Working with the Task Manager

Task Manager is the mechanism for adding and maintaining Tasks and Task Groups in an issue, Scheduled Issue, or Issue Template. The Task Manager is also used to build out workflows with process options that change issue values or trigger additional Task Groups to be added to the issue.

Your administrator must grant you the proper permissions to use this feature.

 
 

Task List

The Task List is displayed on issues where there are existing tasks. It consists of a summary list of Tasks with the Task Manager button under the Task List. If there are no existing tasks in an issue, this list will be blank and the Task Manager button will still appear under the empty Task List.

Tasks that are available and assigned directly to you or a group you have membership in will have actions available under the Completed column. If a task has no text in the Completed column, then the task is not available for you to complete.

Clicking the Task Manager button under the Task List will open the Task Manager in a popup window where the user with Can Edit Tasks permissions can Add, Edit, and Delete Tasks.

Task Manager Buttons Function Description
Up or Down Clicking up or down next to a task will move that Task up or down in the list, allowing the user to arrange the order that the Tasks will be displayed.
Details  Clicking the details button will put that Task in Details mode. This will display details about the Task directly in the list.

Clicking the View Details icon a second time will put the Task back in Summary mode. This icon toggles between the two display modes for a Task.
Edit Clicking the edit button will put that Task in Edit mode. This will display edit fields where the user can edit the details of a Task. The control icons for all other Tasks will not display while a Task is in Edit mode, and the control icons for the Task in Edit mode will change to Accept and Cancel.

Also, the [Save], [New Task], [Add Task Group], and [Reset] buttons will be disabled while a Task is in Edit mode. The user must Accept or Cancel changes to continue.
Del Clicking the del button will prompt the user with "Are you sure you want to delete the task titled ‘[Task Name]’?"
If the user selects OK the Task will be deleted. If the user selects [Cancel] the Task will not be deleted.
Once in Edit mode on a specific Task, all other Tasks will be unavailable for editing until changes to the Task selected are canceled or accepted.
Accept Clicking the Accept button will accept the changes the user has made to the Task and return the Task to Summary or Details mode (whichever mode it was in when the user clicked the Edit icon).
Cancel Clicking the Cancel button will discard any changes the user made to the Task and return the Task to Summary or Details mode (whichever mode it was in when the user clicked the Edit icon).

You must also click Save or Update accordingly on the main record, e.g. Issue, Scheduled Issue, or Issue Template, you are working in to retain the changes made to the Task or Task Group on the record.


 

Managing Tasks in an Issue

Adding a Task / Task Group to an Issue

Once the Task Manager has been selected within an issue (during submission or viewing), the New Task button will add a new Task to the Task Summary List. The Task dropdown will let you choose from any pre-defined tasks, or use the Or Enter Task field to define your task manually.

The button labeled Add Task Group will allow you to select from your available Task Groups.

The available Task Groups can be viewed by going to:

  1. Click the gear icon to open the Settings Lightbox > Click Tasks beneath the Tools area.

  2. Click List beneath the Task Groups section of the right quick menu.

  3. Select the appropriate group from the drop-down that appears.

  4. Select where the task group should be inserted in the task order list, and all of the tasks in the group will be added.

You must also click Save or Update accordingly on the main record, e.g. Issue, Scheduled Issue, or Issue Template, you are working in to retain the Task or Task Group on the record.


 
Editing a Task / Task Group in an Issue

If your administrator has given you the proper permissions to do so, then Tasks / Task Groups for an Issue can be viewed and / or modified from the following Issue detail screens:

  • Submit Issue
  • View Issue
  • Edit Issue
  • Close Issue
  • Edit Recurring Issue
  • Edit Quick Pick
 

When making changes to Tasks / Task Groups within a record, e.g. Issue, Scheduled Issue, or Issue Template, you must also click Save or Update accordingly on the main record you are working in to retain the changes made to the Task or Task Group on the record.


 
View / Edit Individual Tasks

Steps:

  1. Open one of the Issue detail screens listed above.

  2. Scroll down to click on the name of the Task.

  3. To edit the task, click the Edit button.

  4. Once the necessary changes have been made, click Save.


 
View / Edit Tasks using Task Manager

Steps:

  1. Open one of the Issue detail screens listed above.

  2. Scroll down and click on Task Manager.

  3. Click the details link next to the Task you need to view.

  4. If you need to edit the details of the Task, click the edit link next to the Task.

  5. Once you have made the necessary changes, click Accept.

  6. You can repeat Steps 3-5 as needed for any other Tasks in this Issue that you need to edit.

  7. Once you finish editing Tasks for this Issue, click Save.


 
Adding a new Task

Steps:

  1. Open one of the Issue detail screens listed above.

  2. Scroll down and click on Task Manager.

  3. Click New Task.

  4. Select a pre-built Task from the Task dropdown menu or enter the name for a custom Task in the Or Enter Task field.

  5. Populate the remaining Task fields as needed.

  6. Click Accept.

  7. Repeat Steps 3-6 if additional Tasks need to be added.

  8. Click Save once you are done adding Tasks.


 
Adding a Task Group

Steps:

  1. Open one of the Issue detail screens listed above.

  2. Scroll down and click on Task Manager.

  3. Click Add Task Group.

  4. Select the Task Group that needs to be added from the Task Group dropdown menu.

  5. Adjust the Insert at Task Order if needed.

    • By default, the Task Order will be set to add the Task Group after any existing Tasks on the Issue.

