Conditional Formatting Overview for OnePager for Version 7.1

Introduction

Illustrations used in this article are from OnePager Pro using data from Microsoft Project but the feature's function, controls, and manual edits apply equally to other OnePager editions that import from data sources like Microsoft Excel, Smartsheet, and Oracle Primavera P6.

An Example of Conditional Formatting

As an example of conditional formatting, suppose that you have source plane tasks that you want to show as green if the value in Text30 field in a Microsoft Project source plan contains the text Low Risk. Further, you want source plan tasks to show as yellow if Text30 for that task contains the text Medium Risk, and you want the task to show as red if Text30 contains the text High Risk. Above all, you want this to be represented in a series of snapshots automatically as you update the value of the source plan task’s Text30 field in the Microsoft Project source plan only.

OnePager gives you the capability to add rules and apply them consistently from snapshot to snapshot as the source plan data changes. Additionally, you can subsequently edit the rules as needed. Finally, you have the ability to copy a rule or rules to make rule definition management easier.

Example Simple Source Plan

Keeping it simple, let’s create a Microsoft Project source plan with Tasks AA, BB, and CC each with a Start and Finish date, each with a Flag field for OnePager import control, and a Text30 field for representing the Risk Assessment. That Microsoft Project source plan might look like this:

To set up the desired output and performance from OnePager, we need to enter our formatting conditions for these source plan tasks into the Conditional Formatting Rules engine. Access to the Conditional Formatting Rules engine prior to creation of a chart is through the Task Bars or Milestones tab of the Template Properties form. Conditional Formatting Rules can also be added, edited, or deleted after the chart is created by using the Chart Properties form at the Task Bars or Milestones tab as is done in the example that follows.

Create Conditional Formatting Rules

When the Conditional Formatting Rules form is filled in as we’ve described it looks like this:

Create the First Snapshot

If we now create the chart, it looks like this for the first snapshot on 10/15/2019:

Since Tasks AA, BB, and CC have each of their Text30 data cells set to Low Risk, all tasks in the first snapshot are colored Green.

Update Source Plan With New Risk Assessments

Now suppose we update this Microsoft Project source plan on 10/30/2019 to show Task AA remaining Low Risk but Task BB now becoming Medium Risk. So, we need to update Text30 fields accordingly. Further, let’s assume that now Task CC is now in a High Risk condition so we update its Text30 field. The Microsoft Project source plan looks like this for the status on 10/30/2019:

Create the Second Snapshot

With this updated Microsoft Project source plan dated 10/30/2019 we can take a second snapshot that looks like this:

The update to the chart snapshot for 10/30/2019 was done automatically for you after you established the Conditional Formatting rules for this project. The only requirement is to maintain the appropriate Text30 values in the Microsoft Project source plan.

Note

The above example illustrates the power of Conditional Formatting. Before starting, it should be pointed out that Conditional Formatting is done on a Global basis. As with other global editing features that are supported by OnePager, changes to Conditional Formatting rules have an impact on the chart and all snapshots previously created as well as snapshots created in the future. Accordingly, caution should be exercised if you want to preserve historical snapshots in their original form before edits are made to the Conditional Formatting rules.

Related Links

Manual Editing Task/Milestone Shapes and Text Labels (Portal)

Modifying Decorations on Tasks/Milestones (Portal)

The Chart Legend (Portal)

Editing with the Chart Properties form (Portal)

Managing Templates (Portal)

Gallery of Gradient and Hash Fill Patterns

Gallery of Dynamic Shapes and Emoji Symbols

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