Listing WBS Tasks within a Project or Task

Click the WBS tab from the project PowerView.

Or

From the Categories menu, click WBS.

When the structure browser page first opens, it shows all top-level tasks for the project or task. You can expand the list to show a specific level of subtasks by clicking the "+" in the tree listing. On a summary task, if you right-click and select "Expand - All" all child tasks will be displayed.

Clicking the right mouse button on a task will show possible actions you can take on that task. For information about task ID sequencing, see Task ID. For information about critical tasks and critical paths, see Critical Path.

Depending on the filter and view selected in the drop-down boxes above the toolbar, this page lists these details for each task:

Name. The name of the task. Critical tasks (those that cannot be delayed without affecting the project finish date) are identified in red. Summary tasks are highlighted in bold. You can hover over the name to see its description. The Name field is editable across all rows for Projects,Concept Projects and Templates.

Type. For a project, the type is Project Space. The type for a top level node can also be Project Concept or Project Template. You could also see Task, Phase, Gate, or Milestone as the type. The type is Task for all tasks and subtasks. Your system may be set up with additional task types.

Id. An integer that represents the task for the purposes of identifying dependencies. Unlike the WBS number, the ID does not represent the task's level in the hierarchy. Because it's an integer, the ID is a more concise way to identify the tasks.

Dependency. Lists any dependencies defined for the task. Shows only in WBS View. The dependencies are abbreviated using this convention:

Task ID: [Dependency Type] [Number of Slack Days, if any]

Multiple dependencies are displayed with a comma separator. For more details about dependencies and the syntax, see About Task Dependencies.

(Deliverables). The deliverables icon indicates that deliverables are attached to a task. Click the deliverables icon to access the Deliverables PowerView page. Hovering over the deliverables icon will display the list of deliverables. A plus sign indicates there are no deliverables.

(Status). The status flags indicate whether the project or task is behind schedule. The exact number of days for a status to be yellow or red is configurable and may be different for your system.

Project Status is as follows:

• No flag: the project is not complete but there is more than 5 days remaining before the estimated finish date.
• Green: the project is complete.
• Yellow: the project is not complete and there are less than 5 days remaining before the estimated/baseline finish date.
• Red: the project is not complete and the current date is after the project's estimated/baseline finish date (if there is no baseline, the estimated finish date is used).

State. A task can be in one of the following states. For more information, see WBS Task Lifecycle.

• Create. The task has just been created and an assignee specified. When a Project Lead is ready for work to begin on a WBS task, the Lead promotes it to Assign.
• Assign. The system notifies assignees.
• Active. The assignees have begun work on the task. The system automatically promotes a task to Active when the % Complete is changed from 0% to any percentage less than 100.
• Review. Project members are reviewing the task and its deliverables. When 100% is entered for % Complete, the system automatically promotes the task to Review. Typically, an assignee creates a route to have route members review the task.
• Complete. The task is complete. The system automatically promotes a task to Complete when an assignee or Project Lead enters an Actual Finish Date.

%. The percentage of work that has been done for the task, as estimated by the task assignee. Shown only in the WBS and Effort views.

Estimated

Duration / Start Date / End Date. The date the task should be started and should end by. The duration is the number of days (d) or hours (h) between the start and end dates.

Note: If in project preferences the project duration has been changed from "Days" to "Hours", in the WBS the hours are displayed only in the Project row for the Estimated Duration and not for all WBS tasks.

Actual

Duration / Start Date / End Date. The actual start date is the date the task was promoted to Active. When a task's % Complete value is set to anything above 0%, the task is automatically promoted to Active.

The task assignee or Project Lead should enter an Actual End Date for the task after it has been approved by reviewers. When an end date is entered, the system promotes the task to Complete. If the task is manually promoted to Complete, the system automatically enters the current date as the Actual End Date. Additionally, a route can be created to get approval from reviewers and then promote the task when the route is finished.

The Actual Duration is the number of days between the actual start and end dates.

Owner. The owner of the task or project. Shown only in the WBS View. When editing the owner, even if the current task owner does not belong to the selected project role of the task, the current task owner is selected as the owner by default. If the task does not have a specific project role, all the members of that project will be displayed in the owner chooser.

Task Requirement. Whether the task is Optional or Mandatory. Even optional tasks must be completed before the project can be promoted to Complete. Shows only in the WBS View.

Project Role. The project role that is assigned to the task. Shows only in WBS View.

WBS. The task's order in the hierarchy. Integers represent top level tasks. Second level tasks have one decimal, third level tasks have two decimals, and so on.

Description. A description of the WBS object.

Duration Estimate. The duration estimate for the task, which is expressed in days or hours. If a Duration Keyword is entered, this field is populated with an estimate based on the entered keyword.

Duration Keyword. This field displays only if there is a defined list of duration keywords. Keywords for WBS tasks and all duration values are configurable settings in projects. For more information about keywords, see About Duration Keywords.

Constraint Type. The type of constraint for this task, which specifies when the task should be completed within the project. Shown only in the WBS Planning View.

