projects are not affected. Durations only apply to projects created after the template is updated.
- Duration is locked at creation. If you create a project from a template with a 3-day duration and later change the template to 5 days, the original project keeps its 3-day duration.
- Durations are optional. You don't have to set a duration on a template — projects without one will work the same as before, with no duration indicators.