In this article: Once created, your project becomes a workspace where you control member access, organize files through the Harness folder structure, and track tasks. This article covers project navigation, the role system, member management, Harness organization, and best practices for keeping your project structured as it grows.
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Overview
The Project Settings area in Ontario gives you control over how your project is structured and who can access it. After creating a project, you'll navigate to a project-level landing page (Home) that provides quick access to recent files, task tracking, user activity, and three main navigation tabs: Harness, Task Manager, and Users.
Ontario's role system operates at two independent levels: Ontario-level roles (Ontario Admin or Ontario Member) determine what users can do across the entire Ontario environment, while project-level roles (Project Admin or Project Member) control access within specific projects. This article focuses on project-level settings that help you configure member access, organize files through the Harness folder structure, and establish clean organizational patterns.
Project Navigation Tabs
When you enter a project from the Projects page or Ontario landing screen, you'll land on the project Home. The left sidebar provides four tabs for navigating your project workspace:
| Tab | Purpose | Key Functions |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Project-level overview showing recent activity and quick actions | View recently uploaded files, task tracker, overdue tasks, user activity, and upload files quickly |
| Harness | File and folder structure management | Navigate folder tree, add favorites, manage folder permissions, view folder details, add comments |
| Task Manager | Centralized task tracking and workflow management | View My Tasks, filter by urgency and status, see all or completed tasks, add new tasks, assign to members |
| Users | Project member list and role assignments | View all project members, see assigned roles (Admin or Member), manage member access at project level |
Screenshot: Project Home with Navigation Tabs
Shows the project-level Home with the left sidebar tabs (Home, Harness, Task Manager, Users) and the main content area displaying recent files, task tracker, overdue tasks, and user activity
Understanding Ontario's Role System
Ontario uses two independent role tiers. Understanding how they interact is essential before configuring project access.
Critical Distinction: Two Independent Role Tiers
Set when the user account is created. Controls what the user can do across the entire Ontario environment.
- Ontario Admin: Full platform access — create projects, manage all users, modify environment settings
- Ontario Member: No default access; can only see projects they've been explicitly assigned to
Assigned when adding a user to a specific project. Controls access within that project only.
- Project Admin: Full project access — all Harness files and folders, member management, project settings
- Project Member: No default file/folder access; must be explicitly granted access to specific folders in Harness
An Ontario Member can be a Project Admin. Ontario Admins can see all projects automatically. These tiers are fully independent.
Managing Project Members
Project Admins control who has access to their project through the Users tab. From here, you can view all members, their project-level roles (Admin or Member), and add or remove members as needed.
Adding Members to Your Project
There are two ways to add users to a project from within the project's Users tab. For existing Ontario users, search by name or email. Project Admins can also add brand new users who don't yet have an Ontario account — though this path creates a project-only user and is best suited to people who will never need access to other projects.
- Navigate to your project and click the Users tab in the left sidebar.
- Click Add +.
- Enter the user's name and email (or search for an existing Ontario user).
- Choose their project-level role: Project Admin or Project Member.
- Click Add to confirm.
If the person already exists as an Ontario user
Entering an email that belongs to an existing Ontario user will trigger an error. The system blocks duplicate accounts. To add an existing Ontario user to this project, ask an Ontario Admin to add them from the Ontario-level Users tab instead.
Screenshot: Add User Dialog (from Project)
Shows the Add User modal with name, email, and Project Role fields (Admin or Member)
Member Management Actions
From the Users tab, click the three-dot menu (â‹®) next to any member to access management actions:
Project Members and Harness access: Adding someone as a Project Member does not automatically give them access to files or folders in Harness. After adding them to the project, a Project Admin must explicitly grant folder-level access for each folder they need to see. See File Permissions and Sharing for details.
For a full guide to adding users, assigning Ontario-level roles, and managing access across multiple projects, see Working with Project Members.
Organizing with Harness
The Harness tab is where you manage your project's file and folder structure. Harness provides a folder tree for organizing files, setting folder-level permissions, adding comments, and creating tasks tied to specific folders.
Navigating the Folder Structure
The Harness page displays your folder structure in two views:
Screenshot: Harness Folder Structure View
Shows the Harness page with the expandable sidebar folder tree on the left and the main folder table with drill-down arrows to expand folders
Using Favorite Folders
Add frequently accessed folders as favorites to pin them at the top of your project for quick access. Click the star icon next to any folder to mark it as a favorite. Favorite folders appear in a dedicated section above your folder tree, and you can remove them by clicking the X icon.
Folder Details and Actions
Click on any folder in the table to open the folder detail panel. This panel shows:
From the folder detail panel or the three-dot menu in the table, you can also perform the following actions on a folder:
Duplicating a folder copies the folder structure and any subfolders — it does not duplicate the files or contents inside them. Use this to quickly replicate a folder hierarchy for a new phase, period, or entity without carrying over existing data.
