Below are the steps for project formulation.
Project planning:
1) Define work calendar. Define working hours for week days and holidays. It is a global calendar for all resources. FastTrack will set aside non-work days while scheduling.
2) Define Project information by providing project start date. FastTrack will compute duration of activities from this date.
3) List down project phases (if applicable) and activities. Define duration (mostly in days) for each activity. FastTrack will automatically update Start and Finish date and build up the schedule for you.
4) Define links/dependencies between activities. There are four of them. FS (Finish-to-Start) is most common. Define these dependencies within or between activities of different phases. If no activities are defined, FastTrack assume that all of them start at project start date.
5) Create resources in the resource view. Fill in resource details and cost parameters (fixed, daily, overtime). Assign resources to activities in schedule view. Manage resources to make sure that a particular resource is not over-worked or over-costed on a particular day. It can be done by changing assignments or cost parameters. Cost for individual activities can be changed using information column.
Project manipulation:
1) Ranges help to focus on particular timelines. It affect timeline view within schedule view.
2) Layout is used for verifying which columns will be shown in the schedule view. Both columns and summary graph (for selected columns) can be modified using layout
3) Filters help to filter rows based on column values (CV) or date/time (DT).
All three are stored in fts file.
4) Projects can be tracked using scheduled, revised and actual dates. Three separate bars are shown in timeline graph for these dates.
Features:
1) FastTrack project can be exported to raw data, HTML, XML for Microsoft project and picture. It can also sync with iCal.
2) Printing can be adjusted by adding legend, heater and footer in print preview.
3) Labels can be added in format bar style menu. Bar styles can be adjusted.
4) Constraints can be defined for individual activity. 'As soon as Possible' is the most common constraint.
5) Milestones/deadlines are shown by a single date
6) Calculated columns based on formulas/conditions derived from other columns can be defined.
7) All bars range is a useful button.
8) FastSteps can be used for automating filtering, modifying layout and ranges and exporting file in one click.
9) Datelines can be added for visual appeal within timeline graph.
10) Several projects can be merged in a single project. Feature is called project consolidation.
11) Multiple timeline can be defined for individual activity by clicking in the bottom of the cell. Each timeline is shown by a bar of same color.
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