October / November 2022 Newsletter

/in /by

Video: Link to Active MS Project Task

Do you already have a Milestones Professional schedule, and you want to grab some tasks from an existing MS Project file quickly?

You should try “Link to Active MS Project Task” to bring over tasks easily from MS Project. Check out the video below:

Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

October 2022 Tips and Tricks

For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for October / November 2022

Help finding “invisible” symbols
I have deleted some symbols from a schedule , but there are several blank symbols scattered around and I’m having trouble finding them.

Vertical connectors in the legend
Can I show a vertical connector in the legend?

Want the line to appear on top of the bar when graphed
I would like to have the red line appear on top of the blue bars.  How is this accomplished?

Hide indicator symbols on blank lines
I have indicator symbol values that are “0”. How do I get Milestones Professional NOT to draw an indicator symbol on lines that are blank?

Add, Move, and Delete Freeform Text
Is there a way to add another header to the chart other than the title?

Copy the structure of a schedule only
Could you tell me if it is possible to copy the structure of a schedule without the data?.

Unidentified blue box

Specifying print size
I have the chart size set to 7.5″ horizontal and 5.5.” vertical. However, when I print the chart, it fills the entire page, rather than printing at the size I have specified.  How can I get it to print using my specifications?

Standard curtains for all my projects
I would like the same curtains to appear on all of my schedules.  How can I do this?

Special symbol needed
I would really like to show a symbol that looks like this one on my schedule.  Is it possible?

Show percent symbol on a task row
I see that it is possible to add a pie symbol to a task row as a normal symbol.  Can you tell me how to set this up?</p
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for October / November 2022 

Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

    September 2022 Newsletter

    /in /by

    Video: The Legend… of Milestones Professional

    In this video, we show you how to add a legend, change the height, add items to the legend, modify them, and even add a legend entry from the toolbox!

    Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

    September 2022 Tips and Tricks

    For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for September 2022 

    Add pages to the schedule
    How do I add a page to my schedule?

    Rolled up symbol to show up on summary bar
    How can I get one of the symbols on a lower outline level to show up on my summary bar?

    Copy a task row from one schedule to another
    How can I copy a task row from one Milestones schedule to another?

    Move symbols and their connectors to another task row
    Can I move or copy a bar on my schedule to another task row?  If so, how?

    Show vertical connections on top of bars
    Could you tell me how to make the vertical links appear on top of instead of behind the task boxes?  I’m sure it’s something simple.

    Remove the border
    How can I remove the border around the schedule?

    Fiscal and calendar quarters
    How can I have fiscal quarters and calendar year quarters, as shown below?

    Copy toolbox rows
    My schedule has several different colored bars.  I want to set one up in the toolbox and then copy all the settings to another row so that I can then just set the colors.  Is this possible?

    For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for September 2022 

    Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

    Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

    Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

    For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

    Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      August 2022 Newsletter

      /in /by

      Video: Background Colors in Milestones Professional

      See how to change the global row backgrounds, schedule backgrounds, individual row backgrounds, and even cell backgrounds!

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      August 2022 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for August 2022 

      Change the color of horizontal bars
      I need to change the color of horizontal bars on my schedule.  How do I change the color of all bars of a certain type?  How about if I just want to change an individual bar.  Is this possible?

      Earned Value with Milestones
      How does Milestones Professional display the graph which indicates earned value elements, such as ACWP, BCWP, and BCWS?

      Activity count
      Is there an activity count somewhere, tracking milestones and/or discrete activities added to the schedule?

      Shade multiple rows at one time
      Can you tell me if there is a trick to shading multiple rows?  I usually end up shading row by row.

      Get rid of gridlines in your schedule
      How do I hide the lines below an individual task row?

      Graph a field not listed in the Project to Milestones wizard
      I am bringing my Microsoft Project schedule into Milestones Professional.  I want to graph a custom field I have in Project which is not listed on the DataGraph screens in the wizard.  Is this possible?

      Only part of schedule appears in PowerPoint
      I used the Copy All Pages to PowerPoint feature to get my schedule into PowerPoint.  Only part of each page of the schedule appears in PowerPoint.  Any ideas?

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for August 2022 

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      July 2022 Newsletter

      /in /by

      We’re hard at work on our Newest Version!

