7.2. Create

Creating a tasks starts by clicking on the "Task Create" link in the upper left part of the menu. A screen will be shown similar to the one in the next picture.

As you can see, a task has three mandatory fields. The first is the "Name" of the task. Furthermore, a task must have some "Todo" list that normally contains a list of things todo (duh). And last but not least, a task must be allocated to someone who is responsible for completion of the task. Further fields and their meanng are:

• Name: As said earlier, the mandatory name of the task.

• State: Here you can select the state of the task. In a standard TUTOS configuration these options are:

  • Pre: Work on this task has NOT been started.

  • Ongoing: Work on this task is underway.

  • Finished: This task is finished.

  • Overdue: This task is overdue.

• Subtask of The Ultimate Documentation Project 1.0: A reminder of which project this is a task.

• ToDo(*): Here you can enter an elaborate description of the work involved in completing this task.

• Assigned to (*): A pulldown list where you can select and consequently assign the work to.

• Work Volume hours: Here you can enter an estimation about the amount of work it will take to complete this task.

• Volume done hours: Here you can enter how much work has already been done. (actually the number you enter here will be used to create a timetrack record related tot his task, but that is something for a later chapter).

• Resources: Clink on the resources involved in completing this task.

• scheduled start: Enter scheduled start date for this task. Use the Minical tool to enter dates easily.

• scheduled end: Enter scheduled end date for this task. Use the Minical tool to enter dates easily.

• Input OK ?/Reset: Confirm the entered data or reset the form to its starting position.

For now we will add a couple of tasks to our system to demonstrate some of the other possibilities of TUTOS. So please enter the following tasks:

• Name: Write documentation, Todo: write a lot of stuff, Assigned to: Gero, Work Volume: 80, Work Done: 40, Scheduled start juli 1st, 2002, Scheduled end, august 1st, 2002

• Name: Debug major OS, TODO: fix 13600 bugs, Assigned to: Bill Gates, Work Volume: 8000, Work Done: 5, Scheduled start, July 14th, 2002, Scheduled end, October 1st, 2002

For now, these two entries should be enough. When you are done entering task 1 and click on the "Enter" button you'll see a screen similar to the one in the next picture:

As you can see below the details is a small graph to show you how far the task is from being completed. The first option in the menu to your left is called 'new'. Don't be fooled here. This menu-option is used to make a new subtask ofd the current task. Yes, it is possible to make subprojects of projects, and subtasks of tasks and even subtasks of subtasks of subtasks of..... Well, I think you get the picture. To use as an example we will define a random subtask of the first task we entered. So we go to the detail screen of the first task we entered (remember? Via the Products & Projects page). And click on the 'New' menu option (if you are in doubt look at the statusbar of your browser. It should say 'create a new subtask of Write Documentation'). We will name the subtask 'get pencils', enter some descriptive todo text and assign this to Gero. The next picture shows our input.

After entering all relevant data and clicking on the "Enter" button the screen is displayed as shown in the next picture.

In the next section we will tell you more about getting a perspective of all defined tasks.