Tracking progress

Tick the task’s Done box in the grid (or in the task form). That sets it to 100%.

Ticking Done also fills in when the task actually happened:

• an actual start, if it didn’t have one, and
• an actual end, on the day it was planned to end, or today if that is earlier. It never records a finish in the future.

Untick Done to put back the percentage it had before.

To tick several at once, select the rows and press Ctrl+Shift+K (or Task › Mark done). Selecting a phase ticks every task in it. If everything you selected is done already, the same key unticks it all (the menu then says Mark not done). Tasks that were already done are left as they were, and while a filter is on only the tasks it shows are ticked. Ctrl+Z undoes the lot in one step.

Type a number from 0 to 100 in the % column (or in the task form): 30 means 30% done. Typing 100 is the same as ticking Done.

On the chart, the done part of each bar is filled in a darker shade. In Oakfield Villa Build, Blockwork walls is 20% done, so the first fifth of its bar is dark.

Phases work out their own percentage from the tasks inside them, so you can’t type one.

The Status column (switch it on in Settings › Columns) reads the percentage:

To record the real dates as well, switch on the Actual start, Actual end and Actual duration columns in Settings › Columns, or use the Actual section of the task form.

• Typing an actual end marks the task 100% done. Clearing it puts the old percentage back.
• Clearing the actual start clears both actual dates.
• The actual dates are kept exactly as you type them, even on a weekend.
• A milestone’s actual date can’t be in the future.
• In the task form, the arrow button beside Actual marks the task done and fills in the same dates ticking Done would: the planned dates if the work is already over, and never a day that hasn’t happened yet. A milestone that isn’t due yet can’t be copied. The × button clears them.
• Typing 0 as the actual duration is the same as clearing the actual end. The same goes for baseline duration: 0 clears the baseline end.

When you record an actual date that differs from the plan, Desktop Plan asks whether the planned dates should match it. Choose Yes, match them to move the task (and everything that waits for it), or No, leave the plan to keep the plan as it was. It doesn’t ask when the date comes from links or from a phase, or when you mark the task done (ticking Done, typing 100, or the arrow button): those dates are Desktop Plan’s own guess, not something you reported.

Actual dates are drawn as a thin strip under the bar. See the picture in Baselines.

Desktop Plan can fill in progress for you. Go to Settings › General › How progress is set:

• Manual (the usual choice): progress is whatever you type. Nothing changes on its own.
• Automatic: tasks you haven’t reported on show how far they should be by today, judged from their dates. A task halfway through its dates shows 50%. Anything you type still wins.

Automatic shows where the plan says you should be, not where you really are. Use it for a quick picture. Use Manual when you report real progress.

This setting is saved with the plan, so anyone you send it to sees the same percentages. A new plan starts with the choice you made last. Switching to Automatic never changes the percentages you typed, so you can switch back at any time. On a plan you can only view, the change lasts until you close it.

• The dashboard strip under the header shows the plan’s overall % complete against how much should be done by today. See The dashboard.
• Hide completed, under Filter on the view row, hides every finished task, so you see only what is left.