      We’re making some big improvements with our newest version of Milestones Professional.
      Do you have any suggestions for changes you’d like to see in the software? Do you want to test our newest version before release?
      You can go to our website right now and do both of those things:

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      July 2022 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for July 2022 

      Increase the number of task rows per page
      How can I get more rows on one page?  I want to get everything on one page.  Right now I have 16 tasks but 4 are on a second page.

      Move a symbol on a crowded schedule and get the exact date
      I have a symbol I want to move that is very close to other symbols and connectors.  When I try to move it, I often get other symbols instead.  How do I move one symbol without accidentally moving others?

      Toolbar bottom is cut off
      The area where the graphic is located has a white background. That white background is overlapping the bottom of the menu bar and I cannot see the buttons when I select a task bar in the graphic.

      Trouble pasting into PowerPoint
      I have a 12 page schedule.  When I use Copy all pages to PowerPoint, only 5 pages are copied.  Then I get an error message: Trouble pasting this schedule into PowerPoint.

      Turn off tooltips
      When I hover over the toolbox, toolbox tips pop up.  Is there any way of not showing toolbox tips….?

      Unhide the Legend
      I hid the legend and now I need to put it back on the schedule.  After I hide the legend, how do I get it to reappear?

      Vertical connections on a multi-page schedule
      My schedule has many vertical connectors, connecting dates across pages.  When I look at the connectors, it’s often challenging to determine which page they are connected to.  Is there anything I can do to make this easier?

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for July 2022 

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      May 2022 Newsletter

      /in /by

      Video: Alternate Vertical Lines in Milestones Professional

      Sure, you can add a Date Line in the Dates Tab to represent the current date, but what if you want some other vertical lines on your schedule?
      See 4 different ways to add vertical lines to your Milestones Professional schedule in our video.

      See the video on YouTube below.

      If you don’t have access to YouTube, check out our .MP4 Downloadable Milestones Professional Videos Page

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      June 2022 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for June 2022 

      Anchor text to a symbol

      Is there a way to anchor a freeform text to a symbol or a task row?

      Move a note along with the current date

      Is it possible to attach a note on the date line so it moves with it as the “date now” is updated?

      Vertical link to a symbol on the same task bar

      Do you know how you can link to task within the same task bar? I would like to create a vertical link between two symbols on the same row.

      Vertical link not working

      I have added a couple of vertical links on my schedule but they do not appear.

      Trying to find a symbol that is linked to a UID in Microsoft Project

      Is there a way to view the unique id’s you have linked in your milestone chart?

      Two colors for symbol text

      Is it possible to use two different colors at the same time in symbol text?  My symbol text is color coded to show which organization is responsible for each activity.  Responsibility is shared for some activities.  I’d like to make the text half green and half blue.  Is there a way to do that?

      Two digits for month and day

      I’d like 2 digits for days and months (i.e.: 02/02/2003 and not 2/2/2003). How can I do this?

      Work with dense schedules

      I am trying to move and better organize the symbols and symbol text on in my schedule, which is very crowded.  Do you have any suggestions?

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for June 2022 

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      May 2022 Newsletter

      /in /by

      Video: Vertical Text in Milestones Professional

      You can have vertical column text, vertical symbol text, and vertical freeform text.

      See how to do that, and some common formatting options for the vertical text in our newest video.

      See the video on YouTube below.

      If you don’t have access to YouTube, check out our .MP4 Downloadable Milestones Professional Videos Page

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      May 2022 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for May 2022 

      Remove line in middle of bar
      Can you tell me how to remove the line in the middle of the bar?  It seems to be at the schedule’s current date.

      Apply a template to an existing schedule
      When I apply a template to an existing schedule, the symbols and connectors do not look as I expected.  What could cause this?

      Change the default save location
      I would like to change the default location where charts are saved.  How can I do this?

      Cleaner summary bar
      On my Summary line is there any way to make the appearance cleaner?  The Project 8 and Project 10 symbols are overlapping:

      Baseline symbols
      I have created a schedule for proposal purposes, and I want to turn it over to the execution team.  The execution team wants to be able to maintain the original schedule bars, but include actual bars that they can status.  What’s the best way to do this?

      Automatic word wrap
      I imported my Microsoft Project schedule but some of the text doesn’t show in the columns.  I know I can increase the row height and see everything.  Just wondering if there is an automatic way to do this.

