Our latest release, version 2010.09.27, includes an enhancement we had on our wishlist for quite a while. We are glad to introduce a new field at the project level called “Predefined % Done”. Essentially, this will empower project managers to set a default % Done value to any “In Progress” task status.
As an example, let’s say you have 5 task statuses in a project. From now on, you’ll be able to set Predefined % Done values like that:
- “To Do” (“Waiting” type) – Predefined % Done = 0% (built-in value, uneditable)
- “Submitted” (“In Progress” type) – Predefined % Done = 40% (custom value)
- “Reviewed” (“In Progress” type) – Predefined % Done = 90% (custom value)
- “Published” (“Completed” type) – Predefined % Done = 100% (built-in value, uneditable)
We feel this option is a great time-saver as it enables you to skip a step when updating tasks. Most of the time, it will not be necessary to update the % Done manually.
Another enhancement we made is empowering administrators to delete documents on completed projects. We have been reported this annoyance often enough to fix it.
Finally, we added the usual social media icons on the login page. This way, it will be easier for you to subscribe to our RSS feed and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
[…] Version 2010.09.27 – Predefined % Done […]
We would like to see status types customizable (Waiting, In Progress, Completed). Has this been considered?
Hello Lisa,
Well, yes and no.
By “no”, I mean that status types are associated to the way AceProject handles the corresponding tasks. By that, I mean that there are many options and behaviors in AceProject that are status type specific. Here’s a short list, just to name a few:
1. Tasks that are associated with a “Completed” task status type are not displayed by default in Incomplete Tasks, My Tasks and task report pages.
2. If a task is not in a “Completed” task status, it may still be considered a “Soon Due” or “Overdue” task.
3. If a task is not in a “Completed” status, successor tasks that are linked with a mandatory dependency may not be started.
All this to say that in technical terms, we could certainly implement customer defined task status types. The problem is really in implementing the options or workflow the customer expects will come with the new task status type.
What we have considered and are still considering is what has been requested by several of our clients, a project “On Hold” status type. The handling of projects that would be set to a project status in this status type has also been clearly established, namely:
1. That setting a project to “On Hold” would have no effect on the status of its tasks. Their statuses would not be changed so that progress on these tasks would be correctly reflected during the “on hold” phase and after ( if the project is eventually set back to an “In Progress” status).
2. “On hold” projects would not be listed by default.
3. Tasks in “on hold” projects would not be listed in user lists (for instance, in My Tasks).
4. It would not be possible to record any actual hours on an “on hold” project.
If you have something very specific like this in mind, please let me know and I will add an enhancement request on your behalf in our wish list.
Michel Deslandes
Sales, Customer Service and Technical Support
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