What are folders and spaces?
Folders and spaces are two ways to group projects, and they nest.
A folder groups projects that share a common theme or characteristic, for example infrastructure work or a specific area. Its main job is organisation: it puts related projects in one place so people can find them together. It also lets you delegate, by giving someone management rights over the folder and everything in it.
A space sits one level higher and can group both projects and folders. Where a folder answers what is this collection of projects about?, a space answers who owns it?
Both are optional. A project can sit in a space, in a folder, in a folder inside a space, or on its own.
How a space differs from a folder
One level up. A space can contain folders as well as projects. Folders can only contain projects, and cannot contain other folders.
Delegation at a higher level. Folders and spaces can both have managers. A folder manager covers the projects in their folder; a space manager covers everything in the space, including whole folders and the projects inside them.
Back office only. A folder has its own page that residents can visit. A space does not.
ℹ️ Spaces are an add-on and need to be enabled for your platform. If you don't see the Spaces tab, contact your Government Success Manager.
The space, folder and project overviews are located in the same section of the platform. This is explained in more depth in the following article: Different views for Project Management
What residents see
Folders are visible to residents. A folder has its own page, and folder cards appear on the homepage.
Spaces are different. A space is a back-office structure: residents never navigate to a space, and they won't come across the word unless you use it yourself. What a space changes is who manages what, not what the platform looks like from the outside.
You can still use your space structure to shape navigation, in the same ways any other grouping does. A custom page can list projects filtered by space, exactly as it can filter by area or by topic, and a navigation bar dropdown can point at the custom pages, folders or projects you want to feature.
When should you use a folder?
Folders are flexible containers for organizing projects in ways that best fit your platform. Below are common use cases:
1. Multiple participation methods in parallel
Phases inside a project run one after another: each phase follows the previous one. There are two ways to have more than one thing running at the same time.
A parallel survey inside one project. An in-platform survey can be set to run alongside the timeline instead of occupying a slot in it, so residents can answer it while another phase is active. See Creating an in-platform survey.
Two projects in a folder. For any other combination, ideation running next to voting, two ideation phases side by side, or a survey built in an external tool, you still need separate projects. A folder keeps them grouped, so residents and admins see them as part of the same initiative.
2. Organizing projects by policy, area, theme, or district
Use folders to group projects under broader umbrellas like Health & Safety, Education, Environment & Sustainability, or Transport.
Alternatively, create folders by districts or neighbourhoods.
This structure makes it easier for admins and users to navigate, understand what’s happening, and learn more about related initiatives.
3. Alternative creative uses
Projects aren’t limited to idea collection, they can also be used for:
Feedback on public services
Community-centered research
Templates for exploring local issues
Think of folders and projects as blank canvases for experimentation and custom setups.
When should you use a space?
Folders group work by subject. Spaces group it by owner. Reach for a space when different parts of your organisation run their own participation and you want each to manage its own corner of the platform, without seeing or touching everyone else's.
1. Departments that run their own engagement
Mobility, Housing and Environment each have their own projects, their own staff, and no reason to edit each other's work. Give each one a space and a space manager. They can create and manage everything inside it, and nothing outside it.
2. Districts or sub-municipalities with their own teams
Where a district has its own communications officer, a space lets them run local consultations independently while everything still lives on one platform.
3. Organisations too large for a flat project list
Past roughly thirty or forty projects, folders alone stop being enough and you end up with a long list of folders instead. A space groups the folders themselves.
💡 If everyone on your team can already edit everything, and your project list still fits on one screen, you probably want folders rather than spaces. Spaces earn their place when delegation matters.
How to create a folder?
Click on the Projects tab in the back office of your platform
Click on the Folders tab
Click on New Folder in the top right
Fill in a title, short and long description for your project in all available languages for your platform
Assign desired projects to the folder
Optional: assign a folder manager to the folder (via the permissions tab of the folder settings)
How to edit a folder?
