About Create A Project Database

In this software creating a project means creating the sets of databases that are going to hold and manage your project's data and linked computer files. It only takes 4 simple steps to create these databases an open them, and they'll be the first thing you see demonstrated in this web page.

However, most of the time when you're at the stage in a project where you want to use software like this to manage it, then you probably have a few ideas, tasks, and work sessions that you want to create right away too.

So after you've seen how to create and open the databases, then you'll also see how to create an Idea record, some Task records for it, and how to pick a Task record and create a Work Session record for it.

Creating A Project Database And Adding Records To It

You need to be in the Projects Index window to create new Project Databases first.

Once you're in that window then click the New Project hyperlink.

The Project Window opens and it's displaying a Project record for your new project.

Give the new record a Title and Description that will help you and others identify this project in the future.

Give the record a proper title and description.

To start working with this database, click on the Open This Project hyperlink.

The Project Summary Window is displayed and when you see it that means that you're ready to start working with your new database.

Creating Idea, Task, and Work Session Records

When you create and open a new Project Management Database, the first thing you should do is create a New Idea record, because there won't be much you can do with this database until you do.

In the remaining steps, I'll show you how to create an Idea record and some Task records that will be linked to it. Then I'll pick one of the task records and add a Work Session record to it.

Create The Idea Record

To create the database's first Idea record, click the New Idea hyperlink in the Project Summary Window.

Click the New Idea hyperlink to create the project's first idea record.

An Ideas Window will open and it will be displaying a new Idea record.

A new Idea record being displayed in the Ideas Window.

Now all you have to do is give the record a proper description.

Give the Idea record a proper description.

Creating The Task Record

Now that you have a new Idea record, you can start adding new Task, Note, or Data File records to it, by clicking on the New Task, New Note, or New Data File hyperlinks on the left hand side of the window.

Until the Idea record has its first Task record linked to it, you wont be able to ask it to create any Work Session records for you, by clicking on the New Work Session hyperlink. When you click that hyperlink, you have to tell the system which of the Idea record's tasks to link the new Work Session record to. But there are no Task records yet.

Typically the first thing someone does with a new Idea record is they start creating Task records for it. There's two fast and easy ways to do this using an Ideas Window.

The first way is to type the descriptions for each task record into its own paragraph in the Planning field.

Then click on the Turn All Content Into Task Records hyperlink. Each description will be turned into a new Task record, that will have that description as its description, and all of these Task records will be linked to this Idea record.

Use the Planning field to enter descriptions for Task records you want to create.

After you click that hyperlink, those new Task records won't be displayed to you until you click the Display Tasks hyperlink on the left hand side of the window.

The other way to start creating Task records for the Idea is to click the New Task hyperlink. This will create a new Task record and link it to the Idea record.

Then your new Task record will be displayed in the Task Window so you can give it a description, and decide if you want to create new records for it too.

Click the New Task hyperlink to create and display a new Task record.

Picking A Task and Creating A Work Session Record For It

Let's assume that the 4 tasks defined in the Planning section have been created for this Idea record, by clicking the Turn All Content Into Task Records hyperlink.

To display these new Task records, click the Display Tasks hyperlink.

Click the Display Tasks hyperlink to see the new task records.

The Idea's Tasks Index Window is opened and it displays all the Task and Subtask records the Idea record is linked to.

I've clicked on the first task record in that list to select it so I can create a Work Session for it.

To create a Work Session record, all I have to do is click on the New Work Session hyperlink.

Click the New Work Session hyperlink to add a work session to the task.

A new Work Session record is created and linked to the Task record and the Idea record.

Then the new record is displayed in the Work Sessions Window so you can work with it.

The new record has the same description as the Task record that was asked to create it, so you'll need to decide if you want to change it.

To set a future start date for a Work Session just click the Change Start Time hyperlink. A dialog box pops open (not shown) and you can set the date and time values in it.

The New Work Session record is displayed in a Work Session Window.

When you want to start assigning people to this work session, click the Add Work To Team Members hyperlink.

A Work Assignment record is created, linked to the Work Session record and then the Team Work Services Window is opened.

You can use that window to select and/or create Team Member, or Team records to assign to the Work Assignment record.

Using the Team Work Services Window to assign people to the Work Session's Work Assignment record.

Summary

You now have a new Project Management Database. It has an Idea, Task, and Work Session record in it, and they represent the beginning of a "chain" of development work being done on an idea.

To create the database and all of the records all you had to do was click on some New... hyperlink in a window you were working in and then type in an optional description for your new record.

Then when you wanted to create new database records for the record you were working with, all you had to do was click the appropriate New... hyperlink in its window, to have the new record created, linked to it, and all of its parent records, and then displayed in a new window so you could work with it.

If you wanted to see either, one of a record's parent records, or some list of its "child" records, then you'd click on the appropriate Display... hyperlink in the window working with that record. We did this in the Ideas Window, when we clicked on the Display Tasks hyperlink to see a list of all the Task records linked to the Idea record.