      Link two symbols to show a date range
      If I want to link two symbols with a line to show a date range in dates, how do I do that?  For example:

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for May 2022 

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      April 2022 Newsletter

      /in /by

      Video: Insert a Baseline

      Learn how to insert a baseline into your Milestones Professional schedule.

      This video also shows you how to set up your Baseline task and summary options as well.

      See the video on YouTube below.

      If you don’t have access to YouTube, check out our .MP4 Downloadable Milestones Professional Videos Page

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      April 2022 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for April 2022 

      Best way to set up a schedule for easy updating

      What is the best way to approach creating a schedule in Milestones Professional so I can make global changes to symbols and horizontal bars currently on the schedule?

      Can’t pick Project file name when refreshing

      Usually when I go to refresh a Milestones Professional schedule from Project, I am asked to select the Microsoft Project file name.  I have one schedule (only one!) which never prompts me to select a file and I wonder what’s going on.  Any ideas?

      Fiscal and calendar quarters

      How can I have fiscal quarters and calendar year quarters, as shown above?

      Hyperlink from schedule to document

      I need to add a page of text explaining why any scheduled date has changed. Is there a way I can link “Milestones” to a “Word” document?

      Find a string in one of my Milestones files

      I often forget where I put my Milestones schedules and have trouble finding them.  Help!

      Remove password on my Milestones schedules

      I would like to remove the password on all my Milestones Professional charts.  I have approximately 12.  Do I really have to send them to you to remove the password.

      Password protecting your schedules

      We keep our schedules in a shared folder on our server.  Can we control who has access to each Milestones schedule?

      Filter to bring in just part of a Microsoft Project plan

      When I am importing an Microsoft Project plan, Microsoft Project loads all tasks (and Milestones) of the plan. That’s too much because the plan consists more than 2500 tasks.  Only the major work packages, not every task are relevant to the report I want from Milestones Professional.  Is there a way to only load certain tasks such as up to level 3?

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for April 2022 

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      March 2022 Newsletter

      /in /by

      Video: Append Tasks during MS Project Refresh

      Learn how to append tasks when you Refresh your schedule from MS Project.

      You can also use a Flag field to limit which tasks get appended, and you can use a Number field to tell Milestones which row to place the task on.

      See the video on YouTube below.

      If you don’t have access to YouTube, check out our .MP4 Downloadable Milestones Professional Videos Page

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      March and February 2022 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for February 2022 and also the Tips and Tricks for March 2022

      Adjust task row height with automation

      Is there a way to change the height of a row using Milestones Professional Automation?

      Symbols above the bar

      I am trying to show symbols above a bar, like this example.  Can you tell me what the trick is?

      Number of Vertical Links

      How many vertical links can start from a single symbol?

      For timing charts Heading frequency only goes to 60

      We use milestones for schedules and also for machine timing charts. When doing timing charts, we usually use 1 day as equal to 1 second. When cycles are really short, then we use 1 day equal to 1 millisecond, so 1000 days is equal to 1 second. We have a header type (within Date Headings Dialog Box) of Daily 1,2,…30, 31,32,33… Even though the frequency settings allows entry of numbers above 60, it seems to not change anything on the header. So the time breakup in header for frequency of any value above 60 is always 0—-60—120—180…… and is not readable due to everything running together. Is there a way to change this so that the header is 0–250—500—750—1000?

      Save version 2021 schedule in an earlier version’s format

      My coworkers still have Milestones Professional 2019 and I need to share my schedule with them.  How do I do this?  I have version 2021.

      Track deliveries

      I have a schedule I am importing from Microsoft Project.  Each time we do a delivery we have a task in Microsoft Project which has the word delivery.  I would like to create a schedule which displays the delivery dates and also shows the total number of deliveries per month.  Is anything like this possible?

      Tasks omitted from curtain shading

      When I use the curtain/shading option, certain tasks are omitted from the shading, why is this?

      Move symbols ahead by 2 months

      How can I move a group of symbols about 2 months to the right all at the same time?

      Horizontal bar has white stripe

      I am using Milestones Professional to build a chart for our management.  The task bars I am inserting (which should be solid) have a white stripe through the middle of them.  Here’s a picture.

      Custom Headers and Footers

       I need to display custom header and footer information on all pages of my schedule.  Is this possible?

      What can affect Fill to Status Date?

      I have the Symbols: Fill to Status Date and Bars: Fill to Status Date options toggled on.  However, it is not working. What could be disabling this feature?

