This feature is available on the following TaskRay Product Editions:
- Starter
- Standard
- Premium
Some tasks and milestones have a requirement to be completed by a specific date, whether it is to ensure that a key deliverable is met by a set deadline or to keep track of a critical event that cannot be rescheduled. For this purpose, TaskRay provides the ability to lock dates on such tasks and milestones. Locked tasks and milestones will display a lock icon for quick visual reference.
When a task or milestone has locked dates, it cannot be rescheduled. Additionally, if other dependent tasks are moved around, the tasks or milestones with locked dates will not be affected by any dependency-related scheduling changes. In cases when dependent predecessors are rescheduled to occur after the locked task or milestone, a schedule conflict could occur.
Lock Dates on a Task or Milestone
From the technical standpoint, a task or milestone can be configured to have locked dates by updating the Lock Dates checkbox on the record to true (checked). Locked dates can be configured on an ad-hoc basis, such as when building custom project plans or when an existing project requires some critical deliverable to be addressed on a specific date.
For repeatable business processes that leverage templates for project creation, locked dates can be managed directly on templates. This is the recommended approach when a task or milestone needs to be completed on a specific date relative to the overall project plan, such as based on the number of days after the project is kicked off. For example, if a project is organized into phases, each phase could have a milestone with locked dates. In this scenario, locked milestones are used to signify the completion of each respective phase and they help ensure that the work is completed by set deadlines throughout the course of the project plan.
- Locate or create the task that you want to lock dates on and open its Task Details.
- Locate the Lock Dates checkbox field and click on the pencil icon to edit it. Update the field to true (checked).
- Click Save or Save & Close.
Schedule Conflicts
Schedule conflicts occur when a locked task or milestone has a dependent predecessor that is scheduled after the start or end date of the locked task/milestone. Schedule conflicts have different criteria depending on the dependency type between the connected records.
When a schedule conflict occurs, the dependency line between the connected records will turn red in Plan View. All schedule conflicts will appear in the Assistant (All Work views) under Tasks At Risk.
Below is an overview of when a schedule conflict occurs for different dependency types.
Finish-To-Start
A schedule conflict occurs when the predecessor task has an end date that occurs after the successor task's start date.
Start-To-Start
A schedule conflict occurs when the predecessor task has a start date that occurs after the successor task's start date.
Finish-To-Finish
A schedule conflict occurs when the predecessor task has an end date that occurs after the successor task's end date.
Start-To-Finish
A schedule conflict occurs when the predecessor task has a start date that occurs after the successor task's end date.