Strategies for creating presentation roadmaps which will later be refreshed with dates from Microsoft Project

Condensing one or more large projects onto a single page is a common problem, often requiring some up-front planning.  Here are some simple guidelines to make the process easier.  Steps 1 through 4 are required for setup of the presentation schedule.  Once steps 1 through 4 have been completed, Step 5 (Refresh) is all that is needed to keep the schedule updated.

STEP 1 - Flag the tasks in Microsoft Project

1. Microsoft Project offers 20 "Flag" fields (Flag 1 through Flag 20).   Choose one of these fields.

2. In Microsoft Project, for each task to appear on the presentation schedule, set the flag to Yes.

STEP 2 - Import the flagged tasks

1. In Milestones Professional, on the Connections tab choose Create Report from Project (or Create Report from Project Server.)

2. For Only import tasks with this Flag Yes, choose the flag field established above.

3. For Tag with this ID field for future updates choose a field which will be used as a unique identifier when refreshing.  

4. Choose Use a built in template.

5. Under the Milestone category, choose Finish Dates.

6. Click Next.

7. Under Finish, choose the Microsoft Project field to appear with each finish date symbol.  Optionally, choose a field to appear as a symbol note.

8. Save the schedule.

STEP 3 - Rearrange tasks to fit on one page

1. On the Tools tab, choose Dates.  Be sure that the Lock symbol to date when copying or moving ... is checked.

2. Move symbols by holding down the Shift key while dragging to another row.

1. • Tip: if the schedule is quite large, temporarily set the rows per page to 50 or more.  

STEP 4 - Beautify and save the schedule

1. Enhance the schedule using color themes, curtains, and shading.

2. Save the schedule when finished.

STEP 5 - Refresh

1. On the Connections tab, choose Refresh Previously Imported Project.  

2. Choose Refresh from MPP/MPD file (or Refresh from Project Server.)

3. Choose the Microsoft Project file.

4. For Refresh Using, choose the same unique identifier used when building the schedule.