Top Tips
- Any changes made to the Gantt whilst in the scheduling mode are project specific and will impact the view for all project members.
- Only one project member can be in the scheduling mode at any one time. If a user tries to enable scheduling whilst another user has it open, they will receive a message informing them of that.
- Before adding a new governance report, it is important to check that the scheduling mode isn't being used by another project member. This can be done by looking to see if any tasks or milestones have a padlock symbol next to them. If a governance report is added whilst the scheduling mode is active, any changes made within that area will not be saved.
What is scheduling mode?
When scheduling mode is enabled on the Gantt, the plan data is drawn into a ‘bubble’ which then allows the user to make changes in a safe environment. Only upon clicking ‘save’ are any changes actually written back to the project. If the user doesn't want to keep the changes, they can simply cancel out of the scheduling mode. This is an ideal environment to play around with potential plan scenarios before committing to one.
How to access scheduling mode
To access scheduling mode, whilst viewing your Gantt click on the ‘Scheduling’ button in the top bar, next to ‘Add Task’.
A message will be displayed at the top of the screen confirming you are in scheduling mode:
Add Tasks and Milestones
Whilst in scheduling mode tasks and milestones can be added as normal. Any changes will only be written back to the project upon saving. To disregard changes click on ‘Cancel’. Use the ‘Edit’ button against any existing tasks and milestones to make changes.
Undo/Redo Arrows
The ‘Undo’ or ‘Redo’ buttons can be used to make changes to the information entered. Please Note: The undo and redo functions only impact changes made to the following fields - Title, Start Date, End Date, and Percentage Complete. Simply click the relevant button in the top bar:
Increase/Decrease Indent (create hierarchy grouping)
Use the increase or decrease indent buttons to create groups of tasks and milestones in your plan.
To move one item underneath another item i.e. move a task underneath a milestone, simply click on the item to be moved, so that it becomes highlighted and then click ‘Increase Indent’. The highlighted item will now display underneath the new parent milestone. Repeat as needed until your group has formed.
Alternatively, use the ‘Decrease Indent’ button to move a task or milestone out from underneath its parent.
You can also ‘drag and drop’ tasks and milestones into groups as a quicker alternative. Simply click to highlight and then drag your cursor to the correct position.
Amend Scale
Use the magnify glass button to zoom your Gantt in or out from days, weeks, months or quarters.
Expand/Collapse
Use the ‘Expand/Collapse’ button to either just see the top level tasks and milestones in the plan, or all tasks and milestones. See ‘Increase/Decrease Indent’ above on how to create subtasks under top level parents.
Settings Cog
Use the ‘Cog’ button to make changes to your Gantt view such as selecting a specific date range, add/hide columns, view dependency links etc. For more information on this see ‘How to adjust the Gantt settings’.
Actions Menu
Use this menu to change the sort order on your plan, add in non-working days and activate auto-scheduling. See the relevant articles for more information on each of these.
