Creating the ultimate customer-friendly software release schedule
By: Patrick Daniels, Milestones Professional Expert User
As someone who has spent over 20 years working in high tech, I can personally tell you that software companies often make it difficult for clients to understand their release schedule and overall product support lifecycle. Customers are constantly forced to ask their account rep about future release dates and usually have to do extensive searches on the vendor’s website just to find the right product support policy documentation. It’s obvious that software companies want their clients to use the latest and greatest product…but why isn’t more effort put into making release dates and product support lifecycle information easier to find and comprehend?
Consider the following real world enterprise-class software scenarios:
- A key banking client needs to know when the latest software patch will be available so they can plan additional stabilization efforts before a late October production freeze.
- A Fortune 100 energy company using an older version of software needs to know how many remaining days they have until their product support expires. The answer will impact business decisions on whether or not to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars, worth of extended support services.
- A large insurance company won’t have funding to upgrade a key environment until Q2 2017. Given the timing of this funding, which software version/release does it make sense to plan for?
You might be surprised how many times the above scenarios often go overlooked until the last minute. And while it’s certainly the client’s responsibility to understand their vendor’s product lifecycle, you can’t blame them for being confused considering they’re often dealing with multiple software companies, each with different policies….
Read the entire article: Creating the ultimate customer-friendly software release schedule
Check out our new website!
We made a lot of changes to our website. Let us know if you see any improvements we could make. We’re adding new pages all the time.
Merry Christmas Milestones Schedule
Check out this schedule made in Milestones Professional:
Download the schedule in Version 2012 and 2015
Join our Beta Testing list
We are always looking for users who would like to help us beta test future versions of Milestones Professional.
Send an email to devteam@kidasa.com, letting us know that you would like to be part of our Beta program. This will involve getting access to beta versions of Milestones Professional, letting us know if you find any bugs or features that aren’t working correctly.
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 2016 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for December 2016
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.
Vertical connectors 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?
Find and replace
I have a schedule that lists tasks and the person responsible for each task. One employee listed on the schedule has been moved to a different project. How can I quickly replace all occurrences of that name with the new employee’s name?
Generate assignment lists
Can I print a limited list of the tasks: e.g., just the tasks assigned to one person for their own short list? If so, how?
Date range override for each page
I created a year-long schedule which starts on 10/1/2015 and ends on 9/31/2016, taking up one full page. How can I include another date range in the same schedule, say for the next year beginning 10/1/2016 and ending 9/31/2017? That is, can the date range for each page be different?
Change symbol date format
My computer is set up for English and with United States settings. However, I want to make the dates on my schedule reflect a date order used by my customers. Instead of mm/dd/yy, I would like to use dd/mm/yy. Is this possible?
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for December 2016
June 2017 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareVideo: Import and Refresh from Microsoft Excel
Check out our video on importing from Excel into Milestones Professional 2017. Starting with version 2017, you can even refresh your data if your Excel file changes, so check out this short tutorial which explains the process below.
Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017
Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017 for only $149 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional).
To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2017” page.
June 2017 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for June 2017
Need larger toolbox
Is there a way to increase the size of the tool box? it is too small to see what symbols I need to use. I’m using a very high res monitor.
Cant select text box
I moved a text box off of my schedule and now I can’t select it to move or delete it. Help!
Published symbol hyperlink not working
I have published my schedule as HTML using the Internet Publisher. Now, when I try to click one of the links on the schedule in the published HTML file, the link does not work.
Three rows per page in PowerPoint
I am presenting my Milestones Professional schedule in PowerPoint and want to only show three rows on each PowerPoint slide. Any way to do this?
Stamp a schedule with a date, page number, and more
How do I add a date and time stamp to show when the schedule was created (up in the right-hand corner of the schedule)? How can I place a date and time stamp in the lower left corner as a “footer”?
Baseline isn’t hiding
I have two sets of bars for each of my tasks. One set is for baseline, and one is to show the current plan. When I try to hide the baseline nothing changes. Any idea what could be wrong?
Swimlane setup
Is it possible to set up swimlanes similar to my example in Milestones Professional 2017, possibly with the swimlane title rotated 90 degrees?
Milestones Professional Automation Interface Documentation
Is there some documentation available for using VBA with Milestones Professional or at least something that will identify the values associated with formatting bar styles in a chart.
Phantom symbols
I have been experiencing a strange problem with Milestones Professional. Specifically, when I add a symbol to a chart, it also adds a symbol on the line (or two) above it.
Default Symbol Text
I’m making a “no-columns” presentation schedule. Is there an easy way to attach my task names as symbol text?
