IntelliGantt + IntelliTask + Google Sites = Revision 2

We received feedback from Google Site users that the IntelliGantt + IntelliTask combination wasn't as easy as it needed to be. So we took these findings to heart and made the interaction among our products and Google Sites even better. The cool thing is we were able to do this without changing the actual IntelliTask Gadget itself, just the underlying HTML the Gadget points to. This means if you've already installed the IntelliTask Gadget, you just need to refresh your web page to see the enhancements in your Google Site. Here's what it will look like:

The big changes here are twofold. First, we do the initial housekeeping for you: we now create your initial IntelliGantt Workspace and Project for you. This makes it easy when you visit IntelliGantt for Google to plan and schedule your project. Second, we put in a breadcrumb showing you the current workspace (which is the Google Site) and the current projects within the Google Site. You can see this if you click on the tab controls for 'Workspaces' and 'Projects'. These tabs help you identify the workspace and project we created. This makes it easy to find and then modify projects for this Google Site within our IntelliGantt for Google application. Though this example is simple, you will see the Google Site as a workspace when you start IntelliGantt for Google:

Click on the 'forward' arrow to go to the application where you can click on the Google Site's projects. Again, this is a simple example so you are just showing the single project created for you automatically, but you can have as many projects within a Google Site as you like.

Since this project was created by default when we went to the Google Site, it doesn't have any tasks in it. Here we will add a few tasks and assign one to 'John'.

Remember that the IntelliTask control is designed to show all the tasks assigned to the current user. That is, the active Google+ user. Since that happens to be 'John' here, when we go back to the Google Site and refresh the page, we see all of his tasks.

This makes it very easy to create a Google Site, drop in an IntelliTask Gadget, create an actual project with IntelliGantt and have everyone see their assignments in IntelliTask within the context of their Google Site.

Google Site Template for IntelliTask and IntelliGantt

We just published a Google Site template to the Google Site public template list that you can use to quickly get started with our IntelliTask for Google and IntelliGantt for Google solutions. We put IntelliTask for Google on the site's home page and IntelliGantt for Google on a separate page we called 'Project Manager'. The idea behind this is team members can go the the home page of a Google Site and view what their tasks are with respect to that site. Project Managers can also go to the site and use the IntelliTask for Google, or they can go the the special 'Project Manager' page where IntelliGantt for Google is available to create tasks, update schedules, make assignments and do all the things necessary for a healthy project. Also, because we put IntelliGantt for Google on its own page, you can 'lock it down' if you prefer so that only project managers can view (and therefore work with) it.

Here's how it works. First we will go to our Google Sites page so that we may create a new Google Site.

Next we will browse in the gallery for more templates.

Since it's not the most recent entry into the template list, we will need to search for it. We placed the template in the 'Business Collaboration' category. After this is selected, type 'IntelliTask' into the search box and click the magnifying glass. The 'IntelliGantt Starter Template' should appear.

Finish creating the Google Site as you normally would. One finish, on the Home page you will see an instance of our IntelliTask for Google. This is a Google Site aware and Google+ User aware task list designed to show whomever is viewing the page all their assigned tasks within the context of this Google Site. Of course, it looks a little empty right now, but we will change that shortly.

The template also has another page for our IntelliGantt for Google application. Here we will be able to create tasks, assignments, schedules, and even define what the column names are and if they are visible or editable for everyone.

Let's do just that. First we will add three tasks.

And then assign one we called 'Two' to Julia Windsor.

When we navigate back to the Home page, you'll see the IntelliTask for Google application, only this time, because it is Julia who is logged it, we see all of Julia's assigned tasks.

If Julia puts on her 'Team Member' hat, she may wish to report she is down with 'Two'. She mouse-clicks or touches the 'Done' cell to mark her task completed. This field is editable by default, but you can change which fields are visible and/or editable in the IntelliGantt for Google app. Speaking of which, if we navigate to the 'Project Manager' page we will see Julia's update in the context of the entire project.

