MLO 5 bug? Subtask listed as active even though project doesn't start until tomorrow.

[Joel]

I'm not sure if this is a bug or not. I have a project dated for tomorrow for both start and due dates but the first subtask in the project is listed as 'active'. It shouldn't be active at all if the start date is for tomorrow, correct? Is there anything I could have done to cause this or am I missing something? Also, this isn't the first time I've seen this.

Thanks,

Joel

[Dwight]

Hi, Joel.

short answer: you should turn on "inherit parent dates" for all of your subtasks.

long answer: each task follows its own criteria for when to become active. It's totally legitimate to have a task that starts before the parent task, for example maybe you will do all this work tomorrow but you might need to pick up some supplies today. Also, the parent task in a project is also the last task in the project, sometimes used for clean-up, archive, identify any needed followup, in which case the parent task might run on after the project itself is over. (There are ways to make the parent task into just a project name without being its own separate task, that's out of scope for today's message). Since only the first subtask is active I assume that you are using "complete subtasks in order." The subtasks have no start date which means that they will be active whenever the other conditions are met without any need to wait for a particular date.

So, your current setup says, I have a list of tasks to complete starting with "Wash Car" and ending with "Work on Car", each task will become active when all preceding tasks are completed except that the last task cannot become active until tomorrow and will become overdue at the end of tomorrow unless it has already been completed. The first task, because it has no preceding tasks, is active now. By adding "inherit parent dates" you will change it to, I have a list of tasks to complete starting with "Wash Car" and ending with "Work on Car", each task will become active when all preceding tasks are completed but not before tomorrow, any tasks not completed by tomorrow will become overdue at the end of tomorrow.

-Dwight

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[MG]

Hi Dwight,

I read your explanation carefully and one particular note took my attention.

When you say that there are situations a project is not a task itself, you mean when they are set to folder?

If so, which task property shall I have to change to keep out Project folder to not count as part of percentage completion, since it takes that into account?

Am I missing something?

Thank you in advance for your help.

King Regards and Merry Christmas.

M.

[Joel]

Hmmm, okay. I see what you mean. Yes, I did have the subtasks set up to be completed in order. Apparently, I had cleared the dates for the first subtask at some point and then cleared the dates for the parent task which removed the dates for all the other subtasks. When I added start/due dates to the parent task again, they didn't get added back in for the subtasks who's dates I had manually cleared previously. The 'Inherit parent dates' feature remains unchecked which I guess is the case because I manually cleared it. 

Anyway, your explanation helped me spot the problem. Thanks Dwight for taking the time to respond. 

Joel

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mylifeorganized/b41cdf8a-de3b-f13d-0771-7e85011f8457%40dwightarthur.us.

[Dwight]

Hi, Mario.

I do not have enough experience with project completion percentage to comment. I will only offer that if I suspected that there was some inconsistency in whether folder items were included in completion percentage calculations, I would probably test by creating a test project with several tasks, and vary one of the tasks (not the parent) between being a normal task versus being a parent.

I will write up an explanation of my comment about making the project parent not be a task separately

-Dwight