1 DESKTOP TIPS Presented by: Doug Bonebrake Senior Project Manager Global Project Office FrontRange Solutions Inc.

2 Topics Add Graphic Indicators Create Formulas Use Formulas to Change Indicators Copy Picture Feature Save as Web Page Feature

3 Business Problem Problem: The boss would like to open the project plan and have a quick means to identify the tasks that are coming due within the next five days or are over due. Solution: Insert Graphic Indicators Create a formula to calculate days to finish Use formula to change the indicators

4 Insert Graphic Indicator Column Start by inserting a column to the far left.

5 Insert Graphic Indicator Column Select a “Number” field name. In this example, “Number 1” was used. Also, fill in the “Title” text box.

6 Insert Graphic Indicator Column Right click on the column’s heading, then select “Customize Fields” from the menu.

7 Insert Graphic Indicator Column Use the “Rename” button to change the name to “Status.” Then click the “Graphical Indicator” button to set your indicators.

8 Insert Graphic Indicator Column Set the values in the table, then click “OK”

9 Insert Graphic Indicator Column Make sure the radio button is set to “Graphical Indicator,” then click OK.

10 Insert Graphic Indicator Column With the formula off, you can enter a value (1 – 3) to set the color of the indicator to reflect status – or you can use a formula to create warnings.

11 Create Days-To-Finish Formula Insert and name a column as you did before, then click on the “Formula Button.”

12 Create Days-To-Finish Formula Use the “Field and “Function” buttons to build your formula – or if someone has already figured it out – cut and paste it into the text box.

13 Create Days-To-Finish Formula DateValue([Current Date])-DateValue([Finish]) This formula converts the Current Date and Finish Date to values, then subtracts the Finish Date from the Current Date to calculate the Days till a task is due. If the value is positive, then the due date has passed.

14 Enter the Warning Formula Next, go back to the “Status” column and open the formula dialogue box.

15 Enter the Warning Formula IIf([% Complete]<100,Switch(([Number3] =-5 And [Number3] =0,1),3) If %Complete is less than 100, test Number3. If less than –5, enter 3 as the value, else, if Number3 greater than or equal to –5 and Number3 is less than zero, enter 2 as the value, else if Number3 is greater than or equal to zero, enter 1 as the value. 3 = Green2 = Yellow1 = Red

16 Enter the Warning Formula Now the color indicators give you warnings when a task is due within five days (yellow) or is over due (Red).

17 Business Problem Problem: You need to share project information with team members who do not have Microsoft® Project or access to an enterprise solution such as Project Central. Solution: Use the “Copy Picture” and “Save as Web Page” features.

18 Solution Application This solution benefits: Project Managers with team members who do not have access to Microsoft® Project or Project Central Project Managers with access to an Intranet but do not have Project Central implemented Consultants managing projects for clients with limited capabilities

19 Sample Task List

20 Capture the Picture Highlight the first row, scroll down to last row, press the [shift] key and click left mouse button to highlight all the rows to be captured.

21 Capture the Picture Click on the Camera Icon

22 Capture the Picture Click on “To GIF Image File” Radio button – Then browse to name and specify file path

23 Save the Web Page From the File Menu, select “Save as Web Page”

24 Save the Web Page Specify file and path name, then click “Save”

25 Save the Web Page Highlight a standard report (or build your own), then click on “Edit”

26 Save the Web Page Click on the “Task Mapping Tab” and make any desired changes

27 Save the Web Page Note that you can change title entry to reflect an “As of” date or columns you wish to display

28 Save the Web Page Make sure “Include Image File in HTML Page” is checked Click on “browse” to specify path and file name – (Caution, don’t skip this step)

29 Save the Web Page Click “Save”

30 Sample Milestone Report

31 Milestone Report From the “Project” menu, filter for milestone tasks

32 Milestone Report Capture picture and select web page report format as before

33 View Files The.html file can be viewed with your Web Browser

34 Send Files To view, both the.gif and.html file must be present. The.html file references the.gif file

35 Display Via Intranet Both the.gif and the.html file must be provided to your Web Master – Only the.html file must be referenced by a link

36 Questions?