For non-summary tasks, values can be "As Late as Possible", "As Soon as Possible", "Start No Earlier Than", "Finish No Earlier Than", "Start No Later Than", "Finish No Later Than", "Must Finish On", or "Must Start On".

For summary tasks, values depend upon whether the project schedule is from the start date or finish date.

Constraint Date. Constraint Types other than "As Soon as Possible" or "As Late as Possible" have a constraint date. Shown only in the WBS Planning View.

Baseline Initial

Start Date / End Date. The initial baseline start and end dates. Shown only in Baseline View.

Baseline Current

Start Date / End Date. The current baseline start and end dates. Shown only in Baseline View.

Use the + and - symbols in the name column to expand/collapse the task structure. To set the number of levels to expand when you click + for a node, select a value from the Expand drop-down list. Select All if you want to expand the entire structure for a node; select Specify to enter a specific value not shown in the list.

To filter the list of tasks, select the type of Tasks from the drop-down list at the top, right:

All Tasks. Displays all WBS tasks, including tasks marked for deletion.

Members Task Assignments. Displays the tasks based on the person to which it is assigned. Subtasks are not shown in this view.

WBS Deleted Tasks. Displays all tasks marked for deletion. Tasks that have been deleted do not show. To undo marked for deletion tasks, select the one or more tasks in this view and click Actions > Undo Mark as Deleted.

WBS Tasks. Displays all the tasks that have not been marked for deletion.

To switch views, select a view from the drop-down list above the toolbar. The column list explains which columns display in each view.

Assignment View. This view enables a Project Lead to quickly assign project tasks to project members and non-members. In this view you can:

• Assign project members non-members as task assignees.
• Un-assign task assignees by keying in zero in place of % allocation.
• Perform up to 1000% allocation.
• Mass update task assignment to project members.

Baseline View. In addition to estimated and actual WBS information, this view displays and allows you to edit baseline information. For information about baselines, see About Baselines.

Effort View. Shows the effort, in hours or days, for each task in the project along with weekly details.

WBS Planning View. In addition to allowing you to view and perform actions on basic WBS information, this view also provides task constraint information.

WBS View. Displays estimated and actual WBS information for the selected filter. Allows you to perform all the actions described below.

To mass promote or demote a project and/or its tasks, click the checkbox for the objects and then on the toolbar click to promote or to demote. Note that the mass promote and demote icons are not available on the toolbar in Baseline View.

If any errors occur during a mass promote/demote an error report is displayed which lists the objects in error along with the reason for each error.

If a project space is selected along with its tasks and mass promoted from the Create state, the tasks as well as the project move to the Active state instead of the Assign state. Selecting tasks alone promotes them from Create to Assign.

To quickly create new tasks (tasks, gates, milestones, phases) in WBS View or WBS Planning View, use the "Quick WBS Creation toolbar":

1. Click the task in the WBS list for which you want to add another task. You can also select a sub task or a individual task's WBS.
2. Select the Type of task (Gate, Milestone, Phase, Change Task, Task) you want to add.
3. Select the number of tasks in the No field.
4. Click to add the task(s) below or click to insert the task(s) above.

The added tasks are displayed in the WBS list.

When the task is created, its default values are as follows:

To delete one or more tasks in the WBS:

1. Select the tasks to be deleted.
2. Click .

After a confirmation, the tasks are deleted.

To edit cells in the WBS individually or by a mass update (for more details, see Editing the WBS):

1. Click Enable Edit on the page toolbar.

   Most cells are editable in the different views except for the Effort view. Note that the "Type" cell for Projects, Concept Projects, and Templates is not editable, but the "Name" cell is editable.

   While you edit, Program Central visually displays the proposed changes but does not make those changes until you click Save. On a marked up WBS, you could see any of these symbols:

   . Row is marked for deletion.

   . One or more values in the row were changed.

   . Row was moved (cut and pasted) from another location in the structure for the same parent.

   
   
   

   This page is also used to show the WBS for a specific task (and its subtasks).

2. To edit a cell, click the cell and change the value. Depending on the type of data, you edit the cell by:

   
   

   1. Selecting an option from a drop-down list.
   2. Using the calendar tool to change a date. The calendar shows non-working days based on the events set in the company calendar for the location of the task owner and task calendar. All non-working days are highlighted in yellow color. If no events have been set, by default Saturday and Sunday will be non-working days and are not shown with any visual cue.
   3. Typing a new value.
   4. Clicking to open a chooser window.
   5. For a dependency, typing the value (can be a comma-separated list) following the syntax defined in About Task Dependencies.
   6. Click Save to save the changes or Reset to reset cells back to their orginal values.

3. To perform a mass update in which you can apply a change to all tasks or only to selected tasks:

   
   

   1. Select the item you want to update from the Mass Update drop-down list in the page toolbar.

      
      
      

      These attributes can be updated: Name, Type, State, %, Duration, Start Date, End Date, Task Requirement, Project Role, or Description.

      Note: You cannot mass promote tasks to "Review/Complete" states using the Mass Update "State" dropdown value.

   2. Type the changed value in the data entry box.
   3. To apply the value to one or more selected cells, click the check boxes for the tasks/ subtasks in the left pane, and then click Apply to Selected.
   4. To apply the value to all cells, click Apply to All.

