A milestone is a phase inside a project, for example Production or Montage. It has its own name and its own dates, and it holds the tasks that belong to that phase. Milestones turn a single project bar into a plan you can work with.
Creating a milestone
Right-click the project and choose Add milestone. Give it a name, a start date and a deadline. It appears straight away in the list under its project, and as a bar under the project's bar.
You can also give it a type. The types available are the ones set up for your company.
If you give it a start date earlier than the project's own, Project Overview warns you. It does not stop you, since that is sometimes the real situation, but it makes sure you noticed.
Changing one
Right-click the milestone and choose Edit milestone to rename it or change its dates. The bar moves and resizes to match as soon as you save.
For dates, dragging the bar is usually quicker, and it brings the tasks inside the milestone along with it. See Replanning with drag and drop.
Deleting one
Right-click and choose Delete milestone. You are always asked to confirm, and if the milestone has tasks in it the confirmation lists them by name, so you can see what you are about to affect before you commit.
Deleting a milestone does not delete its tasks. They keep their dates and stay on the project, moving up to sit directly under it so you can easily reorganizeyour plan.
Milestones live in Project Overview. They are not shown on the older project screens.
Opening and closing
Click a milestone “⌄” to show or hide the tasks inside it, or use the collapse button at the top of the list to open and close everything at once.
Putting tasks into the plan
Tasks are ordinary Microbizz tasks. Project Overview shows them and lets you attach them, but the task itself is still maintained on its own screen.
Right-click a project or a milestone, choose Add task, and pick the task you want. Attach it to a milestone and it joins that phase. Attach it to the project and it sits directly underneath.
Three things will stop a task being added, each with a message telling you which:
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The task is closed. Finished work does not belong in a forward plan. Reopen it if it is not genuinely done.
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The task is already on another project. A task belongs to one project at a time, so take it off the other one first.
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The task has no start date or no deadline. A bar needs both ends to be drawn. Set the dates on the task and try again.
Taking a task out of a milestone
Right-click the task and choose Remove from milestone. It keeps its dates and stays on the project, moving back up to sit directly under it. If it was not in a milestone to begin with, Project Overview tells you so.
Remove from milestone only detaches. It never deletes the task, and nothing about the task changes apart from which phase it belongs to.
Next: 5. Replanning with drag and drop