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for June 2017
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 2017 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareVideo: FreeForm Text
Check out our video on using FreeForm Text in Milestones Professional 2017. We’ve added a couple new features to FreeForm text, so check out this short tutorial which shows how to use FreeForm text, as well as shows off the great new features.
Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017
Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017 for only $149 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional).
To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2017” page.
May 2017 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for May 2017
Show date and text on one line with two colors
I want to show the date on a symbol along with some text in a different color. It should show the date along with the stage of the project. For example: 3/20/2017 – (Stage 4). I’m trying to do this as a symbol note. It seems I can only change the color for each line of text though. Any ideas?
Clear all symbols within a date range
I have a horizontal year-by-year listing of events for the next five years. I want to get rid of events (symbols) I scheduled in one year without clearing the other years’ symbols. How can I do this?
Coded symbols and bars
I am creating a presentation schedule from Microsoft Project and would like to use the Coded Symbols and Bars format. Can I get an example of how that works?
Can’t see vertical links
I have a schedule with quite a few overlapping vertical links and it’s very difficult to determine which symbols are connected. Any suggestions?
Working with Excel
What are the various ways that Milestones Professional interacts with Excel?
Collapse expand indicators questions answered
I would like to have the summary bar line up with the rolled up symbols from below. How can I change the color of the roll-up triangle?
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?
View Options: Zoom
How can I “zoom in” to see more detail on a schedule?
Vertical Heading
I am trying to change the column header text in some of my columns to be rotated 90. I know it can be done because one of my associates was able to do it.
View Options: Continuous View
I have a large schedule that I need to easily scroll through while viewing the columns at the same time. What are my options?
View Options: Presenting a list of schedules
How can I present a series of schedules that are not necessarily related in format?
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 May 2017
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 2017 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareVideo: Attach Date Heading to Any Task Row
Check out our video on how to attach a date heading anywhere on your schedule, starting with Milestones Professional 2017. You can add a brand new date heading, or just copy your existing date headings.
Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017
Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017 for only $149 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional).
To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2017” page.
April 2017 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for April 2017
Blank SmartColumn Cells
My Indicator column shows additional indicators on blank rows. How can I get rid of these extra symbols?
Change the shape of a symbol based on status
I would like a symbol to change when it’s completed. Is this possible?
Attach a date heading to a task row
I want to add a date heading about half-way through my schedule. Is this possible now?
Report obsolete milestones upon refresh
I am refreshing my Milestones Professional schedule from Microsoft Project. How can I tell if a symbol on my Milestones schedule is referring to a task which I have deleted in my Project file (and therefore no longer getting refreshed)?
Lock symbols to a date when moving to another row
Is there any way to lock the symbol date when moving from one task row to another task row?
Chart drawing slow
When I move my mouse from the schedule area to the Toolbox, the screen flickers and causes Milestones to slow down. What’s going on?
Custom Headers and Footers
I need to display custom header and footer information on all pages of my schedule. Is this possible?
Lock a symbol to a date
Can I lock some of my symbols to a specific dates?
Change date range in Viewer
In Milestone Professional, I can scroll right and left on a schedule by pressing Shift + PgUp or PgDn. In the Milestone Viewer this does not work. How do I scroll forward and backward in time using the Viewer?
Change properties of summary bar symbols
How do I change the symbols and bars for the summary bars which show up automatically? I tried to click on them, but nothing happened.
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?
Change the number of task rows per page
I need more rows on my schedule. How can I add more rows?
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for April 2017
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 2017 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareVideo: Link a row to MS Project
Check out our video below on how to link entire rows to MS Project in Milestones Professional. This process also allows you to add symbols and bars as you link. In version 2017, you can bring over multiple tasks from MS Project at the same time.
Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017
Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017 for only $149 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional).
To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2017” page.
March 2017 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for March 2017
Move symbols ahead by 4 months
How can I move a group of symbols about 4 months to the right all at the same time?
Upgrade compatibility
I am thinking about upgrading to the latest version but there are quite a few people in my company using a past version. I occasionally need to share a schedule with them. Will I be able to save my schedules in the version that they have?
Locked trial version
I have purchased Milestones Professional. When I start the program I get the message: This is a locked trial version. What have I to do?
Chart drawing slow
After I upgraded my software, the charts take a long time to edit. Every change I make to a chart I have to watch the chart re-draw itself. Is there a way to save all my own chart settings and just apply that to any chart I open. Color, text size, legend settings, etc. I make 20 changes to every chart I open.
