Task Information dialog box, General tab

Use the General tab on the Task Information dialog box to enter, review, or change basic information about the selected task. You can:

• Enter task durations and indicate whether the durations are estimated or set.

• Track progress on a task by entering the percentage of completion.

• Enter the task start or finish date to set a Start No Earlier Than or Finish No Earlier Than constraint.

Dialog box location

In any task view, click the task and then click Task Information . Click the General tab.

Details

General task information

Name    Shows the name of the selected task. You can enter another task name in the Name box to change it.

Duration    Specifies the amount of time needed to complete the selected task. You can enter duration in minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. To enter an estimated duration, type a question mark after the duration unit, or select the Estimated check box.

Note: If the task is a summary task, you cannot change the duration or the start and finish dates.

Estimated    Specifies that the selected task has an estimated or tentative duration. Estimated durations are indicated by a question mark (?) after the time unit in a duration field. By default, all new tasks have estimated durations. You can easily see tasks with estimated durations by using the Tasks with Estimated Durations filter.

You can change the default estimated duration settings for all future tasks in the current project. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Schedule tab. If you prefer not to use the question mark for estimated durations, clear the Show that tasks have estimated durations check box. If you prefer that new tasks do not have estimated durations by default, clear the New tasks have estimated durations check box.

Percent complete    Specifies how much of the task has been completed. Enter a number between 0 and 100 that indicates the percentage of actual progress on the task. Based on this value, Microsoft Office Project 2007 then calculates the task's actual and remaining duration. If you enter a percentage for summary tasks, the progress is distributed to its subtasks.

You can quickly mark tasks as 100% complete and on schedule by clicking 100% Complete on the Tracking toolbar.

Priority    Indicates how available a task is for delay during resource leveling. Enter a number between 0 and 1000, with the higher number indicating a higher priority task. The higher the priority, the less likely a task will be delayed for resource leveling. Set the priority to 1000 (do not level) if you don't want Office Project 2007 to delay this task at all when leveling.

You can sort tasks by priority using the Sort command on the Project menu. You can also filter tasks by priority.

When you delay a task, either by leveling resources or by adding delay manually, clicking Clear Leveling in the Resource Leveling dialog box typically removes this delay. However, suppose a task is split or delayed as a result of leveling, and then that task is subsequently set to a priority of 1000 (do not level). If you click Clear Leveling in the Resource Leveling dialog box, the leveling delay or split is not removed.

Dates section

Start    Specifies the task's scheduled start date. If the task has a predecessor, Office Project 2007 calculates the start date. If you enter a start date for a task, Project sets a moderately flexible constraint, such as Start No Earlier Than (SNET), on the task.

Finish    Specifies the task's scheduled finish date. If you specify a start date and duration, Project calculates the finish date. If you enter a finish date for a task, Project sets a moderately flexible constraint, such as Finish No Earlier Than (FNET) on the task.

Note: If the start and finish dates are dimmed, you have selected a summary task, which simply reflects the dates of all its included tasks. Close the dialog box and select an individual task under that summary task to change its dates.

If you specify both a start date and finish date, Project calculates the task duration. It also sets a moderately flexible constraint, such as Finish No Earlier Than (FNET). The type of constraint that's applied depends on whether the start date or finish date is entered last.

Check boxes

Hide task bar    Hides the task bar for the selected tasks when viewing the Gantt Chart or Calendar views. To display hidden task bars for the selected tasks, clear this check box. In the Gantt Chart view, if the task is rolled up, both the task bar and the rollup symbol on the summary bar are hidden. If the task is a summary task and subtasks are rolled up to it, only the summary bar is hidden. By default, this check box is cleared.

Roll up Gantt bar to summary    Specifies whether you want the subtasks you selected rolled up to the summary task bar so that the bar displays symbols that represent subtask dates. If you select a summary task, this check box is called Show rolled up Gantt bars. Clear this check box to hide the symbols for rolled up tasks on the summary task bar. By default, this check box is cleared.