"My Tasks"--Fixed Duration & Fixed Units

[dhrisd]

I created a new project plan as a fixed duration so that the plan and tasks
created would ALL be fixed duration. The tasks published correctly and I was
able to change the hours and keep the set dates for one of the published
tasks. But when I created a new task in "My Tasks" for that project plan it
treated that task as fixed units—which was not what we were wanting but what
we were suspecting would happen. Anyway, the only way to change my newly
created task in "My Tasks" (that I know of so far) to fixed duration is by
Project Pro (change the task information area from fixed units to fixed
duration, then save it and then publish it). Is there a way to control the
creation of tasks in "My Tasks" to how the project plan is setup/saved (i.e.
fixed duration, fixed unit, etc.) and/or is there a setting somewhere on the
server that can let us switch the creation of tasks in PWA from fixed unit to
fixed duration??? Oh, I forgot to mention we are using 2007. Any help will be
GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Probably best to repost in the Project Server newsgroup
microsoft.public.project.server as that's where those folks hang out.

That being said ... you say "and keep the set dates for one of the
published tasks". Are you setting dates? Best to not set start or
finish dates in Project. Let Project compute them. Otherwise you get
unwanted constraints. Perhaps this is what's causing problems?

If you actually set the task as fixed duration, I wonder why/how Project
or Project Server would change it. You might not have done what you
thought you did?

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

dhrisd --

In the future, please post your Project Server questions in the
microsoft.public.project.server newsgroup, as this newsgroup is dedicated to
the Microsoft Project desktop only. To answer your question, what you are
seeing is the default behavior of Project Server 2007. When a user submits
a new task from the My Tasks page in PWA, and the PM approves the new task,
the system creates the new task as a Fixed Units task in Project
Professional, in spite of whatever default settings you have specified for
Task Type. There is no way around this behavior, so you need to make sure
your PMs change the Task Type to Fixed Duration manually after approving
task updates. This is one more reason why we recommend as a best practice
that your PMs accept their task updates directly within the project plan in
Project Professional 2007, rather than from the Task Updates page in PWA.
If they accept task updates in Project Professional 2007, they can
immediately change the Task Type for the new tasks submitted by team
members. Hope this helps.

 

[dhrisd]

Thanks Dale--I believe you confirmed our suspicions. Just to be sure--there
is no absolute way to change the task created by the team member in my tasks
on PWA to be fixed duration other than the PM doing it in Project Pro??? Do
you know if Microsoft plans on offering a feature/option that allows us to
switch/control the default behavior?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

dhrisd --

To confirm for the second time, there is NO WAY to set up Project Server
2007 so that new tasks submitted from the My Tasks page in PWA appear as
Fixed Duration tasks in the Microsoft Project plan automatically.
Therefore, as I stated previously, you need to teach your PMs to change the
Task Type for these new tasks immediately, which is why I recommended
accepting task updates from within Project Professional 2007, instead of
from the My Tasks page in PWA.

I don't work for Microsoft, so I cannot comment on their plans in this area,
but I would not be surprised if it doesn't change in Project Server 2010.
Until then, continue making this a training and performance issue with your
PMs. Hope this helps.

 

[dhrisd]

Very Helpful Info!!! Thank you Dale!!!!!

dhrisd --

To confirm for the second time, there is NO WAY to set up Project Server
2007 so that new tasks submitted from the My Tasks page in PWA appear as
Fixed Duration tasks in the Microsoft Project plan automatically.
Therefore, as I stated previously, you need to teach your PMs to change the
Task Type for these new tasks immediately, which is why I recommended
accepting task updates from within Project Professional 2007, instead of
from the My Tasks page in PWA.

I don't work for Microsoft, so I cannot comment on their plans in this area,
but I would not be surprised if it doesn't change in Project Server 2010.
Until then, continue making this a training and performance issue with your
PMs. Hope this helps.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

dhrisd --

You are more than welcome for the help, my friend!