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.
Refresh percent complete with a field other than percent complete
Hello – I am working on a Milestones Professional schedule and am wondering if I can map the bar complete fill to another column in Microsoft Project. My understanding is that the bars currently fill based on the % Complete column data in the Microsoft Project file. I would like to use another Microsoft Project field that we use for Earned Value % Complete. Is that possible?
Have many users open schedule read only on a server
I often am forced to save several versions of a file because another user opens my file, forcing me to “save as” to another version when I need to make changes. Is there a way for me to know who has my file open? Is there some way to prevent this problem?
Symbol tag case sensitive?
Is the Symbol tag case sensitive? Does it matter if I enter it upper or lower case?
No change or unexpected changes after schedule refresh
I have been refreshing my very dense master schedule every month for the last 2 years. Now I find that for all of my bars only the finish date is updating. The start date is not updating. What could be wrong?
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for March 2017
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.
February 2017 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareVideo: Use a Custom Bitmap Symbol
Check out our video below on how to create a Custom Bitmap Symbol in Milestones Professional:
Video: Check out our Improved Undo functionality
Check out our video below to see our Improved Undo in Milestones Professional 2017:
Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017
Click here to Upgrade to Milestones Professional 2017 for only $149 (if you already own any version of Milestones Professional).
To see what has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2017” page.
February 2017 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for February 2017
Add a bitmap symbol to the toolbox
I want to use a picture I have as a symbol on the schedule. How do I go about doing this?
HTML Publishing – need a master schedule with sub schedules
I’m generating HTML tiered hierarchy from a Master Schedule for 4 sub-schedules. Each sub-schedule has a summary bar, level 1, and some level 2 tasks. The main HTML output of Master shows only the Summary bars. Clicking a summary bar takes me to the sub-schedule. (Expected behavior) What I want is to control how many task levels are displayed on the HTML Master in the tiered output. For example, I would like HTML Master to show Summary and all Level 1 tasks, rather than just the Summarybar for each sub schedule. Is this setup possible?
Center vertical connection on a bar
I need to connect a symbol from one row to the center of a bar on another row. It looks like vertical connectors only go from symbol to symbol. Is there any way to show the connector hitting the middle of a bar?
Date heading only shows letter for part of the heading
My date heading shows some months with the full name and others with an abbreviation. Is there a way to make it consistent?
Export from Primavera
I would like to import from Primavera. Is there anything special I need to do to generate the XML files which Milestones can use?
Browse templates without opening
Is there a way to look through the sample templates or search them and get a preview without opening every single one to see if they’re what I want?
Refresh from multiple Primavera XML schedules
I have several Primavera schedules and would like to build a Milestones Professional schedule which I can later update when the Primavera dates change. What steps should I follow?
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for February 2017
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 2017 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareAnnouncing: Milestones Professional 2017
We are proud to announce that we have released Milestones Professional 2017, the latest version of our flagship product, Milestones Professional.
Here are a few of the new changes in version 2017:
Improved Undo
A new Multiple Undo feature has been added to Milestones. Now all actions can be undone. You can set the number of actions that can be undone from 1 to 100 (the default is 20). This is done using the Tools | Program Options | Edit screen:
Select Multiple Tasks to import ad-hoc from MS Project
In past versions, one Microsoft Project task could be linked via the “Link to Active MS Project task” feature. Now, groups of tasks can be selected in Microsoft Project. Then, the link feature makes it possible to link all selected tasks at once. One option is add all dates from selected tasks to a single row on the Milestones chart. The other option is to have Milestones add new rows for each Project task:
To see what else has changed, check out our “What’s New in Milestones Professional 2017” page.
January 2017 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for January 2017
Symbol tags across multiple files
Is it possible to create a report that compares tags across multiple files? For multiple tasks that have the same name, would it be possible to consolidate those and compare the tags?
Can not select symbols on some rows
Some of the rows on my schedule have symbols which I can not select. I would like to change or delete the symbols but can not select them for deletion.
Can’t indent tasks
I want to indent text in my column. I never had trouble doing this before. I usually right-click the cell the text is in and Click on Indent/Demote task. For some reason it is not working.
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for January 2017
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 2016 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareCreating the ultimate customer-friendly software release schedule
By: Patrick Daniels, Milestones Professional Expert User
As someone who has spent over 20 years working in high tech, I can personally tell you that software companies often make it difficult for clients to understand their release schedule and overall product support lifecycle. Customers are constantly forced to ask their account rep about future release dates and usually have to do extensive searches on the vendor’s website just to find the right product support policy documentation. It’s obvious that software companies want their clients to use the latest and greatest product…but why isn’t more effort put into making release dates and product support lifecycle information easier to find and comprehend?
