Tags

A tag is a label on a project. Tags are the only mechanism in cadence. that cuts across projects, which makes them the foundation of every portfolio view.

Creating and applying tags#

Add tags to a project from the project page. A tag has a name and a colour, and is created the first time it is used.

Tags in the sidebar lists every tag in the workspace. Each one links to its dashboard.

Choosing a scheme#

A tag is worth having if you would ever want to see all the projects that carry it, side by side. That test rules out most of what people are tempted to tag.

Schemes that work:

• Brand or product line — Sparkling, Chilled, Own Label
• Business unit or region — UK & Ireland, DACH
• Portfolio or programme — 2026 Innovation, Cost Reduction
• Class of work — NPD, Reformulation, Packaging Change

Schemes that do not:

• Status — projects already have a status, and it stays current on its own.
• Owner — that is the project manager field.
• Priority — it will be wrong within a month, and nobody will fix it.

Two to four tags per project is a healthy range. A project with nine tags belongs to no portfolio in particular.

What a tag gives you#

Every tag has a full portfolio dashboard: headline gate counts, a gate wall showing where every project is stuck, then risk, workload, distribution charts, a portfolio timeline, and consolidated blockers and comments.

Tags are also commentable, which makes the tag page a reasonable home for portfolio-level discussion — the sort that concerns five projects and belongs on none of them individually.

Renaming and removing#

Renaming a tag updates it everywhere. Removing a tag from a project only removes the association; the tag survives as long as another project uses it.