Difference between revisions of "Changing the Chart’s Start/Finish Dates for OnePager Pro for Version 7.0"

Revision as of 16:27, 6 January 2020

Overview

1) Projects, Microsoft Project source plans, and charts have Start/Finish Dates.

2) Task and milestone shapes have Start/End Dates.

3) The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how to manage the Start/Finish Dates for a OnePager Pro chart.

4) Start/Finish Dates can be set and edited from your Microsoft Project source plans where OnePager Pro examines the earliest task/milestone Start Date and the latest task/milestone End Date to establish the Start/Finish Date boundaries for the new or updated charts.

5) The exact Start/Finish Dates for the chart are determined by the rules just stated but modified to dates that correspond to the first and last full Tic Unit shown in the Lowest Level Time Axis.

6) Start/Finish Dates can also be set using the Start/Finish Date control settings in your OnePager Pro Template form Time Axis tab’s Calendar sub-tab in the Date Boundaries control group before a chart is created as shown here:

7) Finally, there are Start/Finish Date control settings you can edit after a chart is created in the OnePager Pro View tab on the ribbon in the Dates control group highlighted below:

8) The Start/Finish Date control settings you can edit are in the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab’s Calendar sub-tab in the Date Boundaries control group after a chart is created shown below:

Managing Start/Finish Dates

Editing Template Form Start/Finish Date Settings

1) OnePager Pro provides the capability for you to preset the Start/Finish Date boundaries before any charts are created.

Use System Generated Start/Finish Dates

2) You have the option to establish a Template form option that allows OnePager Pro to establish the Start/Finish Dates for charts automatically.

3) You can also override this option and establish your own Start/Finish Dates in the Template form for permanent use with the Template.

4) The default option, however, is to let OnePager Pro determine the Start/Finish Date boundaries automatically through the software’s examination of the task/milestone structure in your source plan.

5) OnePager Pro distributed Template form settings in the Time Axis tab Date Boundaries control group are that the Use system generated start/finish dates checkbox is checked On as shown here:

6) When the Use system generated start/finish dates checkbox is checked On, the Template form’s Start Date and Finish Date, shown above, are disabled.

7) If you uncheck the Use system generated start/finish dates checkbox, setting it to Off, the form’s Start Date and Finish Date windows are enabled and you can set your own desired Start and Finish Dates using the standard Calendar dropdown as shown below:

8) Resetting Start and Finish Dates in the Template form requires that the Finish Date is later in the timeline than the Start Date setting.

9) If the Finish Date is earlier than the Start Date or vice versa, OnePager Pro provides the warning message below when you attempt to click the Save and use button on the Chart Properties form:

10) Clicking the OK button in the above form returns you to the Template form where you can make the correction.

11) Assuming the Start Date and Finish Dates are appropriately sequenced with the Use system generated start/finish dates checkbox unchecked (Off), your settings are used by OnePager Pro to establish the timespan for subsequent charts using the Template form.

Auto-Adjust Timeline Options

12) The Auto-adjust timeline dropdown in the Template form Time Axis tab Date Boundaries control group is useful in managing Template form created Start/Finish Dates.

13) The Auto-adjust timeline dropdown option list is shown below:

14) The dropdown menu lets you direct OnePager Pro to automatically change the Start/Finish Date boundaries of the chart when it is re-opened or updated and finds that some task shapes or milestone shapes lie outside the original Start/Finish Date boundaries.

15) The options are provided so that OnePager Pro either asks you each time it finds this situation, always makes the change to Start/Finish Date boundaries, or never makes the change and proceeds with the previous Start/Finish Date boundaries.

16) If you select the first option, Ask each time, OnePager Pro displays the Message form below with the information you need to make one of the choices provided as shown in the example below:

17) If you select the Always yes option, the default setting, OnePager Pro automatically adjusts the Start/Finish Date boundaries for you and proceeds.

18) If you select Always no, OnePager Pro does not adjust the Start/Finish Date boundaries if task shapes or milestone shapes are outside the current boundaries and proceeds.

19) OnePager can also detect that the timeline needs to be shortened as well as lengthened.

20) OnePager Pro under the Always yes option adjusts the Start/Finish Date boundaries of the chart to smallest Tic Unit on the Time Axis (rounded to the nearest whole Tic Unit).

21) For example, if the smallest Tic Unit of the Time Axis is Months, OnePager Pro sets the Start Date boundary at the first day of the Month and the Finish Date boundary to the last day of the Month.

22) If the Use system generated start/finish dates checkbox is unchecked or Off in the Template form, Time Axis tab’s Calendar sub-tab, OnePager Pro ignores the Auto-adjust timeline options.

Other Considerations

23) Copying a chart to become a Template does not fix the Start/Finish Date boundaries.