Consider the following real world enterprise-class software scenarios:
You might be surprised how many times the above scenarios often go overlooked until the last minute. And while it’s certainly the client’s responsibility to understand their vendor’s product lifecycle, you can’t blame them for being confused considering they’re often dealing with multiple software companies, each with different policies….
Read the entire article: Creating the ultimate customer-friendly software release schedule
Check out our new website!
We made a lot of changes to our website. Let us know if you see any improvements we could make. We’re adding new pages all the time.
Merry Christmas Milestones Schedule
Check out this schedule made in Milestones Professional:
Download the schedule in Version 2012 and 2015
Join our Beta Testing list
We are always looking for users who would like to help us beta test future versions of Milestones Professional.
Send an email to devteam@kidasa.com, letting us know that you would like to be part of our Beta program. This will involve getting access to beta versions of Milestones Professional, letting us know if you find any bugs or features that aren’t working correctly.
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 2016 Tips and Tricks
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for December 2016
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.
Vertical connectors 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?
Find and replace
I have a schedule that lists tasks and the person responsible for each task. One employee listed on the schedule has been moved to a different project. How can I quickly replace all occurrences of that name with the new employee’s name?
Generate assignment lists
Can I print a limited list of the tasks: e.g., just the tasks assigned to one person for their own short list? If so, how?
Date range override for each page
I created a year-long schedule which starts on 10/1/2015 and ends on 9/31/2016, taking up one full page. How can I include another date range in the same schedule, say for the next year beginning 10/1/2016 and ending 9/31/2017? That is, can the date range for each page be different?
Change symbol date format
My computer is set up for English and with United States settings. However, I want to make the dates on my schedule reflect a date order used by my customers. Instead of mm/dd/yy, I would like to use dd/mm/yy. Is this possible?
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks for December 2016
July 2016 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareVideo: Milestones Professional Tips and Tricks
Check out this short video with five great tips and tricks.
Some of these are things we get a lot of questions about, and some of them are little-known facts about Milestones.
Watch the video below to see if you learn anything new:
Join our Beta Testing list
We are always looking for users who would like to help us beta test future versions of Milestones Professional.
Send an email to devteam@kidasa.com, letting us know that you would like to be part of our Beta program. This will involve getting access to beta versions of Milestones Professional, letting us know if you find any bugs or features that aren’t working correctly.
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 2016 Tips and Tricks
Copy tasks from one schedule to another
I want to copy a few tasks from my current schedule to a new schedule. Is this possible?
Merge schedules together
I am creating a master schedule. I’m building several individual schedules which I want to merge together. Is there an easy way to do this?
Copy my toolbox to another schedule
I love the toolbox I have set up. How can I copy it to a new schedule? Can I somehow make it my “default” toolbox?
Percent Complete values not “sticking”
In my percent complete column, I am trying to type in a value to change the percent complete of the task, but the value is not being retained.
Visual Basic interface to Milestones?
Is there a VBA or Visual Basic interface for Milestones? I use VBA to perform automation from PowerPoint, Excel, Word and Project and it would be useful if I could access Milestones Professional similarly.
May 2016 Newsletter
/in News /by KIDASA SoftwareVideo: Import your schedule from Microsoft Project using a Built-in Template
This video covers the basics of our Project to Milestones wizard, using a Basic Gantt built-in template. The video also goes over the Refresh Process, and the options related to Refreshing your schedule.
Watch the video below to see if you learn anything new:
See OPDEC’s Updated Critical Path Tool
https://www.opdec.com/ms-project-tools/critical-path-tool
May 2016 Tips and Tricks (Click the question title for the complete answer!)
For these and more, view Tips and Tricks
Copy tasks from one schedule to another
I want to copy a few tasks from my current schedule to a new schedule. Is this possible?
Merge schedules together
I am creating a master schedule. I’m building several individual schedules which I want to merge together. Is there an easy way to do this?
Copy my toolbox to another schedule
I love the toolbox I have set up. How can I copy it to a new schedule? Can I somehow make it my “default” toolbox?
Percent Complete values not “sticking”
In my percent complete column, I am trying to type in a value to change the percent complete of the task, but the value is not being retained.
Visual Basic interface to Milestones?
Is there a VBA or Visual Basic interface for Milestones? I use VBA to perform automation from PowerPoint, Excel, Word and Project and it would be useful if I could access Milestones Professional similarly.