There are three ways to see and select the most commonly used views:

It’s a great idea to experiment and click through all the available views, just to see how they present your project information in various ways. This tour of views can become even more meaningful as you add more task information, add resources, and assign resources to tasks.

All views are listed in the More Views dialog box. To see the full list of views built in to Project 2010 and switch to a different view, do the following:

Keep in mind that when you switch from one view to another, the data doesn’t change; you just get a different look at the data in your project database.

If you display the View bar, you can use it to quickly switch views. To show the View bar, do the following:

Inside Out: Add your favorite views to the View bar menu and View bar

Although the most commonly used views are listed on the View bar menu and the View bar itself, they might not be your most commonly used views. For example, you might use the Task Entry view and the Detail Gantt every day, and it would be cumbersome to have to click More Views every time you need one of these.

Now Project 2010 dynamically adds views that you apply to the various menus. For example, if you apply the Detail Gantt, its name appears in the Active View bar shortcut menu and in the View Bar. It also appears on the Gantt Chart menu (View, Task Views, Gantt Chart). This ensures that your frequently used views are always quickly available, whether you like to use the View tab or the View bar.

You can also add a frequently used view to the View tab and View bar menu by editing the view definition as follows:

1. On the View tab, in the Task Views group, click More Views.

2. Click the view you want to add to the View tab and View bar menu, and then click Edit.

3. In the View Definition dialog box, select the Show In Menu check box.

You can use this technique to remove views you never use from the View tab and View bar menu as well. Simply select the view, click Edit, and then clear the Show In Menu check box.

Note

You can fully customize your views and create entirely new views. For more information, see Customizing Views.

Gantt charts are a special type of view that are used extensively in project management. The left side of a Gantt chart contains a sheet view, and the right side contains a bar graph along a timescale. (See Figure 4-4.)

Figure 4-4. A Gantt chart shows task information in the sheet area of the view; the corresponding bar graph shows the task’s duration, start and finish dates, and task relationships along a zoomable timescale.

To display the Gantt Chart, on the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Gantt Chart.

Gantt Chart

You can also quickly switch to the Gantt Chart by clicking its icon in the view shortcuts area on the status bar next to the Zoom slider.

To display a different Gantt chart view, click the arrow under the Gantt Chart button. The menu lists recent Gantt chart views you’ve accessed. If the Gantt chart you want is not listed, click More Views, and then click it from the list.

Table 4-1 describes the default Gantt charts that are built in to Project 2010.

You can change the look and content of bars on a Gantt chart. You can:

The Timeline is a new graphical view available in Project 2010 that you can use to summarize selected project information along a timeline. By default, the Timeline appears above all other views, as shown in Figure 4-5. This is true whether you’re showing a task or resource view. You can select specific tasks to add to the timeline and specify how those tasks appear. This is particularly helpful to highlight project phases and key milestones and deliverables.

Figure 4-5. The Timeline typically appears above all other task or resource views.

The Timeline is great for communicating higher-level project information to others, especially because it’s easy to copy the Timeline graphic to an e-mail message or a PowerPoint presentation, for example.

Although the Timeline appears by default above other views, you can also display it as a view on its own, as shown in Figure 4-6. To do this, on the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Other Views, and then click Timeline.

Figure 4-6. You can apply the Timeline as a view on its own instead of having it appear above other views.

When you switch to another view after reviewing the Timeline as its own view, the Timeline doesn’t appear above the other view as it did before. This is also true when you switch from a combination view such as the Task Entry view. To display the Timeline above other views, on the View tab, in the Split View group, select the Timeline check box.

You can add any regular task, summary task, milestone, or deliverable to the Timeline. The task must be automatically scheduled or have at least some estimated schedule information to be added to the Timeline. If a manually scheduled task has a task mode indicating that it needs more information, it cannot be added to the Timeline. To add a task to the Timeline, follow these steps:

After you add a task to the Timeline, you can specify whether it should be displayed as a callout instead of as the default bar. If you’re using the Timeline to show major phases and summary tasks, for example, you might want to display the phases as callouts and the summary tasks as bars, as shown in Figure 4-7.