Note that IntelliGantt for Google shows you which columns are visible in IntelliTask for Google by displaying a small 'world' image in the header column cell. Similarly, if the header column cell has a little pencil as well, then IntelliTask users can update assigned tasks for these fields.

You can change these settings by moving the mouse into the column header or selecting the column header by touching it, then clicking on the configuration cog image.

This gives you the ability to change the visibility or editability for a data column.

You can also change the display name for a data column by clicking or touch on its current display name. This brings up the editor for you to change as you wish.

Adding Tasks to Google Sites via IntelliGantt

In our previous post we saw how simple it is to add a task list to a Google Site. Though not immediately obvious, the benefits are the task list is scoped within a Google Site for both membership access and task assignments. Let's pick up where we left off and illustrate the powerful way our IntelliGantt for Google helps you manage the IntelliTask for Google task list placed within Google Sites.

We created our IntelliTask for Google list in our IntelliGantt One Google Site. We then moved to the IntelliGantt for Google application that a project manager would use to manage all the tasks and schedules across our Google Sites. We then added three tasks so that we have this:

Even though the project manager has added three tasks, none of them will show up in our IntelliTask for Google within the Google site. Why? Because IntelliTask for Google only shows tasks assigned to the current Google user, as determined by their Google+ signin. Thus we will need to assign a task or two to a user.

Now when we go back and refresh the IntelliTask for Google tool, we will see task 'Two' because that's the user we are logged in as.

The task assignee can quickly see what they have to do within the context of the 'IntelliGantt One' Google Site. Once finished, they can mark it as done by simply clicking in the 'Done' cell.

Back in IntelliGantt for Google, the project manager will see this change in the context of the entire project.

Hopefully we have illustrated the separation between the niceties of a task list tailored for an individual and the complexities of project management for a PM. Also important to note is that the IntelliTask for Google tool works with, and was designed for, mobile devices as well so that folks could see their tasks out in the world and report back status from anywhere with a single click-- or touch in this case. Just to reiterate that point, here is the same IntelliTask for Google list on an Android phone:

Or even within a persons GMail page:

But this isn't the only 'cross-application' data sharing that takes place between IntelliGantt for Google and IntelliTask for Google. You may have noticed the columns displayed in IntelliGantt were different that the columns displayed in IntelliTask. As in, 'where did the Assignments and Start columns go? Let's take a look at our first picture again, and this time check out the icons just above the column display names.

They're kind of small, but do you see the 'World' and 'Pencil' images? If a column has the 'World' picture above its name, that means it is visible within the IntelliTask for Google list. If a column has the world and the pencil above the column name, then it is visible and editable within the IntelliGantt for Google list. Because Assignments and Start do not have the world picture above them, they are not visible (or editable) within the IntelliTask for Google tool.

We can change this, of course. Simply move your mouse into the column cell, or touch the column with your finger. You will then see the configuration cog.

Click on this cog to bring up the simple options window for this column. Here you can choose to display the column and make it editable if you wish by checking the corresponding checkboxes.

Let's make this column visible in IntelliTask for Google for the user.

When we refresh IntelliTask for Google, we will now see the Start column.

However, because we did not add the 'Pencil' image, the IntelliTask for Google user will not be able to edit the value within this column. He or she can only view it.

IntelliTask Gadget for Google Sites

We introduced how to place the IntelliGantt for Google PM tool within a Google site, but that was really just a placeholder for our new IntelliTask Gadget for Google Sites. The IntelliGantt for Google application is built for project managers with larger screens. The IntelliTask for Google application is built for everyone else, including folks just using their phone. The basic idea is projects managers have their tool, team members have their tool and everyone shares the same project data. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible to drop a task list into any Google Site and have that task list be 'Site Aware'. That is, only tasks within the site are shown to site members. The IntelliGantt for Google tool let's project managers view all the task lists across all their Google Sites and manage these projects in total. There's a lot to cover so this will be multiple posts, but let's start by adding our IntelliTask Gadget to a Google Site.

You will want to create a Google Site. Here is my management page showing two sites I have created.

