Working with IntelliGantt for Google Tasks

IntelliGantt for Google support a traditional task hierarchy whereby summary tasks can contain any number of sub tasks. The hierarchy can be as deep as you like. Each level of the hierarchy has a small indent that affects the positioning of the associated task image and display name. Summary tasks containing sub tasks are represented as a folder. The Project Summary Task is represented as a folder with a star.

Starting with an empty project, select the project to establish your starting point and click on the '+' button to bring up the options for adding tasks. If you think of the current selection as a starting point, the options make more sense as to where the new tasks will end up. If you didn't want a new task in a particular position you can always click 'Undo'.

Here we have created six sub tasks by repeatedly clicking the 'Child Below' plus button. The project task has become a folder with a star to show it is the Project Summary Task. We will use in-place editing to rename the tasks.

You can indent tasks by dragging and dropping the image in the task's display name field. Use the left-mouse button or your finger and hold on the task image you wish to indent, then move to the right. As you move you'll see the 'new' summary task turn into a folder. Release to commit the change.

You can also select a new starting point and, just as we did with the Project Summary Task, use the 'add' tool to add new tasks as children to our selection.

You can indent a task several levels at a time depending how far you drag it. Here we do the same operation with task 'Five' so that it becomes a child of our 'New Task'.

As you would expect, you can outdent a task by using the same drag and drop movement, only to the left. As you move, IntelliGantt for Google will provide feedback as summary tasks become normal tasks again.

More Working With IntelliGantt for Google Tasks

To work with tasks, you will first need to select a starting point. In this example we have selected task 'Four'. Note that because 'Four' has children, we see the expand/collapse triangle on the left of the row. Click on the '+' to bring up the add options.

Click the 'Child Below' button multiple times to add a series of new tasks. By default they will be named 'New Task' with a due date two days ahead of today.

You can edit the display name of each task by left-clicking or index-finger-touching in the 'Display Name' cell.

Any change you make in IntelliGantt for Google will be immediately updated in the project. If you ever make a change by mistake, simply click the undo button.

Now that we have renamed each of the tasks, we can schedule by either dragging and dropping in the gantt chart or by editing the Start and/or Finish fields in the task grid. Cell editing is just like how we changed the 'Display Name'. Just mouse-click or finger-touch in the cell you want to edit. Here we will focus on drag and drop operations.

You can move the mouse over the task's point in time on the Gantt chart and receive immediate feedback. When the mouse is over the end point you will see it turn grey. We don't show this feedback with the touch interface as your finger will be on the task.

Turn the task into a milestone by moving the finish date towards the start date. Once the start and finish dates are equal the task will appear as a milestone-- a point in time.

Reschedule the milestone by moving it left or right along the timeline.

To give a task a duration you change both the Start and Finish times. With the mouse you do this by starting the drag operation as above, but this time holding down the SHIFT key. This will fix the Start date to the current value and you'll now be dragging the Finish date. This operation is tough to do with just the finger so we recommend giving tasks durations by changing their Finish values in the task grid by clicking in the Finish cell.

What Tasks are Assigned to You?

There's an age old question. If you haven't asked it, then someone has certainly asked it of you. Because we try to make the important project management questions easy, we've created the answer in one simple link. To find all IntelliGantt tasks assigned to you in the Google+ universe click here. This will show you all tasks that IntelliGantt for Google Project Managers have assigned to you at anytime, from any computer and location. In short, it's all your tasks in Google+ land.

Here's how it works. As a project manager you create a project. It might be an ad-hoc project or one from a Google Site. After you created a simple project with tasks and identified the Google+ folks you'd like to work with, you simply make task assignment. For example, below I've assigned a task to myself, but I'd also like to assign another task to my Google+ Work colleague Julia Windsor, whom I've added to my 'PEOPLE' list.

Mouse click or finger touch in the 'Assignments' cell to bring up the editor and select the person.

That's it. Your done!

