Schedule Tasks

This feature is available to the following product editions
  • Starter
  • Standard
  • Premium

There are a few different ways to schedule and reschedule tasks. You can schedule tasks in Plan View and Calendar View, as well as from task cards and Task Details. Any task can be given a deadline simply by adding an end date. It is also possible to suppress a task from being displayed in TaskRay until a certain date. If dependencies are enabled in TaskRay, the project start and end dates will adjust according to the dates of scheduled tasks.

If a task is not completed before its scheduled Estimated End Date, it will be considered Overdue. Within the TaskRay app, overdue tasks will have visual indicators for quick reference (e.g. the dates on the task cards will turn red).

Tip: It is possible to report on overdue tasks, as well as on tasks that were completed ahead of schedule. For this purpose, the TaskRay Task object comes with two fields: Completed Behind Schedule and Completed Ahead of Schedule.

After you schedule tasks, you can then connect dependencies between them.

Depending on your Project Schedule settings, you might have non-working days. Tasks cannot be scheduled on non-working days unless an override is applied to them. In Plan View, non-working days have a shaded background for visual reference.

You can also lock dates on tasks after you schedule them. Tasks with locked dates cannot be rescheduled and will not be affected by dependency updates if a predecessor is moved (if dependencies are enabled). Locked tasks will be indicated by a Lock icon in all views.

Finally, tasks can be hidden from all TaskRay views until a certain point (such as a day before their start date). This feature can be used to keep the board organized and allow users to focus on the work at hand. You can read more about this functionality in the Hide Tasks Until article.

 

Task Duration

Before you start scheduling tasks, it is helpful to understand how task duration is calculated.

 

Estimated Business Duration

A task's estimated business duration is calculated using only working days based on the set project schedule (e.g. Simple or Advanced). More specifically, this is calculated by determining the number of days between the task's start date and estimated end date, and subtracting any non-working days that occur between those dates. 

Example: If Saturday and Sunday are set as non-working days and a task is scheduled to start on Friday and end on Monday, its business duration will be 2 days.

 

Schedule a Task in Plan View

In Plan View, unscheduled tasks are indicated by a Pin icon in the Projects & Tasks sidebar.

  1. To schedule a task, drag the Pin icon onto a spot on the timeline.
  2. To modify the start and end dates, position the cursor at either the left (for start) or the right (for end) edge of the task bar and drag it to the new date.
  3. To reschedule the task, drag the entire task bar to the new date on the timeline.

schedule_task_in_plan_view.png

Overdue tasks appear in red and all other tasks match their status list color. You can also reorder your tasks by dragging them up or down within the list.

 

Schedule a Task From the Task Card

You can schedule tasks directly from task cards in Kanban and Row Views. In this case, the date that will be selected will be the task's end date.

  1. In Kanban or Row View, click on the Calendar icon on the Task Card.
  2. Select a date using the pop-up calendar.

schedule_calendar.png

The end date will now appear on the task card. If the task becomes overdue, the date on the task card will be displayed in red.

 

Schedule a Task Through the Task Details

  1. Locate the task that you want to schedule and open its Task Details.
  2. Double click on the End Date field to add a date using the pop-up calendar. Alternatively, click Edit to enter editing mode and select an End Date.
    select_a_date.png
  3. Optional: add a Start Date or Business Duration. If you skip this step, the Start Date will automatically adjust to match the End Date.
  4. Click Save or Save & Close.

The end date will now appear on the task card. If the task becomes overdue, the date on the task card will be displayed in red.

 

Schedule a Task in Calendar View

When viewing projects with unscheduled tasks in Calendar View, you will see the Assistant tab in the right sidebar, which will display a Tasks Without Dates section. Tasks Without Dates keeps track of all unscheduled tasks and allows you to quickly schedule them using drag and drop.
  1. Click on the Assistant tab in the right sidebar.
  2. Drag a task from the Unscheduled list onto a tile on the Calendar to schedule it.
  3. To adjust the task duration, position the cursor at the right edge of the task bar and drag it to the new date.
  4. To reschedule the task, drag the entire task bar to the new date on the Calendar.

dnd_assistant_calendar.png

 

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