System-tracked updates

User updates: Manually entered by users. Also referred to as comments, replies, and notes. User updates display in the Comments and the All tabs of the Updates section of an object.

For more information about configuring user updates, see Configure preferences for user updates.

System updates: Automatically made by the system. A system update includes a brief note describing what kind of change happened to the item. System updates display in the System Activity and the All tabs of the Updates section of an object.

For more information about system update feeds and how to enable them, see Configure system updates.

The Updates area is available for the following objects:

• Project

• Task

• Issue

• Portfolio

• Program

• User

• Template

• Template Task

• Team

• Document

• Timesheet

• Story

  In Workfront, a story is a task.

• Iteration

• Goal

  You must have an additional license to have access to the Goals area. For information, see Requirements to use Workfront Goals.

• Card on a board

  For more information on updates on cards, see Use connected cards on boards.

Workfront does not track system updates for the following objects:

• Team
• Template
• Template Task
• Ad-hoc Card
• Iterations

User updates display in the Comments tab and system updates display in the System Activity and the All tabs.

For a list of objects that do not have the System Activity or the All tabs, see Update section overview

You cannot add a reply to a system update. However, any replies made to system activity records in the legacy commenting experience prior to April 11, 2024, are populated on the System Activity tab as read-only.

Workfront administrators can define what type of changes the system should track in the Updates area. Not all objects that have an Updates area also have configurable update feeds. The following objects have an Updates area that captures system-tracked update feeds, but do not have configurable update feeds:

• Document
• Timesheet
• Iteration
• Goal