CRM Connections & Backlinks
How relationship fields create connections between CRM entities, tasks, and projects - outgoing links, incoming backlinks, and the current limitations for contacts and companies.
PrimeTask's Connections system tracks how entities link to each other via custom relationship fields. When a task's relationship field points at a contact, that's an outgoing link; from the contact's side, that's an incoming backlink ("things that link to me"). Together they form a graph that lets you navigate the connections between your tasks, projects, contacts, and companies.
This article covers how Connections work for CRM entities - and surfaces an important nuance worth understanding up front.
PrimeCRM is a Pro feature
Connections involving CRM entities require a Pro license with CRM enabled. See License Settings.
Contacts and companies don't have their own Connections section
PrimeTask currently surfaces a dedicated Connections section only on task and project detail pages. Contact and company detail pages do NOT have a Connections section - even though contacts and companies can be linked TO via relationship fields. Built-in CRM linking (Tasks section + Activity Timeline) covers most use cases; see the workarounds below for custom relationship fields.
What you can do
See outgoing relationship links
on any task or project - every relationship field that links to a contact, company, task, or project is listed with clickable navigation
See incoming backlinks
on any task or project - everything that links TO it via a relationship field
Navigate the connection graph
by clicking through from one entity to another
Use standard CRM linking
(linked contact/company fields on CRM tasks) to create connections that DO show on contact and company detail pages
Use the Activity Timeline
to see activities linked to a contact or company
Use Linked Projects
to see which projects a contact or company is connected to
How Connections work
Outgoing links
When a task or project has a relationship field with values, the Connections section on its detail page shows:
- The field name (e.g., "Lead", "Client", "Stakeholder")
- The linked entities - click any one to navigate to its detail page
- An edit action to modify the field's values
This works for relationship fields targeting any entity type: tasks, projects, contacts, or companies. See Relationship Fields & Connections for how to set them up.
Incoming backlinks
Below the outgoing links, a Linked here area lists every entity that links TO the current task or project via one of its relationship fields. Each backlink shows the source entity's name and which field created the link (e.g., "via Lead", "via Client"). Clicking a backlink navigates to the source entity.
When the Connections section appears
The section shows up on a task or project detail page only when there's at least one outgoing link or one incoming backlink. If no relationship fields have values and nothing links to the entity, the section doesn't appear.
How CRM entities participate
CRM entities (contacts and companies) participate in the connection graph as link targets, not as link sources from their own detail pages.
| Scenario | Where the link is visible |
|---|---|
| A task has a relationship field linking to Contact John | On the task's Connections section (outgoing) |
| A project has a relationship field linking to Company AcmeCorp | On the project's Connections section (outgoing) |
| Multiple tasks link to Contact John via different fields | Each task shows John in its outgoing section - but there's no Connections section on John's contact page |
The asymmetry is the key thing to understand: outgoing links are visible from the source side (tasks, projects), but incoming backlinks are NOT visible from the contact or company side via a dedicated section.
Discovering connections to a contact or company
Since contact and company detail pages don't have a Connections section, here's how to find everything linked to a specific person or organisation:
1. CRM Tasks → the Tasks section on the detail page
The most common case. When you create a CRM task with a linked contact or company, the task appears in the Tasks section on the contact's or company's detail page automatically. This is the built-in CRM linking covered in Contacts & Tasks - separate from custom relationship fields, and it works without any workaround.
2. Activities → the Activity Timeline
Activities linked to a contact or company via the standard activity form fields appear on the Activity Timeline section of the detail page automatically. See Activities.
3. Projects → the Linked Projects section
Contact and company detail pages have a Linked Projects section showing every project the entity is explicitly linked to via the project linking system. See CRM & Projects.
4. Custom relationship field links → filter from the source side
If you've used a custom relationship field to link a task or project to a contact (e.g., a field called "Account Manager" on projects pointing to a contact), there's currently no dedicated way to see that backlink from the contact's side. To find it:
This is less convenient than a dedicated section, but functional. For most workflows, the built-in CRM linking (options 1–3 above) covers the vast majority of connections.
When does this limitation matter?
Only if you've configured custom relationship fields that point at contacts or companies and you expect to discover them from the contact side. If your CRM workflow uses the standard linked contact/company fields on CRM tasks and the standard activity links, you won't notice this gap - those connections surface correctly on the detail pages.
What shows and what doesn't on a contact's detail page
| Type of link | Visible on the contact's page? | Where |
|---|---|---|
| CRM tasks linked via the linked contact field | ✓ Yes | Tasks section |
| Activities linked via the activity form's contact field | ✓ Yes | Activity Timeline |
| Companies linked to this contact | ✓ Yes | Linked Companies section |
| Projects this contact is linked to | ✓ Yes | Linked Projects section |
| Custom field values on this contact | ✓ Yes | Custom Fields section |
| Tasks linking to this contact via a custom relationship field | ✗ No | Not surfaced - use filter workaround |
| Projects linking to this contact via a custom relationship field | ✗ No | Not surfaced - use filter workaround |
The same pattern applies to company detail pages.
Stale link cleanup
When a custom field is deleted, the backlinks it created become stale. The Connections section on task and project detail pages automatically filters out stale entries - backlinks referencing a deleted field don't appear. You don't need to clean them up manually.
Isolated CRM and connections
The Connections section handles isolated CRM entities correctly - outgoing links to isolated contacts/companies resolve to their names and display properly, backlinks from isolated entities work, and navigation between shared and isolated entities is seamless. See Shared vs Isolated CRM and Custom Fields for CRM.
Common questions
"I want to see every task linked to a specific contact."
If linked via CRM linking: Open the contact's Contact Details page → Tasks section. Every CRM task with that contact as a linked contact is listed there.
"I want to see every project that involves a specific company."
If linked via project linking: Open the company's Company Details page → Linked Projects section.
"I created a custom 'Account Manager' field on projects. How do I see all projects where Sarah is the account manager?"
Currently there's no dedicated section on Sarah's contact page for this. The workaround: open the Projects page, filter by the Account Manager field set to Sarah. Alternatively, link Sarah to each project via the standard Linked Projects system - then the projects appear on Sarah's contact page automatically.
"A backlink I expected to see isn't showing up."
Check whether the relationship field that created it still exists. If the field was deleted, the Connections section automatically hides stale backlinks. If the field exists, confirm the value is set correctly on the source entity.
Where to go next
| If you want to… | Read this |
|---|---|
| Understand relationship fields in depth | Relationship Fields & Connections |
| Learn the full custom fields system | Custom Fields Overview |
| Use CRM linking on tasks (the built-in method) | Contacts & Tasks |
| See how custom fields work in Isolated CRM | Custom Fields for CRM |
| Add custom relationship fields to CRM entities | CRM & Custom Fields |
| Link contacts/companies to projects | CRM & Projects |
| Manage tasks linked to a contact | Contact Details |
| Manage tasks linked to a company | Company Details |
| Return to the CRM hub | PrimeCRM Overview |