      Dashed line for symbol

      I want my symbol to look like this.  Is it possible?

      Remove all baseline or status symbols

      I want to remove all of the baseline symbols and status symbols on my schedule. Is there an easy way to do this?

      Show curves and bars in DataGraph

      I need to create a data graph with both bars and lines on the same DataGraph area.   It appears that DataGraphs  can either be bar graphs or line graphs, but not a mix.    Suggestions?

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for February 2022 and also the Tips and Tricks for March 2022

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      January 2022 Newsletter

      /in /by

      Video: Valuesets (1 and 3) and Datagraphs

      Using a Type 3 valueset, you can spread column values over the duration of each task, and have them graphed automatically on the bottom of the schedule.

      You can also use a Type 1 valueset if you’d like to manually enter data for each date range.

      See the video on YouTube below.

      If you don’t have access to YouTube, check out our .MP4 Downloadable Milestones Professional Videos Page

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      January 2022 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for January 2022

      Line thickness in PDF files

      Why are the line weights so heavy when creating a PDF?  It really makes the schedule hard to read and is not good for presentations.  Is there something I can do to fix this?

      Bar colors change unexpectedly after refresh

      I have a schedule with several joined bars.  P3 is supposed to be filled blue but stays white.  Then, after I refresh, the bar for P2 disappears and P3 fills as expected:

            

      See bar status color in toolbox

      My bars are all the same color before status, but they have a different after status color, how do I tell them apart in the toolbox?

      Get list of all Project UIDs in Milestones schedule

      I’m using Symbol Links to an MS Project file. Is there a way to get a list in Milestones Pro of all the UIDs I am linked to?

      Numbers or letters inside symbols

      I need to have numbers inside my triangle symbols.  Right now I am using symbol text and the text is pretty small and hard to re-size when the symbol sizes change.  Is there an easier way to do this?

      Force a symbol to be “on top”

      I have two different symbols that appear on the same day.  I want to be able to choose which symbol appears on top.  Is this possible?

      Need to change UIDs in Milestones as Project UIDs have all changed

      A significant number of tasks in my Project file have been reassigned new UID’s, and I need to manually re-establish them in Milestones Pro. I can see them in the automation tag report, but is there a way to mass-delete them, without having to click every symbol and remove the tags manually?

      Change the font size of many symbols at once

      I want to change the font size of all symbols of a certain type.  Do I need to select the symbols individually and change them one by one?

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for January 2022

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.

      December 2021 Newsletter

      /in /by

      Video: Make a Christmas Tree in Milestones Professional 2021

      Check out this video to see how to create a Christmas Tree in Milestones Professional. I create my own tree and then show you a couple more examples that my co-workers created as well.
      Even if you don’t want to make a Christmas Tree, you will probably still learn a few new things in Milestones Professional!
      See the video:

      Be sure to Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for all the latest and greatest Milestones software videos!

      December 2021 Tips and Tricks

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for December 2021

      Make the schedule more compact
      How do I get a multi-page schedule down to one page?

      Entered percent complete changes to different value
      When using a Percent Complete SmartColumn, I enter a percent complete value, e.g. 72%, and the value is then displayed as another value, e.g. 80%. Why is that and how can this be corrected?

      Focus on certain months in a year
      Are you able to focus in on certain months within a year, (i.e. – adjust the timescale) so that the timescale will be more compact in outlying years/months granting more space in the area around time now?

      Toolbox drawing tools are grayed out
      I can’t seem to invoke the “line, box, circle” row in my toolbox. It remains grayed out. What am I doing wrong? I am using the Standard Toolbox view. I really need the “line tool” right now.

      Erase blue boxes around symbol descriptions
      I cannot figure out how to erase the blue box around the task descriptions that are imported from MS Project.

      Hide the dates on summary lines
      When I roll-up all lower-level task bars to the summary line, I would like to hide the symbol dates.  Is this possible?

      For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for December 2021

      Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021

      Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2021 for only $199 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional). To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2021” page.

      Join the Milestones Professional Users LinkedIn Group

      For anyone interested, there’s a free Milestones Professional user group on LinkedIn you can join to share best practices, network with other users, and maybe learn some tips along the way from other experienced Milestones users. To join, head over to the following website and click Join: https://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=6796817

      Note: This user group is an unofficial group run by Milestones software users, and is not managed by KIDASA Software, Inc. A free LinkedIn account is required to join the group.