Figure 4-7. Use a combination of callouts and bars to differentiate between different types of tasks on the Timeline.

To change a Timeline bar to a callout, follow these steps:

Network diagrams are a special type of graph view that presents each task and associated task information in a separate box, or node. The nodes are connected by lines that represent task relationships. The resulting diagram is a flowchart of the project. Network Diagram views (see Figure 4-8) are also referred to as PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) charts.

Figure 4-8. You can enter, edit, and review tasks and their dependencies in the Network Diagram view.

To display a network diagram, on the View tab, in the Task Views group, click the arrow next to Network Diagram. Select the network diagram you want to display. If the one you want is not listed, click More Views, and then select it from the list.

Network Diagram

Table 4-2 describes the Project 2010 network diagram views.

Use the Calendar to view tasks and durations for a specific week or range of weeks in a monthly calendar format, as shown in Figure 4-9.

Figure 4-9. In the Calendar view, you can quickly see which tasks are scheduled for particular days, weeks, or months.

To display the Calendar, on the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Calendar.

Calendar

The Team Planner is a new view in Microsoft Project Professional 2010 that you can use to graphically visualize how your resources are scheduled during a selected time period, as shown in Figure 4-10.

Figure 4-10. Use the Team Planner to review assignments and to assign and reassign tasks.

You can see which team members have availability to work during the time period that a task needs to be done and then drag the task to assign it to that person. You can reassign tasks from one resource to another to resolve overallocations or improve the schedule. You can also drag tasks along the timesheet to change the assignment scheduling.

To display the Team Planner, on the View tab in the Resource Views group, click Team Planner.

Team Planner

You can also quickly switch to the Team Planner by clicking its icon in the view shortcuts area on the status bar (next to the Zoom slider).

In the Team Planner, you can manipulate task information through the Task Information dialog box. You can format bars to show actual work or late tasks.

With the Resource Graph, you can view resource allocation, cost, or work over time for a single resource or group of resources. Information is displayed in a column graph format, as shown in Figure 4-11.

Figure 4-11. You can use the Resource Graph to review resource allocation levels.

When used in combination with other views, the Resource Graph can be very useful for finding resource overallocations.

To display the Resource Graph, on the View tab, in the Resource Views group, click Other Views, and then click Resource Graph.

The Resource Graph shows peak units by resource, including the percentage of allocation and overallocation. You can change the type of information being shown in the Resource Graph by doing the following:

Sheet views are spreadsheet-type views that are divided into columns and rows and in which each individual field is contained in a cell. An example is shown in Figure 4-12.

Figure 4-12. Use the Task Sheet to enter tasks and durations and to review calculated start and finish dates.

To display the Task Sheet, on the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Other Views, and then click Task Sheet.

To display the Resource Sheet, on the View tab, in the Resource Views group, click Resource Sheet.

Resource Sheet

You can also quickly switch to the Resource Sheet by clicking its icon in the view shortcuts area on the status bar, next to the Zoom slider.

The Project 2010 sheet views are described in Table 4-3.

Usage views are made up of a sheet view on the left side and a timesheet on the right. Together with the timescale, the timesheet can show work, cost, availability, and other data broken out by time—that is, timephased. (See Figure 4-13.)

Figure 4-13. Display the Task Usage view to review assignments by task.

To display the Task Usage view, on the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Task Usage.

Task Usage

You can also quickly switch to the Task Usage view by clicking its icon in the view shortcuts area on the status bar.

To display the Resource Usage view, on the View tab, in the Resource Views group, click Resource Usage.

Resource Usage

The Project 2010 usage views are described in Table 4-4.

Figure 4-14. In the Resource Usage view, each resource is listed with its assigned tasks.

Figure 4-15. In the Task Usage view, each task is listed with its assigned resources.

Because the timesheet area of the usage views breaks down information from certain fields and from specific time periods, there are three subcategories to the major field categories of tasks, resources, and assignments:

You can review task-timephased and assignment-timephased fields in the timesheet area of the Task Usage view. You can review resource-timephased and assignment-timephased fields in the timesheet area of the Resource Usage view.

