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Plan User Manual
Page 18 of 18
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Target. This value is shown for reference and cannot be altered. It shows how much of
the task should be complete at the current point in time for comparison against the
“Actual % done” field.
•
Actual % done.
This field shows the actual percentage of the task completed. Note that
“Tracking” field in the “Plan > Properties” dialog controls whether actual values are
entered as a % of the planned work or as actual work done values in days and hours.
• To start of. This field allows a date to be entered which indicates when the “Actual %
done” field was last updated with information.
Custom Fields:
• Text1 – Text5. Freeform text associated with the task.
• Number1 – Number5. Freeform values associated with the task.
Costs/Notes:
•
Include labour costs. If ticked (the default) then resource costs are included in the costs
for the task. If not ticked then any resource costs are ignored.
• Fixed cost. A fixed additional cost associated with the given task.
• Number. A freeform field accepting any numeric value.
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Notes. A freeform field usable for general notes associated with the task.
Task costs are displayed in the task list and gantt views.
The “Plan > Plan summary” menu option may be used to display total costs for the project.
Summary and sub-tasks
A summary task is a task providing an overview of a number of sub-tasks. The majority of
the data associated with the summary task is calculated by Plan from the data associated with
each sub-task. The description, dependencies, notes and number fields are the only fields that
may be entered manually for summary tasks.
The start of the summary task will be equal to the earliest sub-task start date and the end will
be equal to the latest sub-task end date. The work and cost fields will be the sum of the
corresponding sub-task fields. The % done field will be the % of the work done so far on all
the tasks.
Summary tasks may be nested so that a summary task may also be a sub-task of a higher level
summary task. There may be up to eight levels from the outer most summary task to the
lowest sub-task. The level of a task is indicated using indentation within the task list and
Gantt chart views.
To alter a tasks level use the < and > keys (these keys are the same as the zoom keys and will
need to be used in conjunction with the shift key), e.g. press > to make the task a sub-task of
the task immediately above it. It is a good idea to turn automatic calculation off in the
preference settings before making major changes to task levels. It is also recommended that
the basic structure of a project should be established in terms of summary tasks and sub-tasks
before assigning dependencies.
If a summary task is highlighted then the “Show/hide subtasks” menu option on the “Task”
menu may be used to show or hide tasks below the given summary task. The minus symbol
next to the description will change to a plus and vice versa to indicate if sub tasks are shown.
The + key may be used as an alternative shortcut for showing/hiding subtasks.
In the example plan supplied, the tasks have been grouped into various phases using
summary tasks.