Screenshot: Folder Detail Panel
Shows the folder detail panel with sections for folder size, description, user access list, comments thread, and associated tasks
Organizational Strategies
As your project grows, maintaining a clean folder structure and clear member access becomes essential. Here are proven strategies for different project types.
Strategy 1: Private Equity Deal Organization
For PE firms managing deal processes, structure your project folders by deal phase and workstream to keep financial models and legal documents organized throughout due diligence and closing.
- Top-level folders: Due Diligence, Financial Models, Legal, Operations, Closing Documents
- Member access: Project Admins for deal leads; Project Members for analysts — then grant explicit Harness access to the folders each analyst needs
- Favorites strategy: Pin the active phase folder during that phase (e.g., "Due Diligence"), then unpin once complete
- Task integration: Create tasks directly on folders like "Financial Models" to track review and approval workflows
Strategy 2: Multi-Entity Holding Company
For holding companies managing multiple portfolio companies, organize by entity and functional area for clear separation while allowing holding company staff to access what they need.
- Top-level folders: One folder per portfolio company (e.g., "CompanyA", "CompanyB"), plus "Holding Co" for consolidated materials
- Member access: Project Admins for holding company CFO and finance team; Project Members for individual company controllers — each granted folder access only to their company's folder
- Folder permissions: Add each company's controller with access only to their company's folder to maintain data separation
- Home usage: Holding company team monitors all activity from the project Home; individual company users see only their assigned tasks and folders
Strategy 3: Financial Services Quarterly Reporting
For organizations running recurring quarterly reporting cycles, organize by reporting period and workstream to enable historical comparison and streamlined review processes.
- Top-level folders: By year and quarter (e.g., "2025 Q1", "2025 Q2"), each containing standardized subfolders (Board Deck, Financials, Analytics)
- Member access: Project Admins for finance leadership; Project Members for analysts and reviewers — with Harness folder access granted per quarter as needed
- Task workflow: Use Task Manager to assign preparation, review, and approval tasks with due dates aligned to board meeting schedules
- Archive strategy: Archive completed quarters after final board approval to keep the active workspace focused on the current period
Permission Requirements
Understanding who can perform different project configuration actions helps you plan your team structure and delegate effectively.
| Action | Project Admin | Project Member | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add/remove project members | ✓ | ✗ | Member management restricted to Project Admins |
| Create/rename folders | ✓ | ✗ | Folder structure changes require Project Admin |
| Upload files to folders | ✓ | ◑ | Members can upload only to folders they've been explicitly granted access to |
| Add comments on folders | ✓ | ✓ | Available on folders they have access to |
| Create/assign tasks | ✓ | ✓ | Task management available to all project members |
| Grant folder-level access to users | ✓ | ✗ | Only Project Admins can share folders with Members |
| Duplicate folder structure | ✓ | ✗ | Copies folder structure only — file contents are not duplicated |
| Archive folders | ✓ | ✗ | Archiving restricted to Project Admins |
| View project Home and activity | ✓ | ✓ | All project members can view the Home page |
Legend: ✓ Full access  | ◑ Conditional access  | ✗ No access
Best Practices
Follow these guidelines to maintain well-organized projects that scale effectively as your team and data grow.
Establish your top-level folder structure before adding many files. Reorganizing later becomes more complex as your project grows. Consider your team's natural workflow and the information hierarchy that maps to how they work.
Don't rely on a single Project Admin. Designate 2–3 admins to ensure someone can always manage member access, create folders, and handle configuration even when the primary admin is unavailable.
For sensitive documents or client-specific files, use folder-level permissions rather than creating separate projects. Add members as Project Members, then grant access only to the specific folders they need. This keeps related work together while maintaining data separation.
Once a deal closes, a quarter ends, or a project phase completes, archive those folders to keep your active workspace focused on current work. Archived folders remain accessible but don't clutter daily navigation.
What's Next
A full guide to adding users, assigning Ontario-level and project-level roles, and managing access across your environment
Learn how to upload files to your project, organize them within the Harness folder structure, and use favorites for quick access
File management capabilities including moving, renaming, archiving, and collaborating through comments and tasks
How to control file and folder access with granular permissions and grant Project Members access to specific folders in Harness
Every project has unique organizational needs. Start with the structure that makes sense for your team's current workflow, then refine as you learn what works best. The project Home provides visibility into activity across the project, making it easy to spot where adjustments might improve efficiency. Use the Member role with folder-level permissions to keep sensitive data accessible only to the right people, and take advantage of favorites, the Task Manager, and archiving to create a workspace that scales as your team and data grow.
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