      For example, to change the state of all tasks, select State from the dropdown list, and then choose the specific state in the lower dropdown list, for example, Active. Then click Apply to All.

4. Use the Edit menu to work with tasks:

   Undo. Reverts changes to existing values on the selected row; click OK to confirm.

   Cut. Mark the selected tasks for removal from the current location and keep in memory (for use with one of the Paste commands). You can cut multiple rows at a time. The text in the row shows crossed-out in red to indicate it is marked for removal.

   Paste As Child. Inserts rows cut or copied as children of the selected row. If you need to define an order for child rows, use Paste Above.

   Paste Above. Insert rows cut or copied above the selected row as child objects to the selected row's parent object. Pasted rows show in green if the row was cut or copied from a different parent object, or orange if the pasted rows were cut (not copied) from a different location in the list of that parent object. Orange indicates a resequencing of rows.

5. To exit Edit mode, click Disable Edit.

Use the shortcut menu (right-click on a task) to quickly access these actions:

Properties. Opens the Properties page for the task in a new window. See Viewing Information About a WBS or Project Task.

Lifecycle. Opens the Lifecycle page for the task. See WBS Task Lifecycle.

Insert Task Above. Adds a task on the same level as the selected task as a sibling task. Not available in Baseline View. See Inserting New Tasks.

Add Subtask Below. Adds a child task to the selected task. Not available in Baseline View.

Insert Existing Project Above. Inserts a Subproject above the selected task/project as a sibling. Not available in Baseline View. See Inserting Projects as Tasks.

Add Existing Project Below. Adds a child Subproject to the selected task/project. Not available in Baseline View. See Inserting Projects as Tasks.

Assign Selected. Assigns members to the selected task. Not available in Baseline View. See Searching for People and Project Members.

Delete Selected. Deletes the selected tasks, click OK to confirm. This option is only for tasks, not projects. and tasks must be in the Create state. These tasks cannot be viewed using the WBS Deleted Tasks filter. To delete a task from a WBS, you must be a Project Lead or owner or task owner. Task assignees cannot delete their top level task but can delete subtasks that they create. Not available in Baseline View.

Use the page Actions menu or toolbar to work with the tasks:

Add/Copy WBS. Adds or copies another WBS into the current project. Not available in Baseline View. See Creating WBS Tasks by Copying from Another Project.

Gantt Chart. Opens the Gantt chart view or the WBS. Available under the Actions menu in Baseline View. See Viewing Gantt Charts.

Deliverables Report. Opens an online report of WBS task deliverables. Available under the Actions menu in Baseline View. See Viewing the Deliverables Report.

Insert Task Above. Adds a task on the same level as the selected task as a sibling task. Not available in Baseline View.

Add Subtask Below. Adds a child task to the selected task. Not available in Baseline View.

Insert Existing Project Above. Inserts a Subproject above the selected task/project as a sibling. Not available in Baseline View. See Inserting Projects as Tasks.

Add Existing Project Below. Adds a child Subproject to the selected task/project. Not available in Baseline View. See Inserting Projects as Tasks.

Copy WBS to Selected Task. Copies an existing WBS to the selected task. You then select and import the WBS. Not available in Baseline View. See Creating WBS Tasks by Copying from Another Project.

Assign by Project Role. Assigns work allocation for selected tasks based on project role. Not available in Baseline View. See Assigning Task Allocation by Project Role.

Add/Remove Selected Dependency. Opens the Dependencies page where you can define the dependencies (adding, removing, updating). Not available in Baseline View. See About Task Dependencies.

Assign Selected. Assigns members to the selected task. Not available in Baseline View. See Searching for People and Project Members.

Mark as Deleted. Marks one or more tasks as deleted; click OK to confirm. These tasks can still be viewed using the WBS Deleted Tasks filter. This option removes the task from the WBS calculations, but lets members view the task. Not available in Baseline View. See Marking WBS Tasks as Deleted.

Delete Selected. Deletes the selected tasks, click OK to confirm. This option is only for tasks, not projects. and tasks must be in the Create state. These tasks cannot be viewed using the WBS Deleted Tasks filter. To delete a task from a WBS, you must be a Project Lead or owner or task owner. Task assignees cannot delete their top level task but can delete subtasks that they create. Not available in Baseline View.

Remove Project. Removes the selected project from the WBS, click OK to confirm. This option is for projects only, not tasks. A master project cannot be removed. Not available in Baseline View.

Duration Keywords. Allows you to view the duration keywords for the project. See Working With Duration Keywords.

Create Baseline. Creates a baseline for the project. Not available in WBS View. See Creating and Revising a Baseline.

Revise Baseline. Revises the baseline for the project. Not available in WBS View. See Creating and Revising a Baseline.

Baseline Log. Opens the baseline log. Not available in WBS View. See Viewing the Baseline Log.

You can use to export the data displayed on the page to a .CSV file, however, the exported data is not consistent with the format needed to import WBS data. To export WBS data in a format that is consistent with the import format, see Exporting a Project.