Manage task information in the Task Details Overview area

You can view or edit the information of a task by accessing the Overview area of the Task Details section . There is a limited number of fields that you can view or edit in this area. For information about editing all information for a task see Edit tasks.

This article describes how to view or edit information in the Overview area of Task Details. For information about updating other areas of Task Details , see the following articles:

Access requirements

You must have the following:

Adobe Workfront plan*
Any
Adobe Workfront license*
Work or higher
Access level configurations*

View or higher access to Projects and Tasks

If you have the correct access level but still can't edit the Details section of the task, ask your Adobe Workfront if they set additional restrictions in your access level. For information on how a Workfront administrator can change your access level, see Create or modify custom access levels.

Object permissions

Contribute or higher permissions for the project

View permissions for the task to view information in the Details section.

Contribute permissions for the task to update the following information in the Details section:

  • Description
  • Status

Manage permissions for the task to update all information in the Details section.

Edit task information in the Task Details Overview section

  1. Go to a task that you want to view or edit.

  2. Click Task Details in the left panel .

  3. Go to the Overview area to view more information about the task.

    By default, Overview is the first area on the Task Details section and it is expanded.

    note note
    NOTE
    Depending on how your Workfront administrator or Group administrator sets up our Layout Template, the fields in the Task Details section might be rearranged or not display. For information, see Customize the Details view using a layout template.
  4. Click the Edit icon in the upper-right corner of the Details section, then click Overview.

    note tip
    TIP
    You cannot edit fields that are automatically generated by Workfront or that you don’t have permissions to edit.
  5. Edit any field that is available for editing, by single-clicking the field or click +Add to add information to an empty field.

  6. View or edit any of the following fields listed.

    Not all fields are editable.

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    Description Additional information about the task
    Reference Number This is a unique value for the task generated by Workfront for all objects in the system.
    URL Users with Manage permissions to a task can specify a link to an internal or external page in this field.
    Status

    Select the status of the task which indicates what stage of development the task is in.

    Tip: You can update the task Status in the task header.

    Priority

    This is a visual flag for you which allows you to prioritize your tasks.

    Select from the following options:

    • None

    • Low

    • Normal

    • High

    • Urgent

    Depending on the Project Preferences selected by your Workfront administrator, the names of priorities might be different for you. For information about task priorities, see Update Task Priority.

    Duration Type

    This identifies the relationship between the following:

    • The number of resources assigned to a task

    • The total effort required to complete the task

    • The total duration of the task.

    Your Workfront administrator or a group administrator selects the default Duration Type setting for the tasks in your system or your group. For information about setting project defaults, see Configure system-wide project preferences.

    Duration Types enable you to set consistent resource assignments based on the needs of the task. For more information about the Duration Type of a task, see Overview of Task Duration and Duration Type.

    Select from the following options:

    • Calculated Assignment

    • Calculated Work

    • Effort Driven

    • Simple

    Duration

    This is the amount of time that you allow a task to remain open before it is completed.

    Important: Because the task duration is typically the amount of time between the Planned Start and the Planned Completion Dates, it affects the timeline of the project.

    To indicate the Duration of the task and the unit of time do the following:

    • Type the length of time and select from the units of time available in the drop-down menu.

    TIP

    When you update the Duration of tasks in a task list, you can use the abbreviation for the unit of time.

    You can choose from the regular time or elapsed time options in the following table:

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    Unit of Time Abbreviation
    Minutes M
    Hours H
    Days. This is the default. D
    Weeks W
    Months T
    Elapsed Minutes EM
    Elapsed Hours EH
    Elapsed Days ED
    Elapsed Weeks EW
    Elapsed Months ET

    NOTE

    Elapsed time is a unit of time for a task's Duration. It is the time between the Planned Start Date and the Planned Completion Date of a task that includes holidays, weekends, and time off. In other words, elapsed time is the passage of calendar days. Regular time takes into account holidays, weekends, and time off and excludes them from the Duration of the task. For more information about task duration, see Overview of Task Duration and Duration Type.

    Projected Duration The difference in days between the projected start date and the projected completion date.
    Actual Duration The difference in days between the actual start date and the actual completion date. This is how long it actually took to complete the work.
    Planned Hours Specify the amount of Planned Hours for the task, in hours. This is the amount of actual time it would take the assignees of the task to complete it. You can only specify the amount of Planned Hours for a task when the Duration Type is set to Calculated Assignment. For more information about duration types, see Overview of Task Duration and Duration Type.
    Actual Hours Hours logged by users on the task.
    Work Effort

    The amount of effort required to complete the task. Your project manager might decide to use this field instead of Planned Hours to estimate the effort needed to complete a task. This field is visible only when the following conditions are met:

    • The task has a Simple Duration Type.

