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Activity Sets

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An Activity Set generates a group of tasks and events at once, for processes you repeat.

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What they are

If you enter the same tasks or events repeatedly, an Activity Set generates them together rather than one at a time. It is a set of instructions to create tasks or events, which are then linked to the record the set is applied to. The tasks and events aren’t connected to each other or grouped in any way once created.

An Activity Set needs to be set up by your Insightly administrator. It can include calculated task due dates and event dates, can create activities directly for leads, contacts, organizations, opportunities, and projects, and can be embedded in a Pipeline stage for opportunities or projects.

Activity Set Creates Multiple Tasks and Events — Applying a single Activity Set automatically generates multiple tasks with staggered due dates and a scheduled event, saving users from creating each item individually. This illustrates how Activity Sets streamline workflow setup in Insightly CRM with just one action.

Setting up an Activity Set

You must be an Insightly administrator to set up an Activity Set.

  1. Click your profile icon and select System Settings > Activity Sets.
  2. Type a name for the set in the Activity Set Name field. Scroll down the page if you already have many Activity Sets listed.
  3. Tick the box or boxes for the objects that will use this Activity Set (Leads, Contacts, Organizations, Opportunities, or Projects). If you’re setting up an Activity Set to be used with a Pipeline, select the same object you’ll select when setting up the Pipeline.
  4. Click the Edit link to begin adding activities. The number next to the Activity Set Name indicates how many tasks and events are included, and you’ll see a zero until you’ve added activities.
  5. Click the Choose Activity Type list and select Task or Event.
  6. Enter the activity name and details. This information appears on every task or event created when the set is applied. Select a category, if applicable.
  7. Click Add Due Date if the task will include a due date. Enter the number of days, select whether to count forward from a start date or backward from an end date, and tick the boxes for any weekdays to skip in the date calculation. For events, you’ll choose the start time or all-day option, enter the duration, and choose which days to skip.
  8. For tasks, click Assigned To. Select a user who will always be responsible, or select Choose when applied to require a user to be selected manually each time.
  9. Tick the boxes indicating whether the item is visible to all users and, for tasks, whether you want an email reminder. Reminders are only sent for tasks assigned to yourself.
  10. Click Add New Activity to save the activity, and repeat until all activities have been added.

As you add tasks and events, they appear in the Activities view. You can modify them with the Edit/pencil icon, delete them with the trash can icon, and return to the Activity Set page by clicking the name of the set at the top.

Navigating to Activity Sets in System Settings — The screenshot shows the Insightly CRM System Settings page with the left sidebar expanded, highlighting the “Activity Sets” option under the Automation section. A red arrow points to Activity Sets, guiding users to its exact location for those who need to create or manage automated activity templates.

1 Navigating to Activity Sets in System Settings

 Adding a New Activity Set in Insightly — The image shows the Activity Sets configuration panel where a user is entering the name “Sales Follow-up” into a text field, with checkboxes to associate the activity set with Contacts, Organizations, Opportunities, Projects, or Leads. This is relevant for users learning how to create and categorize activity sets to automate task sequences across different record types in Insightly CRM.

2 Adding a New Activity Set in Insightly

 Selecting Task as New Activity Type — A dropdown menu is open under “Add New Activity,” showing options for “Choose Activity Type,” “Task,” and “Event,” with “Task” highlighted in blue. This illustrates how to choose an activity type when adding a new activity to a Sales Follow-up record in Insightly CRM.

3 Selecting Task as New Activity Type
Task Details Configuration with Due Date Settings — A Task Details form in Insightly CRM showing fields for task name, details, category, due date timing, and assignment options. The due date is set to trigger 1 day “After Activity Set Start Date,” which is relevant for users setting up automated task sequences tied to activity timelines.

4 Task Details Configuration with Due Date Settings

 Sales Follow-up Activity Template with Three Tasks — The image shows an Activities panel containing a “Sales Follow-up” template with three scheduled activities: a phone call task at day 1, an email task at day 3, and an in-person meeting event at day 5 after the start date. This demonstrates how users can automate a sequence of follow-up actions tied to relative start dates, which is useful for ensuring consistent sales outreach without manually scheduling each step.

5 Sales Follow-up Activity Template with Three Tasks

ℹ️ Deleting a set: On the Activity Sets page, use the Edit/pencil icon to change a set’s name or object type, or the trash can icon to delete it. If the trash can icon is not displayed, the Activity Set is associated with a Pipeline stage and can only be deleted by first removing it from that stage in the Pipeline’s settings.

Applying an Activity Set manually

Apply a set from an individual record when its tasks and events aren’t part of a larger linear process.

  1. When viewing the record, click the Actions menu and select Add activity set…
  2. Select the appropriate activity set from the list. If the record has a Pipeline (opportunities or projects) or a milestone (projects), you can select a Pipeline stage or milestone to organize the set’s tasks.
  3. If the set includes events or tasks with due dates, click each date field and select a date from the pop-up calendar. Displayed dates update based on your selection. You might see no date fields, a start date field, an end date field, or both.
  4. Select a category and a due date. By default, No Due Date is applied; select Choose when applied to pick a future date.
  5. Select a user responsible for each task, if available. Some tasks may be automatically assigned and can’t be changed. Events always go on your own calendar.
  6. Verify the information and click Add activity set…

The new tasks and events appear in the record’s Activity subtab. Because they are individual items, they can’t be edited as a group; each must be edited individually.