Within a Google Site, you can create pages and insert tools or gadgets on each page. The first page is created for you-- the Home page.

The is the most basic, empty site, but its the same process for every Google Site, no matter how many tools or gadgets already there. On this page we can start an edit mode that will let us insert tools or gadgets. Click on that dark pencil button on the upper-right of the page. This will bring up the editor tool bar.

When you click on the 'Insert' tab on the tool bar a list of built-in tools appears for you to choose from. You can of course place any of these onto the page. However, we want to use this page to track user tasks, which is perfect for our IntelliTask for Google Gadget. So, we click on the '... More Gadgets' option.

This page is a little spartan, but at least to the point. On the left side select the 'Add gadget by URL' cell. On the right side a simple text box appears for you to type in the URL for the IntelliTask for Google Gadget. Type in the following:

https://www.intelligantt.com/Google/IntelliTaskGadget.xml

The next screen lets you configure the dimensions a bit. Remember that many people may be viewing this page and not all of them have your monitor. Also, you will want to make sure this page is not too large for smartphone screens as well. Play around with the settings a bit to make sure you have the best fit for your team.

Save your changes and you will see the IntelliTask for Google Gadget on your page.

Not just on your desktop or laptop either. IntelliTask for Google work very well on your phone too!

You can even place it within your GMail.

Finally, let's rename the 'project' task in IntelliTask for Google to a name that will help us find it in our IntelliGantt for Google in just a bit. You can do this by simply clicking on the cell you with to edit and typing in the new name.

So what do we have here? By creating a Google Site, we have:

• A place on the web I can manage
• The ability to add additional tools in the context of this place
• The ability to manage who can participate in this place

The IntelliTask for Google works with these principles to also give you:

• A task list you can place on any Google Site Page
• A task list that is not only Google Site aware, but also Google User aware
• A task list that works with a more full featured PM tool
• A task list that works on any OS, in any web browser on any device

Of course all this isn't obvious from the photos in this post, but we didn't want to throw everything at once. In the next part we will show how IntelliGantt for Google works with the task lists you created so that PMs can add tasks, create dependencies, make assignments and choose which fields are updatable. You simply go to the IntelliGantt for Google web page to start:

IntelliGantt Task Gadget for GMail

We love to integrate with existing platforms here at TeamDirection. Ever since we starting connecting with Google's amazing variety of services, we've been quite busy. Except for one thing-- Google Tasks, as they presently work, are absolutely useless for a group. A project manager simply cannot post a task to someone else's google task list. Thankfully, we did find another way.

TeamDirection is introducing its own GMail task list gadget that is cross device, cross browser and most importantly cross user.

Let's start with IntelliGantt for Google. This is what the project manager will use to create and schedule GMail (and Google Site!) aware projects. Here we are showing a couple projects with three tasks each, one of which is assigned to John.

What we would like to do is put in a 'John aware' task list in the empty area to the lower left marked 'Right Here'.

Thankfully GMail provides a way to do just this in its Settings. Go into Settings, select the 'Labs' tab and enable the 'Add any gadget by URL' option.

This will create a new tab option your Settings screen labeled 'Gadgets'. Select the 'Gadgets' tab and add a gadget by its url using: https://www.intelligantt.com/Google/IntelliTaskGadget.xml

When you return to the main GMail window you will now see an IntelliGantt task list in the heretofore empty lower left of the window. Space is a little tight, but IntelliGantt recognizes the logged in user and provides a list of their tasks.

When you finish a task, you can simply mouse click or finger touch in the 'Done' cell.

This marks it as completed in the original project as well so the project manager can see the work getting done.

Users can also make edits to tasks right in place. For example, to change a task's name, mouse click or touch the Display Name cell. This brings up an in-place text editor.

These changes, naturally, also go right back into the project for the manager to see.

There's always more work to do, though. Since John finished his task (and changed its name), the project manager assigns John to another task.

Which John will see right in his GMail window.

We are making the IntelliGantt Task List for GMail freely available. Simply follow the installation steps above and you're off and running. Project managers will need IntelliGantt for Google to create and manage the projects.