When Julia logs in to Google+ land using her Google+ ID, she can simply go to IntelliTask for Google and see what's assigned to her.

No configuration on her part, she just either clicks this link or types in the URL as the pictures show. What link? This one:

https://www.intelligantt.com/Google/tasks.html

What she will see is a hierarchical list of her assigned tasks grouped by projects. Better yet, she can just click in the 'Done' column to let the world know when she's finished.

Getting Started with IntelliGantt for Google

After authenticating with Google and granting the IntelliGantt for Google application permissions, the first time you see the application page it will be mostly empty with a dialog asking if you want to begin your evaluation.

All you have to do is click 'OK' in order to begin the fully functional 15 day evaluation. When you have 10 or less days remaining, every time you reload the page you will see this 'nag' box again with a message encouraging you to purchase a license, however during the evaluation period you can simply continue to click 'OK'. Once this dialog is closed you have an application with two users (Unassigned and yourself) and no projects.

Create your first project by clicking the '+' next to PROJECTS. This will bring up a dialog with a text box where you type in the project name.

The new project is listed in the PROJECTS listbox and is selected so that you see it in the task view as well. Let's add a few tasks to the project. Select the 'IntelliGantt One' row and then click the '+' button on the left side of the task list. This will bring up a multi-function add pane. This lets you add one or more tasks with precision: up, down or as a sub task. Click on 'Child Below' three times.

Each task created starts today and has a two day duration. To edit a task's display name left-mouse click or touch the Display Name cell. An in place editor appears letting you type in the new name. This will work for any field you wish to update, simply left-click or touch within the cell to start editing.

Once you have edited all the task names, you may want to change the schedule by adjusting start and finish dates. To do this move your mouse over the task in the Gantt chart or touch the task with your finger. With the mouse option you will see feedback as the mouse moves over the task by the outline turning gray. No such luck with the touch model, you just have to get your finger on it.

Now that you have selected the task (left mouse button down or touch) you can drag left or right to reposition the task on the timeline. Lifting the mouse button or your finger will complete the drag operation. Remember you can undo changes by clicking the Undo button to the left of the task list.

Once you have a general timeline you can create dependencies between tasks. The quick way is to select a task row, hold down the SHIFT key and select another task. That newly selected task will be the Successor to the previously selected task. This lets you make many dependencies very quickly.

Or, if you have lots of tasks scattered vertically, it may be easier to bring up the task dependency editor. Simply click withing the 'Precedessors' or 'Successors' cell of the task you wish to create a dependency for. Select the target task in the list box, click the green check button and you're done.

Making task assignments follows a similar pattern in that you click in the 'Assignments' cell and then select the people you wish to assign to a task. The only difference is initially, though the 'Assignments' column appears empty, the task is actually assigned to 'Unassigned'. The reason for this is to let you quickly identify all unassigned tasks in your project by clicking on the 'Unassigned' person in the PEOPLE list box at the top of IntelliGantt for Google.

Renaming Columns for Projects and Tasks

You can change the names of column headers with IntelliGantt for Google by clicking or touching the display name of column. The changes you make will be part of the current project you have selected within the task list. In this way you can begin to craft the look, feel and nomenclature of your projects for team members. If no project is selected, or the very top row is selected (named 'By Tasks'), then you will change the master template from which all new projects are created. Here's how it works.

Here we have selected the 'IntelliGantt One' project that we've used in other examples. This means column changes I make will only be a part of the 'IntelliGantt One' project.

With IntelliGantt for Google all column header names are editable. Simply left-click with the mouse or touch with your finger on the column header name you wish to edit. The textbox appears ready for your changes.

Type in whatever you like for the new title. The changes won't take effect until you hit the enter key. You can always edit the column name again, or hit undo.

After the enter key your changes are not only visible in IntelliGantt for Google...

... but in the shared IntelliTask for Google as well. For example, the 'IntelliGantt One' we created earlier from our Google Site. Your changes will be visible to all your team members using the same Google Site and task list.