removing start and finish dates for certain "tasks"

[schemr]

hi,
im having an issue with removing the start and finish dates for certain
"tasks". the reason i have double quotes is because these are not really
tasks...they just appear there under the task column but are really
information about the project (for example: Project Number, JOb Number,
Project Address, etc). as u can see it does not make sense to have start and
finish dates for these items. but i am not able to remove the start and fin
dates for these items. any help is appreciated. also if u think this is the
wrong place to have this type of information, please guide me in the right
direction and i will be VERY thankful for ur help.

schemr

 

[Rod Gill]

In Project every task has to have a start and finish date as that's one of
Project's key roles: calculating dates.

To add information such as Job Number etc, insert custom columns such as
Text1 or Number1. To permanently assign a title:
Select Tools, Customize, Fields
Select your custom field (you may need to change the field type to Text or
Number)
Click the Rename button
Rename your field

If you renamed Text1 as Job Number then you can now insert the field Job
Number. Text1 has (Job Number) next to it so you don't re-use it for
something else by mistake.

 

[schemr]

thank you rod. i was aware of gettin around the problem via the method you
described. the reason i was avoiding this was because i would have about 5
diff colums for information that have just one entry (wudnt this also be
taken in as a task by MS Project???) and this would get really annoying as
all these columns would take up screen space and block out the task
information.

 

[Rod Gill]

No problem, simply create a new table (View, Table, More tables) and put
custom fields in it. Then apply the table when you want to look/edit the
data, then re-apply the entry table: no screen space lost.

Custom data on the same row as an existing task won't create a new task. For
project level data:
Select Tools, Options
View tab
Select Project Summary Task

Add data only to the new row 0

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

Actually what doesn't make sense is to list them as tasks in the WBS. These
items you described are information about tasks and appropriately belong in
the notes associated with the tasks they are about. If you have a "master
plan" type of file with a number of projects in it, each embedded project
shows up as a summary task and things like project number, order number,
address, etc would be notes associated with it. The task list is not an
organization chart, responsibility matrix, or administrative responsibility
type of outline, it is a breakdown of the project deliverable into smaller
and smaller deliverables until you have detailed them out enough to schedule
all of the activities required to create them.

 

[schemr]

hi steve house,
thank you for your response. i understand that it would be a note on the
summary of the project since i DO have a masterProject file with all projects
listed. only problem is, the owner of the company wants it done this way and
i was wondering if it was possible. i will show him your post and explain the
situation. thank you.

schemr