Creating Project Schedules

Core Training for Microsoft Office Visio Standard 2003

Creating Calendars for an Overview of Your Schedule

1	To start a new diagram based on the Calendar template, in the left pane of the Choose Drawing Type window, click Project Schedule, and then in the Template area, click Calendar.
2	To start creating a calendar, drag the Multiple week shape from the Calendar Shapes stencil to the indicated location on the drawing page.
3	To select the start date for the calendar, in the Configure dialog box, click the Start date arrow, click the Right arrow three times, and then in the July calendar, click 1.
4	To select the end date for the calendar, click the End date arrow, click the Right arrow three times, and then in the July calendar, click 31.
5	To complete the setup of the calendar, click OK.
6	To center the calendar on the drawing page, drag it downward until it is centered on the grid.
7	To zoom in on the calendar, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and click 75%.
8	To add an event to the calendar, drag the Multi-day event shape from the Calendar Shapes stencil to the top of the white box below 14 on the calendar.
9	To name the event, for the purposes of this exercise, press SPACEBAR and text will be typed for you in the Subject box of the Configure dialog box.
10	To change the end date for the event, click the End date arrow, and in the July calendar, click 17, and then click OK.
11	To add another event to the calendar, drag the Multi-day event shape from the Calendar Shapes stencil to the top of the white box below 18 on the calendar.
12	To name the event, press SPACEBAR and the text will be typed for you in the Subject box of the Configure dialog box.
13	To change the end date for the event, click the End date arrow, and in the July calendar, click 24, and then click OK.
14	To add an appointment to the calendar, drag the Appointment shape from the Calendar Shapes stencil to the top of the white box under 11.
15	To specify what this appointment is about, in the Configure dialog box, click in the Subject box, and press SPACEBAR to have the appointment's subject typed for you.
16	To change the end time for the appointment, in the End time box, click 9, click the Up arrow once, and then click OK.
17	To add another appointment, click the Right scroll arrow once to see more of the page, and then drag the Appointment shape from the Calendar Shapes stencil to the top of the white box under 8.
18	To specify who this appointment is with, in the Configure dialog box, click in the Subject box, press SPACEBAR, wait as the text is typed for you, and then click OK.
19	To add a meeting reminder to the calendar, drag the Meeting shape from the Calendar Shapes stencil to the box under 7.
20	To add a description to the meeting shape, double-click the shape, and then press SPACEBAR to have the meeting description typed for you.
21	To cancel the selection of the text block and the meeting shape, press the ESC key twice.
22	To add a task reminder to the calendar, click twice below the scroll box in the scroll bar of the Shapes window, and drag the To do shape from the Calendar Shapes stencil to the top of the box under 13.
23	To add a description to the To do shape, double-click the shape, and press SPACEBAR to have the task description typed for you.
24	To cancel the selection of the text block but leave the To Do shape selected, press the ESC key.
25	To resize the selected shape, drag the lower-right handle up and to the left, and then press the ESC key to cancel the selection.
26	To view more of the page, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and then click Width.
27	To select all the calendar items that relate to the Garden Expo, hold down the CTRL key, and then click the Expo Team meeting, the Decorators appointment, the Door Prizes task, and the Garden Expo event.
28	To change the font color of the selected events, on the Formatting toolbar, click the Font Color arrow, and click the Red box, as indicated, and then press the ESC key.
29	To make a single item stand out with a larger font size, click the Garden Expo event, and on the Formatting toolbar, click the Font Size arrow, click 30 pt., and then press the ESC key.

