A project task list in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 displays a collection of tasks that are part of a project. Used in this sense, a task is a discrete work item that a single person can be assigned to (although you may decide not to assign anybody to any tasks). A project is typically a series of activities that has a beginning, middle, and end, and which produces a product or service, such as producing a product demonstration for a trade show, creating a product proposal for stakeholders, or even putting together a corporate morale event.

After you create a project task list, you can add tasks, assign resources to tasks, update the progress on tasks, and view the task information on bars that are displayed along a timeline.

Although some of the settings for the project task lists differ from those of other lists (such as for contact lists, announcements, and other task lists), you use the same basic procedure for creating a project task list as you do for other types of lists, such as adding columns, exporting to a spreadsheet, or organizing the task list.

 Note    If you have worked with project management software and are familiar with managing task relationships within a project, keep in mind that project task lists won't allow you to create dependencies between tasks by linking them, nor can you create hierarchical relationships between tasks by using outlining.

Create a project task list

Add tasks to a project task list

View a project task list

Edit or delete items in a project task list

Create a project task list

1. Click View All Site Content, and then click Create on the All Site Content page.

   Tip  In most cases, you can use the Site Actions menu instead to complete this step.

2. Under Tracking, click Project Tasks.
3. In the Name and Description section, type a name for the list in the Name box. The list name is required.
4. In the Description box, type a description of how this list can be used. The description is optional.
5. In the Navigation section, click Yes if you want to create a link to this list on the Quick Launch.
6. If an E-Mail Notification section appears, you can set up your task list so that a notification is sent to someone when they are assigned a task.

    Note    A server administrator must first enable e-mail settings for this option to appear.

7. Click Create.

Add tasks to a project task list

1. If the project task list is not open, click its name on the Quick Launch.

   Tip  If the name of your list does not appear, click View All Site Content, and then click the name of your list.

2. On the New menu click New Item.

   To edit a task, click the task name in the Title column.

3. In the Title section, type a name for the task.
4. In the Priority section, click High, Normal, or Low to indicate the relative importance of this task compared with other tasks in your project task list.
5. In the Task Status section, click the status of the task.
6. In the % Complete section, type a number as a percentage value that indicates the extent to which the task is complete.
7. In the Assigned To section, type the name of the person who will complete the task. Only one person can be assigned to a task.

   Click Check Names to determine if the person's name is found in the membership provider service that is used for authentication. See your server administrator if the name is not found in the membership provider service.

   Tip  To find people whom you want to work on the task, click Browse to use the membership provider service.

8. In the Description section, type a description of the task.
9. In the Start Date and Due Date sections, enter the start date and finish date for the work that is performed on the task. Use the date picker to quickly enter a date.
10. To attach a file to the task, click Attach File. Click Browse to locate the file, and then click OK.

     Note    Depending on how your project task list is set up, you may not be able to attach a file to a task.

11. Click OK to add the task to your project task list.

View a project task list

After you create a project task list and add tasks to it, you can see the project task list in a number of different ways by using views.

 Note    See Add tasks to a project task list to learn more about the kind of information you can apply to tasks.

• On the View menu, which is available when you are viewing your project task list, click one of the following views:
  • Project Tasks   This is the default view that appears when you create a project task list. A bar chart with task names appears at the top of the view, and a list of tasks appears in the bottom half of the view. The list of tasks in the bottom half corresponds to the same tasks in the upper half.

    The bar chart displays each task graphically, most often as a task bar.

    Graphic	Description
    	If you enter a start date and a due date, the task bar shows the task's duration.
    	If you type a percentage in the % Complete box (for example 15%), the task bar shows a progress bar to indicate what percentage of the task is complete.
    	If you enter a start date without an end date, a milestone marker is displayed on the bar chart. By default, if you don't enter a start date, the current date is used.

    Tip  To quickly change the start date of a task, drag the task horizontally by using the mouse.

  • Active Tasks   This view displays tasks that have a status other than Completed.
  • All Tasks This view displays all tasks regardless of their status.
  • By Assigned To   This view displays all tasks grouped by the people who are assigned to the tasks.
  • Due Today   This view displays tasks that are due today.
  • My Tasks   This view displays tasks that are assigned to you.

Edit or delete items in a project task list

1. If the project task list is not already open, click its name on the Quick Launch.

   If the name of your project task list does not appear, click View All Site Content, and then click the name of your project task list.

2. In the lower part of the page, point to the task, click the arrow, and then click Edit Item.
3. Make the changes that you want.
4. Click OK.

To delete an item, point to the task, click the arrow, and then click Delete Item.