Chapter 4

Surveying Cool Shortcuts in Project 2019

IN THIS CHAPTER

Bullet Viewing task and resource information

Bullet Keeping shortcuts close at hand

Bullet Changing the view for better focus

Bullet Adding tasks to the Timeline

Isn’t it amazing to watch people work who are adept at using a specific type of software? Their fingers seem to fly over the keyboard; without ever touching the mouse, they create documents, presentations, and other artifacts. This chapter shows you some cool shortcuts that can help you handle Project 2019 like a pro.

Task Information

From Gantt Chart view, you can double-click any task in the project to open the Task Information dialog box. You can then use it, as shown in Figure 4-1, to enter or modify durations, predecessor information, resources, notes, task types, and constraints.

Screenshot of the Task Information dialog box to enter or modify durations, predecessor information, resources, notes, task types, and constraints.

FIGURE 4-1: The Task Information dialog box.

Resource Information

If you want to know anything about a resource, you can find the information in the Resource Information dialog box, as shown in Figure 4-2. From any Resource Sheet view, double-click a resource name to see contact information, availability, cost rates, and any notes you’ve entered about the resource.

Screenshot of the Resource Information dialog box to click on a resource name to see contact information, availability, cost rates, and any notes entered about the resource.

FIGURE 4-2: The Resource Information dialog box.

You can use the Resource Information dialog box to enter, edit, or update resource information for people, supplies, equipment, and locations considered to be resources.

Tip When the Assign Resources dialog box is open, double-click a resource name to display the Resource Information dialog box.

Frequently Used Functions

Most user actions in Project are fairly standard, so you shouldn’t have to visit the Ribbon every time you want to give a command. Instead, you can simply right-click to display a contextual menu of command options that let you (for example):

  • Cut, copy, and paste
  • Insert and delete tasks
  • Assign resources
  • Open the Task Information dialog box
  • Add notes
  • Add the task to the timeline

Figure 4-3 shows a typical contextual menu you see after right-clicking a task.

Screenshot displaying the Contextual menu of command options that allows to cut, copy, and paste, insert and delete tasks, and assign resources.

FIGURE 4-3: Contextual menu.

Subtasks

Sometimes, you need to see portions of the project expanded to show all tasks in detail while other portions remain rolled up to a summary task level. In addition to the standard method of clicking the triangle next to the summary task to expand or summarize tasks, you can use keystrokes.

To hide a subtask, press Alt+Shift+hyphen (–). To show subtasks, press Alt+Shift+plus sign (+).

Quick Selections

Say you want to move a row. Place your cursor in any field on the row. You can quickly select the whole row by pressing Shift+Spacebar. To select a whole column, place your cursor anywhere on that column, and press Ctrl+Spacebar.

Fill Down

Suppose that all the tasks in a series have the same resource or the same duration. Rather than repeatedly enter the same resource or duration, you can enter the duration on the topmost task in the list, select the rest of the tasks, and then press Ctrl+D. Project “fills down” the resource to the rest of the selected tasks.

Navigation

The Ctrl key is a helpful tool for navigating to the beginning or end of the project. Simply press Ctrl+Home to move to the beginning of the project or press Ctrl+End to move to the end.

You can also press the Ctrl+Alt keys to navigate around the timescale. To move to the right (forward in time), press Ctrl+Alt+right arrow. To move to the left (backward in time), press Ctrl+Alt+left arrow.

Hours to Years

Sometimes, you want to see the big-picture view of the project by viewing the timescale at the level of months and years. At other times, you need to see details about when tasks will occur. In Project, you can set the timescale to show time in years, all the way down to hours. To show incrementally larger timescale units, press Ctrl+Shift+* (asterisk). To show smaller, more detailed timescale units, press Ctrl+/ (slash).

Timeline Shortcuts

Even the Timeline has shortcuts. When you first show the Timeline, it displays the text “Add tasks with dates to the timeline.” Double-click the text to open the Add Tasks to Timeline dialog box (shown in Figure 4-4). Every task is accompanied by a check box; simply select the ones you want to show on the Timeline.

Screenshot of the Add Tasks to Timeline dialog box in which every task is accompanied by a check box to simply select the ones you want to show on the Timeline.

FIGURE 4-4: Adding tasks to the Timeline.

Warning Double-clicking the initial text to open the Add Tasks to Timeline dialog box only works the first time you open the Timeline. After you begin entering information on the Timeline, the text that appears on it the first time you open it disappears, and you have to enter tasks by right-clicking them first and choosing Add to Timeline from the shortcut menu.

Quick Undo and Repeat

What if you’re typing along and you find the last two rows were entered wrong. Easy! Press Ctrl+Z to undo your last entry. You can press it again to undo the one before that, and the one before that … you get the idea. If you want to redo your last entry, just press Ctrl+Y.