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Custom dates capture the key milestones of one onboarding portal, such as kickoff, hardware delivery, go-live, or the end of a trial. Mark one date as the countdown and the portal shows the days remaining. This guide is for MSP staff. Clients can see the dates but cannot change them.
These steps use the unified Projects experience. If your organization still uses the earlier experience, open the company’s Onboarding tab and select Manage dates on Overview.

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Before you start

  • You need onboarding read access to view dates. Adding, editing, and deleting dates needs onboarding write access (write_settings_onboarding) and an active subscription.
  • You need an onboarding portal. See Managing Portals.

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Why use custom dates

  • Anchor the onboarding to a deadline so clients know when it must be done.
  • Track milestones beyond the built-in portal status.
  • Show clients a days-remaining counter.
  • Start every portal with the same milestones from your template.

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Open the dates manager

Use either entry point. Both edit the same dates.
1

Open the project

Go to Projects, choose Project category > Onboarding projects, and open the project.
2

Choose where to edit

Select Client Portal > Key dates to edit in place. Or go to Overview > MSP Dashboard and select Manage dates to edit in a dialog.
Each date shows in a list. The date marked as the countdown has a Countdown badge. A date with no target shows No date set.

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Add a date

1

Start a new date

Select Add Date.
2

Fill in the fields

Enter a Label (required), such as “Go-Live” or “Hardware Delivery”. Add a Description if you want one. Choose a Target Date, or leave it empty if you have not agreed on one.
3

Choose the countdown

Turn on Show countdown to use this date as the portal countdown. Only one date per portal can have it on. Turning it on for another date and saving clears it from the earlier date.
4

Save

Select Add Date to create it, or Save Changes when you edit an existing one. Wait for the success message. Cancel discards the edit.
Each date saves on its own. There is no separate save for the whole list. Closing the dialog does not save an edit you have not submitted.

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Edit or delete a date

1

Edit a date

Select Edit date on the row. Change the label, description, target date, or countdown, then select Save Changes.
2

Delete a date

Select Delete date on the row, then select Delete to confirm. Deleting a date does not remove portal tasks or phases.

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How the countdown shows

A date with a target date shows how far away it is.
  • Today or Due today on the target date.
  • N days left before the target date.
  • N days overdue after it.
A date with no target date cannot show a countdown. A countdown counts calendar days and does not tick like a clock. An overdue date does not complete, block, or reschedule any task. If a save fails when you switch the countdown to another date, check both rows and set the one you want.

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What clients see

The client portal’s overview shows up to three key dates as tiles. Each tile has the label, the days left, due today, or days overdue, and the target date. The countdown date comes first, then the others by how soon they are. Dates with no target date are not shown. Clients never see edit controls or internal fields such as template references and timestamps. To check the client view, select View as in the page header and pick a contact.

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Add dates to a template

Template dates give every new portal the same milestones. They use an offset in days from the portal start instead of a fixed date.
1

Open the template

Go to Settings > Projects > Templates > Templates, open a template, and choose Dates from the template menu.
2

Add a date

Select Add Date. Enter a Label, an optional Description, and Offset from portal start (days). Leave the offset blank to fill the date in by hand on each portal.
3

Choose a default countdown

Turn on Show countdown for the date new portals should count down to. Only one date per template can have it on.
For example, “Kickoff = day 0, Hardware = day 14, Go-Live = day 45” gives every new portal those milestones. The offsets turn into real dates when the portal is created. A draft that you start days later does not shift its dates, so check the dates before you start the portal. Existing portals are not affected when you change the template dates.

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Troubleshooting

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Frequently asked questions

Yes. Leave Target Date empty. It cannot show a countdown until it has a date.
No. Select Add Date or Save Changes and wait for success. Cancel discards the edit. Dates you already saved stay.
No. Offsets are worked out when the portal is created. Edit the target dates before you start the portal if the schedule changed.
No. A key date is a separate record. Review task due dates and dependencies on their own.
No. It shows how many calendar days have passed since the date. Check task progress and blockers separately.