Milestones
Milestones
Milestones are displayed on the homepage control on the top right of the grid. They identify a step in a project that highlights when a particular project goal has been reached.
You can set default due dates for milestones by either clicking in the milestone column and entering a date or by right clicking on the milestone column heading and choosing the ‘Default due dates’ option:
This will open a window allowing you to enter details for the default due date calculation. The following screenshot is an example of a default due date calculation of the Target Date minus 6 months i.e. 6 months before the Target Date:
Please see the Milestone Default Due Dates section for more information.
Milestone status updating
You can interact with a milestone to edit the due and completion dates as well as the status of the milestone by right clicking on the milestone and using the options available in the right click menu:
- This contains the status options for milestones. You can select the appropriate status by clicking on the label
- Use this to clear any status
- Allows you to insert a comment on the milestone
- This option allows you to filter the display of jobs in the homepage control.
Note: If a milestone is finished, it should be set up "Complete". The complete date can then be used in reporting to see when the milestones have been completed. Once a milestone has been marked as "Complete", this indicates that no further work is to be carried out in this section and the next milestone should be started the Job completed if no further milestones are available.
Note: If a milestones is marked as a "Problem", it would beneficial if a comment is added to the milestone to explain to other users the reason(s) why it is a problem and any further actions that are needed to progress.
Milestone Display Options
You have two display options for milestones in the homepage control and you can switch between the displays by using the Use Icons option:
With the Use Icons option selected, users will see the status of the milestone displayed as an icon and if the milestone has any commeents attached it will be indicated by a red triangle in the top right corner:
To view the details for the milestone you can hover over the icon to see a popup window that contains the detail:
A comment can be edited and/or deleted by right clicking on the cell with the comment and select the Edit Comment/Delete Comment option:
If no comment has been entered them the Edit/Delete options will not be available.
Alternatively, with the Use Icons option clear, users will see the milestones displayed in different colours to indicate the status of the milestone. A due date will also be displayed for all milestones that are not in the completed state. Once a milestone has been marked as complete, the due date is replaced with the completed date.
In this view, you will also have the option to hover over a milestone to get the full details.
Milestone Default Due Dates
There is an option to compare two date fields in the homepage control to derive a default due date for milestones. When setting up default due dates it is important to remember that you an overwrite the default due date with any date by clicking on the default due date and entering the correct information:
Default due dates are created by right clicking on the relevant milestone heading and selected Default due dates.
You will be presented with a text box, in which a formula needs to be entered to calculate the default due date. In the example below, a default due date will be calculated for the "Info Req" milestone using the "Target Date" field minus 6 months (i.e. 6 months prior to the Target Date):
Default due date formulae
To create a default due date, there following formulae can be used:
- Choose the date field that the calculation will be based upon and type the field name in words i.e Target Date
- Enter the calculation required (without the quotation marks):
- "+" for addition
- "-" for subraction
- "/" for division
- "*" for multiplication
- Enter the timescale required (without the quotation marks):
- "d" or "days" to use days
- "w" or "weeks" to use weeks
- "m" or "months" to use months
Note: When changing the status of a milestone to either "In Progress", "Risk", or "Problem", this will have no impact on the due date. This will only change when the status is to "Complete" by being overwritten by the completion date