You can also apply a set manually through the bulk edit options that appear above a list when selecting one or more items.

Insightly Lead Actions Menu Options — A lead record for “Marlo Brandon” is displayed in Insightly CRM with the Actions dropdown menu expanded, showing available options such as Edit, Delete, Convert, and Add Activity Set to Lead. The arrow highlights “Add Activity Set to Lead,” indicating this is the step being demonstrated in the support article.

1 Insightly Lead Actions Menu Options

 Selecting Sales Follow-up Activity Set for Lead — A dropdown menu is open in the “Add Activity Set to Lead” dialog, showing two options: “Customer Check-in” and “Sales Follow-up,” with the latter highlighted and indicated by a red arrow. This helps users understand how to choose a specific activity set to assign to a lead in Insightly CRM.

2 Selecting Sales Follow-up Activity Set for Lead

 Adding Activity Set Start Date in Insightly — A calendar date picker is shown open on February 2016, with the 19th highlighted as the selected start date for a “Sales Follow-up” activity set being added to a lead. This helps users understand how to set a start date when applying an activity set, which determines when the scheduled tasks and activities will begin.

3 Adding Activity Set Start Date in Insightly
Adding Activity Set to Lead in Insightly — The dialog box shows a “Sales Follow-up” activity set being added to a lead, with a start date of February 22, 2016, listing two tasks (First phone call and Send email) assigned to different team members, and a “Meet with lead” event scheduled for March 1, 2016. The highlighted “Add Activity Set to Lead” button indicates the final step a user clicks to confirm and apply the activity set to the lead record.

4 Adding Activity Set to Lead in Insightly

 Lead Activity Tab with Upcoming Task — The Activity tab of a lead record for Marlo Brandon shows one total activity—a “To-do” task called “First phone call” assigned to Frank Martin. This helps users understand how to track and view scheduled activities associated with a lead in Insightly CRM.

5 Lead Activity Tab with Upcoming Task

Triggering an Activity Set with a Pipeline stage

When the tasks and events belong to one phase of a longer process, the set can be associated with a stage in a Pipeline on opportunities or projects. When that stage is reached, the set is triggered automatically and its items are created. Your Insightly administrator needs to create the activity set and Pipeline and associate the set to a stage.

  1. When you’re ready to move to a different stage on an opportunity or project, click the Pipeline indicator. Stages with activity sets display a number indicating how many tasks or events will be created.
  2. Insightly automatically selects the next stage in sequence, but you can choose any stage.
  3. If the set requires it, select a start date, end date, or responsible user for each item. If there are no dated items and assignments are set by the administrator, you’ll have no selections to make.
  4. Click the Change Stage button.

The new tasks and events appear in the Activities subtab. Tasks associated with a Pipeline stage display a blue “S” and a number representing the stage.

Choosing a Pipeline Stage for an Activity Set in Insightly — The Add Activity Set dialog shows the Pipeline Stage dropdown open, with “Follow lead” highlighted as the stage the Activity Set will attach to.

1 Choosing a Pipeline Stage for an Activity Set in Insightly

 Opportunity Pipeline Stage Progress Bar in Insightly — The “Biggest Deal Ever” Opportunity header shows its four-stage pipeline (Verify information, Follow lead, Contract negotiation, Wrap-up), with “Follow lead” as the current stage.

2 Opportunity Pipeline Stage Progress Bar in Insightly

 Selecting a New Pipeline Stage in Insightly — The Change Pipeline Stage dialog shows the New Stage dropdown open, listing all four stages with a checkmark next to the currently selected “Follow lead” stage.

3 Selecting a New Pipeline Stage in Insightly
Assigning Task Responsibility When Changing Pipeline Stage in Insightly — The Change Pipeline Stage dialog lists the tasks and event tied to the new stage, with the Responsibility dropdown for the “First phone call” task open.

4 Assigning Task Responsibility When Changing Pipeline Stage in Insightly

 Confirming a Pipeline Stage Change in Insightly — The Change Pipeline Stage dialog shows the Change Stage button, which saves the new stage along with the Activity Set Start Date and task assignments shown above it.

5 Confirming a Pipeline Stage Change in Insightly

 Upcoming Activities on a Record in Insightly — The Activity tab shows a record’s total activity counts (emails, tasks, events) along with a list of upcoming activities, including an event and two tasks created by an Activity Set.

6 Upcoming Activities on a Record in Insightly

Cloning an Activity Set

Clone a set to create a variation of it, or to back it up before changing it. Cloning does not copy a connection to a Pipeline stage; a stage set up with the original set continues using that original unless the Pipeline is edited in System Settings.

  1. Click the profile icon to open System Settings > Activity Sets.
  2. Find the Activity Set you want to copy and click Clone Activity Set.
  3. Enter a name for the new set and click Save. The new set appears in the list.
  4. Click the Edit Activity button and the checkboxes to apply the new set to different objects.
  5. Click the Edit link if you’d like to modify the tasks and events in the set.
Cloning an Activity Set in Insightly — The screenshot shows a list of Activity Sets with checkmarks indicating which record types each set applies to, along with Edit and Clone options. A user is hovering over the Clone Activity Set button, demonstrating how to duplicate an existing activity set for reuse.
Cloning an Activity Set in Insightly — The Clone Activity Set dialog shows the New Activity Set Name field, pre-filled here as “Build Out,” used to name the duplicated set before saving.

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