24) Any chart, whether created from a Template with fixed Start/Finish Date boundaries or not, becomes a Template with the Use system generated start/finish dates checkbox checked On.

25) For more information on Managing the current Template, please see the information at: Making a Template from a Chart. 24.6.1-70

26) Any Template with fixed Start/Finish Date boundaries can only be modified with respect to editing the fixed Start/Finish Date boundaries by opening the Template, assuring that the Use system generated start/finish dates checkbox is checked Off, and then setting the new Start/Finish Date boundaries after which the revised Template form must be saved.

27) These Use system generated start/finish dates can always be edited once the chart is created by going to the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab’s Calendar sub-tab in the Date Boundaries control group where you can manually edit the Start Date and Finish Date boundaries for the chart as shown below:

28) All other controls on this sub-tab of the Template form operate as described for the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab’s Calendar sub-tab.

29) Any settings edited in the Template form Time Axis tab’s Calendar sub-tab in the Calendar Settings and Formatting & Layout control groups are populated into the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab’s Calendar sub-tab and its settings in the Calendar Settings and Formatting & Layout control groups.

Editing Chart Properties Form Start/Finish Date Settings

Start/Finish Date Settings

30) As mentioned above, initial Chart Properties form Time Axis tab, Date Boundaries control group settings are determined in one of three ways.

31) Typically, the Start/Finish Dates for the new chart are calculated from the task/milestone data in the source plan.

32) Further, the Auto-adjust timeline default option in the Chart Properties form is set to the Always no option so that source plan data drive the first setting of the Start/Finish Date boundaries for the chart as in the example below:

33) Above, the Start Date is set to the start date of the first Quarter that the earliest task shape’s Start Date occupies and the Finish Date is set to the start date of the first Month following the End Date of the latest task shape shown in the chart as examples.

34) The Start and Finish Date portions of the chart are shown in portions below:

35) The Chart Properties form's Time Axis tab Calendar sub-tab’s Date Boundaries control group can be used to edit the Start/Finish Date boundaries of the chart.

36) Access the Chart Properties form by clicking the Chart Properties button on the OnePager Pro Home tab’s ribbon and navigate to the Time Axis tab where the current Start/Finish Date boundaries controls reside.

37) Next, click the Start Date dropdown and change the Start Date to 6/1/2019 as shown here:

38) When you click the Chart Properties form’s Apply or OK button, the chart’s Start Date boundary moves to the right as shown here:

39) The same set of steps can be used to edit the Finish Date boundary as well.

40) As with the discussion related to the Start/Finish Date boundaries in the Template form, any attempt to set a Finish Date earlier than a Start Date or vice versa in the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab causes OnePager Pro to issue the warning message like the one shown below:

Auto-Adjust Timeline Options in the Chart Properties Form

41) The Auto-adjust timeline dropdown options are relevant in situations where you are creating multiple snapshots or updating snapshots from your source plan where the source plan’s Start/Finish Date boundaries can change.

42) When a chart is first created, the Start/Finish Date boundary settings shown in the Chart Properties form are set in accordance with the associated controls in the Template form.

43) After the chart is created, the settings for the Start/Finish Date boundaries are shown and the default setting for the Auto-adjust timeline is Always yes.

44) With this setting, OnePager Pro automatically adjusts the timeline’s Start/Finish Date boundaries if, in a new snapshot or updated snapshot, the software detects that these dates are required to change in the chart.

45) If, after creating the chart, you use the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab Calendar sub-tab’s controls or the ribbon’s View tab controls to change either the Start Date or Finish Date, OnePager Pro changes the default setting for the Auto-Adjust timeline to Always no.

46) This is done because you are taking control of the Start/Finish Date boundary settings and it is presumed that you want OnePager Pro to no longer participate.

47) Of course, you do have the ability to change the Auto-adjust timeline option to Ask each time if you desire.

48) For more information on Auto-Adjust Timeline Options, please see this section in the article at: Auto-Adjust Timeline Options 22.3.1-70.

Editing Start/Finish Date Settings in the Chart

49) OnePager Pro has a control in the OnePager Pro View tab ribbon that can be used to change Start/Finish Date boundary settings as shown below:

50) After a chart is created or updated, you can edit either the Start or Finish Date boundary or both by using these two controls and their dropdown menu as illustrated here:

51) As with the discussion related to the Start/Finish Date boundaries in the Template and Chart Properties forms, any attempt to set a Finish Date earlier than a Start Date or vice versa causes OnePager Pro to issue the warning message like the message shown below:

Related Links

Showing Different Units of Time for OnePager Pro 22.1.1-70

Labeling Time Axis Levels for OnePager Pro 22.1.5-70

Switching Time Axis Levels for OnePager Pro 22.3.5-70

Managing the Current Template 24.6.1-70

(22.3.1-70)