Creating Items

It is 7:45 AM. During the morning walkthrough, Elena, a QA specialist at a solid-dose manufacturing site, spots a crack in a tablet press punch. She pulls out her phone, opens ProBeya, and creates an item: "Punch crack detected on Press 4 — Station 12." She assigns it to maintenance, sets the priority to High, and tags it with the equipment ID. By the time the TIER 1 standup starts at 8:15, the item is already on the board with a photo attached.

Items are the fundamental units of work in ProBeya. They can represent deviations, CAPAs, maintenance requests, training tasks, audit findings, change control actions — anything your team needs to track.

Five Ways to Create an Item

ProBeya gives you multiple entry paths because different situations call for different workflows.

From the Board View

The most common path during standups and walk-throughs:

1. Click + Add Item at the bottom of any group column.
2. Type the item title and press Enter.
3. The item inherits the group's default values (e.g., Status = "Open").
4. Click the card to open the detail panel and fill in additional fields.

From the Table View

Best for bulk data entry — when you are migrating 50 deviations from an Excel spreadsheet:

1. Click + New Item at the bottom of any group section.
2. Type the title in the first cell.
3. Press Tab to move through fields and fill in values inline.
4. Press Enter to save and move to the next row.

Using the Quick-Add Shortcut

Press N anywhere on a board to open the quick-add dialog. Type a title, select the target group, set key fields, and press Enter. This is the fastest path when you know exactly what you want to create.

From the Command Palette

Press Cmd+K / Ctrl+K, type "new item", and select the target board and group. This works from anywhere in the application — even from the dashboard or another project.

From the Calendar View

Click any date cell to create an item with that date pre-filled. Perfect for scheduling training sessions or planned maintenance windows.

From a Form Submission

When someone submits a ProBeya form, a new item is automatically created on the board with all submitted values pre-filled into the corresponding columns. This is ideal for operator-submitted deviation reports and gemba observations.

Filling In the Details

Click any item card to open the detail panel — a slide-out sheet on the right side that keeps the board visible in the background. From here you can:

• Edit the title — click the title text, make changes, and it saves on blur or Enter.
• Write a description — use the rich text editor for detailed root cause narratives, investigation notes, or SOP references. Supports formatting, images, links, and code blocks.
• Set field values — click any field in the property grid to edit it inline:

Field type	How it works
Text, Number	Click to type. Saves on blur or Enter.
Status, Priority, Single Select	Click to open a dropdown. Saves immediately on selection.
Date	Click to open a date picker. Saves on selection.
Person	Click to open the member selector. Saves on selection.
Checkbox	Click to toggle. Saves immediately.
Rating	Click a star. Saves immediately.

• Add sub-items — break a complex CAPA into child items: "Investigate root cause", "Draft corrective action plan", "Implement fix", "Verify effectiveness."
• Attach files — upload photos of the defect, batch records, or training certificates.
• Start a timer — track time spent on the investigation for capacity planning.

One-click fields

Checkbox, select, status, priority, and rating fields enter edit mode on the first click — no double-click needed. This makes rapid field updates during standups fast and fluid.

A Pharma Example: Creating an Action from a GMP Deviation

Here is a real-world flow that Elena might follow:

1. Quick-add (press N): "Fill weight OOS on Batch 2026-0413-A"
2. Group: "New Deviations"
3. Priority: Critical (product impact)
4. Assignee: the QA Lead on shift
5. Due date: 5 business days from now (per SOP-DEV-003)
6. Custom fields: Batch Number = 2026-0413-A, Equipment ID = FLL-004, GMP Classification = Major
7. Description: detailed observation notes with a photo of the fill weight trend chart
8. Sub-items: "Quarantine affected batch", "Initiate root cause investigation", "Notify RA if product impact confirmed"

The entire creation takes under two minutes. The item is now visible on the board, in the dashboard's overdue tracker, and in filtered views.

Duplicating an Item

Right-click an item card (or use the ... menu) and select Duplicate. All field values are copied. This is useful when the same deviation recurs on a different line — duplicate the original, update the batch number and equipment ID, and you have a new tracked item with the same investigation template.

Moving Items

• Between groups — drag and drop in Board view, or change the grouping field value in Table view.
• Between boards — right-click and select Move to..., then choose the target board and group.
• Between projects — use Move to... and select a different project entirely. Useful when a deviation escalates from a TIER 1 board to a TIER 2 project.

Deleting an Item

1. Open the item detail panel or right-click the card.
2. Select Delete.
3. Confirm in the dialog.

Deleted items are moved to trash and can be restored within 30 days.

Cascading deletes

When you delete an item, all associated data goes with it: comments, field values, file attachments, and activity log entries. This is handled at the database level and cannot be undone after the 30-day trash window.

Item Lifecycle

State	What it means
Active	On the board and visible in all views
Archived	Hidden from views but searchable — use this for closed items you might need to reference during audits
Deleted	In trash, automatically purged after 30 days

Problem Solving Integration

From the item detail panel, you can launch a Problem Solving Dialog to apply structured methodologies — 5 Whys, Ishikawa diagram, or A3 — directly linked to the item. The analysis stays connected to the original deviation for full traceability.

Link analysis to evidence

When you run a 5 Whys on a deviation item, the root cause analysis lives inside the item. During a regulatory audit, an inspector can open the item, see the deviation description, the 5 Whys chain, the CAPA decision, and the effectiveness verification — all in one place. That is traceability that paper cannot match.

Item Activity Log

Every change to an item is recorded in the Activity tab of the detail panel: who changed which field, from what value to what value, and when. This audit trail is automatic — you do not need to enable it. It covers:

• Title and description edits
• Field value changes (status, priority, assignee, custom fields)
• Comment additions and edits
• File attachment uploads and deletions
• Sub-item creation and deletion

Best Practices

• Set status and assignee immediately. Unassigned items with no status are invisible in filtered views and get lost.
• Use sub-items for multi-step CAPAs. Instead of tracking "Implement corrective action" as one item with a long description, break it into sub-items with their own assignees and deadlines.
• Use quick-add (N) for batch entry. During a gemba walk, create items rapidly as you observe issues — fill in the details later at your desk.
• Attach evidence early. Photos, batch records, and screenshots are easier to attach when the observation is fresh.

Permissions

Role	What they can do
Admin	Create, edit, move, duplicate, delete any item
Member	Create items, edit items they created or are assigned to
Viewer	Read-only — cannot create, edit, or delete

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Cannot create items	Verify you have Member or Admin permissions. Viewers have read-only access.
New item not appearing	Check if a filter is active that hides items with the default field values.
Delete button is missing	Only Admins can delete items they did not create. Check your role.

Next Steps

• Custom Fields — configure batch number, equipment ID, and GMP classification fields
• Board View — manage items on your Kanban board
• Filters and Sorting — find the items that matter right now
• Forms — let operators create items by submitting structured forms