      Tip: If you change the task Duration Type, this field becomes dimmed.

    • Your project manager has enabled the Use Work Effort to automatically calculate task Planned Hours field on the project.

    Select from the following options:

    • Small
    • Medium (this is the default value for a new task)
    • Large

    NOTE

    Updating the amount of effort could update the task Planned Hours. The update is immediate if the project Update Type is Automatic. When the project Update Type is Manual you must recalculate timeline to see the updated Planned Hours.

    For information about using Work Effort instead of Planned Hours to estimate task effort, see Work Effort overview.

    Task Constraint

    Decide when the task must be completed by specifying a Task Constraint.

    Select from the following options:

    • Fixed Dates

      Specify a Planned Start and a Planned Completion Date.

    • Must Start On

      Specify a Planned Start Date.

    • Must Finish On

      Specify a Planned Completion Date.

    • As Soon as Possible

    • As Late as Possible

    • Earliest Available Time

    • Latest Available Time

    • Start No Later Than

    • Specify a Planned Start Date

    • Start No Earlier Than

      Specify a Planned Start Date.

    • Finish No Later Than

      Specify a Planned Completion Date.

    • Finish No Earlier Than

      Specify a Planned Completion Date

    For more information on Task Constraint, see Task Constraint overview.

    Planned Start Date

    When the task is planned to start. The planned start date of a task is set and influenced by a number of factors:

    • Depending on the system-wide preference for the task planned start date, the start date of a new task on a project can either be today, or the start date of the project, by default. The group administrator for the group associated with the project can also set this preference for the group. For more information about the system-level or group-level task preferences, see Configure system-wide task and issue preferences.
    • Depending on the predecessors of the task, the planned start date is picked by Workfront to be the next available date after the predecessors finish, or start, depending on the predecessor relationship. For more information about predecessor relationships, see Overview of task predecessors.
    • The project manager or the task owner can manually set the planned start date when the task constraint is either Fixed Dates or Must Start On. For more information about task constraints, see Task Constraint overview.
    Projected Start Date

    The "real life" date of when the task is going to start based on the progress and completion of prior tasks. This is a calculated field and you cannot edit it manually.

    The projected start date and the planned start date start out by being the same, when a project is first planned. The projected start date can move away from the planned start, if the project evolves and the task is not started yet. For more information about projected start dates, see Overview of the project Projected Start Date.

    Actual Start Date Specify an Actual Start Date for the task. The default is typically automatically populated when you change the status of the task to In Progress. The actual start date can also be manually modified by the project manager, or the task owner.
    Planned Completion Date

    The anticipated completion date as shown when the task is planned. The planned completion date can be set by a number of factors:

    • The planned completion date is calculated from the planned start date by adding the Duration of the task to the planned start date. When the project manager or Workfront specifies the Duration of the task, this triggers an update to the planned completion date. If the planned date changes, it will often be because the Duration of the has been updated.
    • The project manager or the task owner can manually set the planned completion date when the task constraint is either Fixed Dates or Must Finish On. For more information about task constraints, see Task Constraint overview.
    • If the Duration Type of the task changes, and the number of resources on the tasks changes at the same time, the planned completion date will change, as well. For more information about duration types, see Overview of Task Duration and Duration Type.
    Projected Completion Date

    The "real life" date of when the task is going to be completed based on the progress of prior tasks and on the progress updates made on the task by the assignee. This is a calculated field and you cannot edit it manually.

    The projected completion date and the planned completion date start out by being the same, when a project is first planned. The projected completion date can move away from the planned completion, if the project evolves and the task is not started yet. For more information about projected completion dates, see Overview of the Projected Completion Date for projects, tasks, and issues.

    Actual Completion Date Specify the actual date and time when the task completes. The default date and time when a task is completed always coincides with the actual time when the status becomes Completed. The actual completion date can also be manually modified by the project manager, or the task owner.
    Commit Date This is the date by which the user assigned to the task commits to have it completed. This can be different than the Planned Completion Date. Only assignees can edit this field. For information about Commit Dates in Workfront, see Commit Date overview.
    Entry Date The date when the task was created.
    Entered By Person who created the task.
    Last Updated Date

    The date when the task was last updated.

    Tip: Workfront records an Updated Date every time someone edits and saves a task.

    Last Updated By Person who last updated the task.
    Recurrence Frequency This displays only on the parent of recurring tasks. It is the frequency with which the tasks in the recurrence occur. For information about creating recurring tasks, see Create recurring tasks.
    Duration per Occurrence

    This displays only on the parent of recurring tasks. It displays the duration of each recurring task. For information about creating recurring tasks, see Create recurring tasks.

    NOTE

    Durations modified in individual recurring tasks do not display the value indicated in this field.

  7. Click Save Changes.

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