If you want to edit a folder, navigate to the folders tab in the top left corner of the projects list. Press on the folder title. This will bring you to the folder projects tab, then navigate to the tab next to it called Settings.
Under Folder Description, find Edit description in Content Builder. For an in-depth overview of using the Content Builder, visit: Customizing project descriptions with the Content Builder
How to reorder projects inside a folder?
You can arrange the order of the projects within folders. Go to the tab folders in the top left corner of the projects list and press on the folder title - this will bring you inside the folder settings. Click the double arrows at the far left of the projects. When you click and hold these arrows you can drag them to the desired place. They will then appear in the folder in that order.
How to move a project from one folder to another?
Always first make sure that the project you want to move is not in an existing folder.
To remove a project from a folder:
Click into the folder
Under Projects added to this folder select Remove from folder
This project can now be added to any folder.
How to create a space?
Click the Projects tab in the back office.
Click the Spaces tab.
Click New Space in the top right.
Fill in a title and description in all available platform languages.
Add existing projects and folders to the space, or create new ones from within it.
Optional: assign one or more space managers.
How to edit a space?
Click the Projects tab in the back office.
Click the Spaces tab and select the space you want to edit.
Open the Settings tab to change the title or description. Fill these in for every platform language.
ℹ️ A space has no banner image and no page of its own, so there is no layout to design. The title and description are used in the back office and, where you choose to surface them, on custom pages.
How to add or remove projects and folders in a space?
You can do this from either side: from the space, or from the project or folder itself.
From the space
Open the space from the Spaces tab.
Add an existing project or folder to the space, or create a new one directly inside it.
To take something out, remove it from the space. The project or folder is not deleted, it simply returns to the top level.
From the project or folder
Open its general settings and choose a space from the dropdown.
ℹ️ A project or folder belongs to at most one space. Adding it to a different space removes it from the previous one.
Folder and space permissions
You can invite people to help manage your folders and spaces, and the projects inside them. A manager has admin-level rights inside their own folder or space only, and no elevated rights anywhere else on the platform.
What folder managers can do:
Edit the folder description and banner image
Create new projects within the folder
Approve projects created by project managers inside the folder
Manage all projects within the folder
What space managers can do:
Edit the space title and description
Create projects and folders within the space
Approve projects created by project managers inside the space
Manage everything in the space, including whole folders and the projects inside them
Deleting projects
Admins can delete any project.
A space manager can delete any project in their space.
A folder manager or project manager can only delete a project that has never been published. Once a project has been published, only an admin or a space manager can delete it.
What neither can do:
Reach projects or folders outside their own folder or space
Change platform-level settings
To assign a manager, open the folder or space and go to its permissions settings. The person receives an email letting them know.
Visibility and limitations
Folders
Visibility behavior:
A published folder is visible to everyone.
If all projects in a folder are in draft, the folder stays hidden until at least one project is published.
If published projects are added to a draft folder, the folder won’t appear on the homepage, but the projects remain accessible via direct links or search.
If a project is set to unlisted it will not appear in the folder, neither as project cards within the folder
A draft project will not appear in the folder - it will only appear once it's published and listed
Current limitations:
You can’t have folders within folders. A folder can sit inside a space, but it still cannot contain another folder.
Folders don’t have timelines.
Folder cards are not shown the same as other project cards on the homepage (no time indication or number of comments/participants).
Folders cannot be custom-styled for a department or project.
You cannot create smart groups of people who participated in a folder, you need to select all projects in the folder manually.
By default project cards appear on the right side of a folder page. This position can be edited by using the content builder.
Spaces
Spaces work differently from folders here, so don’t assume the folder behaviour above applies.
A space has no visibility setting of its own and no page of its own. It is a back-office grouping and permissions level, so there is nothing to publish or unpublish. Residents never navigate to a space directly.
Because a space has no page, it has no banner image, no content builder layout and no URL. What residents see is still the projects and folders themselves.
A space has no timeline and no participation of its own.
A project or folder belongs to at most one space.
Deleting a space does not delete anything inside it. Its projects and folders return to the top level.