  6. Repeat Steps 3-5 if additional Task Groups need to be added.

  7. Click Save once you are done adding Task Groups.


 
Deleting a Task

Steps:

  1. Open one of the Issue detail screens listed above.

  2. Scroll down and click on Task Manager.

  3. Click del next to the Task that needs to be removed.

  4. Click OK on the confirmation prompt.

  5. Repeat Steps 3-4 if additional Tasks need to be removed.

  6. Click Save once you are done removing Tasks.


 
Complete or Respond to a Task in an Issue

Tasks can be either completed or responded to on any of the below screens:

  • Submit Issue
  • View Issue
  • Edit Issue
  • Close Issue

Steps:

  1. Open one of the above screens for the issue containing the Task.

  2. Scroll down to the Task Manager section.

  3. Click the appropriate option in the Completed column for the Task.

    • If the task was configured to track only when it was completed, you would click on the task complete?

    • If the task was configured to require a response, you would click on Yes, No, or N/A.

The task complete? or Yes, No, N/A links will only appear when a Task has a Dependency Order of None or all Tasks with lower Dependency Orders have been completed.


 

Managing a Task / Task Group in the Task Manager

Clicking the Task Manager button to the left will open the Task Manager in a popup window where the user with Can Edit Tasks permissions can Add, Edit, and Delete Tasks.

Task Manager Buttons Function Description
Up or Down Clicking up or down next to a task will move that Task up or down in the list, allowing the user to arrange the order that the Tasks will be displayed.
Details Clicking the details button will put that Task in Details mode. This will display details about the Task directly in the list.

Clicking the View Details icon a second time will put the Task back in Summary mode. This icon toggles between the two display modes for a Task.
Edit Clicking the edit button will put that Task in Edit mode. This will display edit fields where the user can edit the details of a Task. The control icons for all other Tasks will not display while a Task is in Edit mode, and the control icons for the Task in Edit mode will change to Accept and Cancel.

Also, the [Save], [New Task], [Add Task Group], and [Reset] buttons will be disabled while a Task is in Edit mode. The user must Accept or Cancel changes to continue.
Del Clicking the del button will prompt the user with "Are you sure you want to delete the task titled ‘[Task Name]’?"
If the user selects OK the Task will be deleted. If the user selects [Cancel] the Task will not be deleted.
Once in Edit mode on a specific Task, all other Tasks will be unavailable for editing until changes to the Task selected are canceled or accepted.
Accept Clicking the Accept button will accept the changes the user has made to the Task and return the Task to Summary or Details mode (whichever mode it was in when the user clicked the Edit icon).
Cancel Clicking the Cancel button will discard any changes the user made to the Task and return the Task to Summary or Details mode (whichever mode it was in when the user clicked the Edit icon).

You must also click Save or Update accordingly on the main record, e.g. Issue, Scheduled Issue, or Issue Template, you are working in to retain the changes made to the Task or Task Group on the record.


 
Process Management Options in the Task Manager

When adding or editing a task in Task Manager, choose Yes / No / NA as the Task Type to view available process management options. Each of the three responses may be configured to trigger events when completed:

  • Add an additional task group

  • Cancel remaining open tasks

  • Close the issue

  • Update the issue substatus


 

Optional Task Settings

Task Due Dates

When editing or adding a task to an issue there is a field for Due Date.  This field is unique to each task.  If the Calendar feature is enabled for the site, reminders can be set that will notify the defined user based on the timers defined on the reminder screen.

Reminders will appear in the Today's Reminders tab in the Issue Hub and will also appear in the Issuetrak Calendar.

Example:

After setting a Due Date, you can click on the Set Reminders icon to the right of the Calendar icon:

  • A note for the reminder can be set to appear with the reminder.
     
  • The ability to set when the first reminder is set.
     
  • A checkbox also exists if you want to have the reminders sent
    via email as well as appear in the Issuetrak Calendar.
     
  • Assigned to denotes who will receive the reminder.
     
  • Define if additional reminders are sent after the initial reminder.
 
 
Task Order

If tasks groups on an issue need to be in a specific order, then entering a number into the Task Order field on a specific task will allow control over where the task is listed in an issue. Tasks with a lower task order number will appear higher in the task list.  This may result in having to update the Task Order on several tasks to organize the tasks as you wish.

Task order can be set in an issue directly from a task or in the Task Groups menu: Click the gear icon to open the Settings Lightbox > Click Tasks beneath the Tools area > click on List under Task Groups in the right quick menu.

Tasks added to Issue Templates are not updated from the Task Group list and therefore must be manually edited in the Quick Pick to make any changes to the order.