Creating Timelines to View Projects at a Glance

1	To start a new diagram based on the Timeline template, in the Category area of the Choose Drawing Type window, click Project Schedule, and in the Template area, click Timeline.
2	To zoom in on the page, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and click Width.
3	To start creating a timeline diagram, drag a Cylindrical timeline shape from the Timeline Shapes stencil to the indicated location on the drawing page.
4	To change the start date for the timeline to July 14, in the Configure Timeline dialog box, click the first Start arrow, click the Right arrow four times, and in the July calendar, click 14.
5	To change the finish date to July 17, click the first Finish arrow, click the Left arrow twice, and in the July calendar, click 17.
6	To change the finish time of the timeline to 4:00 PM, in the second Finish box, click the Up arrow four times, click AM, and then click the Up arrow once.
7	To change the scale and complete the setup of the timeline, click the Time Scale arrow, click Days, and then click OK.
8	To add an arrowhead to the timeline, click the Shape menu, point to Actions, and then click Show Finish Arrowhead.
9	To add an interval marker, click below the scroll box in the scroll bar of the Shapes window, and then drag a Cylindrical interval shape from the Timeline Shapes stencil onto the first section of the timeline.
10	To change the interval description, in the Description box, triple-click the placeholder text, and then, for the purposes of this exercise, press SPACEBAR to have the new description typed for you.
11	To finish creating the interval marker, click OK.
12	To add a milestone to the timeline, drag a Triangle milestone shape from the Timeline Shapes stencil to the left end of the first interval of the timeline.
13	To set the time for the milestone as 9:00 PM, in the Configure Milestone dialog box, in the Milestone time box, and click the Down arrow three times.
14	To enter a description for the milestone, in the Description box, triple-click the placeholder text to select it, and then press SPACEBAR to have the description typed for you.
15	To complete the setup of the milestone, click OK.
16	To create an expanded timeline, drag an Expanded timeline shape from the Timeline Shapes stencil to the indicated location on the drawing page.
17	To set the start time to 8:00 AM, in the Configure Timeline dialog box, in the second Start box, click the Down arrow four times, and then click PM, and click the Up arrow once.
18	To set a finish date and time for the expanded timeline, click the first Finish arrow, click 14 in the July calendar, and then in the second finish box, click AM, and click the Up arrow once.
19	To change the scale and complete the setup of the expanded timeline, click the Time scale arrow, click Hours, and then click OK.
20	To add a background to the diagram, click the Backgrounds stencil, and then drag the Background leaf shape onto the drawing page.
21	To add a title to the diagram, click the Borders and Titles stencil, click below the scroll box in the scroll bar of the stencil, and drag the Title block contemp. shape to the indicated location.
22	To select the placeholder text in the title block shape, press the F2 key, and then double-click the word Title.
23	To replace the selected text, press SPACEBAR to have the new title typed for you.
24	To complete the entry of the title and view the results, press the ESC key twice.

Tracking Project Details with Gantt Charts

1	To start a new Gantt chart, in the left pane of the Choose Drawing Type window, click Project Schedule, and in the Template area, click Gantt Chart.
2	To change the number of tasks (phases) in the schedule to 4, in the Gantt Chart Options dialog box, for the purposes of this exercise, press SPACEBAR to have the number typed for you.
3	To specify the period covered by each task in the schedule, click the Major units arrow, and click Weeks.
4	To change the start date of the project, click the Start date arrow, and then in the calendar, click the Right arrow three times, and in the July calendar, click 10.
5	To change the end date for the project, click the Finish date arrow, and in the July calendar, click 18, and then click OK.
6	To get a better view of the chart, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and then click 100%.
7	To enter the name of the first task, click the top empty cell in the Task Name column, and press SPACEBAR to have the name typed for you.
8	To enter the name of the remaining tasks, click the next empty cell in the Task Name column, and press SPACEBAR to have the remaining task names typed for you.
9	To set the duration of the first task, click the Right scroll arrow twice, and then click the blue bar in row 1, and drag its right middle handle to the end of column 13.
10	To set the start date of the second task, click the blue bar in row 2, point to its center (away from any handle), and drag it to column 12.
11	To set the duration of the selected task, drag its right middle handle to the end of column 13.
12	To set the duration of the selected task drag the right middle selection handle to the right edge of column 17.
13	To tell Visio to allow the shape to span the yellow-shaded weekend, click the Gantt Chart menu, and then click Configure Working Time.
14	To designate weekends as working time, in the Configure Working Time dialog box, click to select the Sunday check box, click to select the Saturday check box, and then click OK.
15	To set the duration of the selected task again, drag the right middle selection handle to the right edge of column 17.
16	To set the start date of the fourth task, click the blue bar in row 4, point to its center (away from any handle), and drag it to column 18.
17	To adjust the width of a column, click the Duration column name, and drag its right middle handle to the left.
18	To create a column that tracks who is responsible for a task, click the Gantt Chart menu, and then click Insert Column.
19	To specify the type of column you want to add, in the Insert Column dialog box, click the Column type arrow, click Resource Names, and then click OK.
20	To enter task owners in the chart, click the first cell in the Resource Names column, and then press SPACEBAR to have the names typed for you in all four cells in this column.
21	To add a new task between rows 1 and 2, click Kim to place the selection point in the second row, click the Gantt Chart menu, and then click New Task.
22	To enter the details of the new task, press SPACEBAR.
23	To zoom out so that you can see more of the page, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and click 75%.
24	To add a milestone, drag the Milestone shape from the Gantt Chart Shapes stencil to the border between 3 and 4 in the ID column, and then press SPACEBAR to have the milestone details typed for you.
25	To change the appearance of the milestone, click the Gantt Chart menu, and click Options.
26	To change the shape of the milestone, in the Gantt Chart Options dialog box, click the Format tab, click the Shape arrow in the Milestones area, click Star, and then click OK.
27	To view the entire page, on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and click Width.
28	To make one task dependent on another task, click the first blue bar in the chart, hold down the SHIFT key as you click the second bar, and then click the Gantt Chart menu, and click Link Tasks.
29	To clear the selection from the bars and zoom in to see the result, press the ESC key, and then on the Standard toolbar, click the Zoom arrow, and click 100%.