The Work field is shown by default in the timephased fields in the timesheet area of a usage view. Multiple fields of information can be stacked in the view at one time. To change the type of information shown, do the following:

Forms are specialized views that include text boxes and grids in which you can enter and review information as you do in a dialog box. (See Figure 4-16.) Although you can display a form on its own and click the Previous and Next buttons to cycle through the different tasks or resources in your project, a form is most useful when it’s included as part of a combination view. (See Cross-Referencing with Combination Views in the next section.)

Figure 4-16. This Task Form shows fundamental information about the task, along with information about assigned resources and predecessor tasks.

To display a task form, on the View tab, in the Task Views group, click Other Views, and then click More Views. Click the name of the form in the dialog box, and then click Apply.

To display a resource form, on the View tab, in the Resource Views group, click Other Views, and then click More Views. Click the name of the form in the dialog box, and then click Apply.

Remember, after you apply any form, it appears on the Other Views drop-down menu so you don’t have to drill all the way into the More Views dialog box every time you need it.

The Project 2010 forms are described in Table 4-5.

You can change the categories of information shown in a form view. To do this, follow these steps:

Combination views are groupings of two views in a split screen. The information in one portion of the split screen controls the content in the other portion, as shown in Figure 4-17.

Figure 4-17. When you click a task in the Gantt Chart portion of the Task Entry view (at the top), the task, assignment, and predecessor information for that selected task appear in the Task Form portion of the view (at the bottom).

To apply the Task Entry combination view, on the View menu, in the Task Views group, click Other Views, and then click More Views. Click Task Entry, and then click Apply.

To apply the Resource Allocation combination view, on the View menu, in the Resource Views group, click Other Views, and then click More Views. Click Resource Allocation, and then click Apply.

The predefined Project 2010 combination views are described in Table 4-6.

You can create your own combination view by simply splitting the view. For example, if you split the Gantt Chart view, the Task Form appears in the lower pane, instantly resulting in the Task Entry view. Likewise, if you split the Resource Sheet, the Resource Form appears in the lower pane.

The split bar is located in the lower-right corner of the Project 2010 window, just below the vertical scroll bar. To split a view, drag the split bar up to about the middle of the view or wherever you want the split to occur.

To remove the split and return to a single view, double-click the split bar, which is now the gray dividing bar between the two views. Or, on the View tab, in the Split View group, clear the Details check box.

To modify a combination view, simply modify one component of the combination view as if it were in its own view.

Troubleshooting: The current view doesn’t have a split bar

By their nature, graph views and forms do not have a split bar. However, you can still create a combination view with these views in the upper pane. On the View tab, in the Split View group, select the Details check box. If a task view is showing, the Task Form appears at the bottom of the split screen. If a resource view is showing, the Resource Form appears at the bottom.

You can change the form that appears. On the View tab, in the Split View group, click the arrow in the box next to the Details check box, and then select a different view under Detail Panes.

There is a default table defined for each sheet view in Project 2010. Table 4-7 lists all sheet views and their default tables.

Although every sheet view has a default table, that table can easily be switched with another. There are 17 built-in tables for task sheets and 10 built-in tables for resource sheets.

Table 4-8 lists a description of the available task tables and the fields that make them up by default.

Table 4-9 lists a description of all resource tables and their default fields.

In addition to the default fields, every table has a last column called Add New Column. You can click the Add New Column heading and see all available task or resource fields. Click a field to add it to the table. The selected field is added to the table, and a new Add New Column column appears.

Note

You can quickly see the name of the current table. Simply rest your mouse pointer in the All Cells box where the row and column headings intersect. The ScreenTip containing the table name (and view name) appears.

To switch to a different table, follow these steps:

Suppose that the Entry task table provides all the information you need except baseline values. You can easily add another column to any table, and you can just as easily remove superfluous columns. You can also make certain changes to the columns themselves.

To add a column to the right edge of a table, follow these steps:

To add a column to a specific place in a table, follow these steps:

To replace an existing column with a different field, follow these steps:

To remove a column from a table, follow these steps:

You can change the title of the column to something other than the actual field name. You can also modify the column text alignment and the column width. To modify a column, follow these steps:

You can move a column to another location in the table simply by dragging. To move a column, follow these steps: