TABLE OF CONTENTS
Through the Projects Tree, it is possible to create and view Projects in a Gantt style chart.
The basic Project Structure consists of the Project, the Project Bookings and the booked Objects.
Projects can be further organised with Containers and Binders. The Container contains Projects that belong to each other.
The Binder is found below the Project and can be used to group Bookings that belong to each other, e.g. if they belong to the same episode, or the same phase e.g. post-production. Binders can be created in two levels; Binder and Sub Binder.
In the Projects tree structure, all these levels can be viewed as each level is expanded.
The Object is at the lowest level, and in case an Object is booked as an Accessory this will be the very last level of the Projects Tree, the point is to visually show that it was booked as an Accessory.
It is also possible to track and set Markers as milestones, create dependencies between Bookings, and save Booking Templates. All this will be explained in the following sections.
1. Add Projects to the Tree
There are various ways in which Projects can be added to the Projects Tree:
- Drag and drop from the Toolbox > Projects tab
- Projects Tree Menu Options
- Projects Tab - Advanced Search
Use Magnifying Glass Icon
Drag and drop from the Toolbox > Projects tab
Load one or more Projects into the Project Tree by dragging them from the Toolbox > Projects tab and dropping them when the word Project lights up in green (drag onto the name Projects). This will replace the current selection of projects that is displayed.
To add another Project to the Tree, drag and hover the cursor over the name of an already loaded Project, to drop above or below depending on the direction the blue arrow is pointing.
Add via Projects Tree Menu
To view the Projects Tree Menu click on the Projects Tree Icon. There are different options in the main menu to add Projects to the Tree.
- Add Project <Search Projects> - Opens a Search box as with the Magnifying Glass icon
- Add Recent Project - Displays your most recently used projects, to select from.
- Add Project By Name - Displays the list of Projects by name. If containers are used to group the Projects these will appear at the bottom of the list.
- Add Project By Client - Displays the list of Projects filtered by Client.
- Add Project Other
- New: Use this to create a new project.
- Auto From View Port/ Calendar: The Project Tree will be populated with Projects that have Bookings within the time range that is defined in the pop-up View Port calendar.
Below the calendar, there are a number of checkboxes to further specify what Projects should be added to the Projects Tree, i.e. to add Projects that start and/or end within the selected time range. When selecting dates in this calendar the time frame displayed in the Long Form will generally not change unless you select the last option "Set Viewport to Range". e.g.
Auto From View Port Calendar
This is related to the View Port on the right-hand side above the Long Form. Not to be confused with the previously described option.
When this filter is selected, the Projects Tree will be populated with Projects that have Bookings within the selected time period. The Projects will be listed in alphabetical order.
If the time period in the View Port is changed the Projects populating the Projects Tree will change accordingly. When new Bookings are made on existing or new Projects within the selected time frame, the Project will automatically be added to the Project Tree.
This feature also respects the settings
- in WIFE Client > Toolbox > Projects > dropdown menu: "Show Only Projects Where I Have Write Permissions" and "Show Only My Projects".
- in WIFE Client > Toolbox > Miscellaneous > Project Tree >
- Show Only Active
- Show Only My Projects
- Show Only Projects Of My Division
The option does not work if the View Port was previously set to Auto.
NEW IN 6.7!
Since 6.7, the maximum number of Projects you can view in the Projects Tree has changed when using Auto from Viewport / Calendar and is now linked to the Toolbox Setting - Maximum Hits When Searching.
On the Toolbox, go to the Settings tab, and then select Miscellaneous from the drop-down next to the search bar. In this section, scroll to the bottom, and choose how many hits to display.
The amount you have selected will be the limit of Projects you can now see in your Projects Tree, for example: if you have 100 selected, this will allow you to see a maximum of 100 projects in the Projects Tree.
Add Project to tree via Projects Tab Advanced Search
To add a selection of Projects to the Projects tree it is possible to search in the Advanced Projects Search under the Projects tab in the top navigation bar. In the example, a search has been made on the Custom Field "Project Type" and on the value Commercial. Highlight the Projects that should be added to the tree (on PC ctrl-click on Mac cmd-click to make a selection). Click on the drop-down menu button or right-mouse click to show the menu. Click on "Add To Tree (Selection x). Go back to the Long Form view to find the selected Projects in the Tree.
2. Project Menu
Click on the Project Icon to bring up the Project Menu.
- Edit - Opens the Edit Project window.
- Edit Client - Opens the Edit Client window.
- Solo View - Removes all other Projects from the Projects Tree.
- Remove From View - Removes this Project from the Projects Tree.
- Show All Involved In Objects Tree - Displays all Objects involved in the Project in the Objects Tree.
- Show All Involved In Personnel Tree - Displays all Users involved in the Project in the Personnel Tree.
- Show All Involved In Hourline Tree - Displays all Objects involved in the Project in the Hourline.
- Show Conflicts - Brings Up the Conflicts Window to view any Conflicts.
- Web Visibility - Re-Write! in 6.5 [Previous Web View Limits] To determine what, when and by whom Projects can be viewed in the Web Client and the iOS farmerswife app. Read more.
- Set Static Time Frame From Time Range -The project Time Frame is usually determined by the dates of the Project Bookings, but with this option, it is possible to set the Project Time Frame to a fixed number of days. Select the time range by dragging from the desired start to end date on the Long Form view (days will be marked yellow) and then select the option Set Static Time Frame From Time Range.
- Remove Static Time Frame - Removes the Static Time Frame from a Project.
- Move Start Day From Calendar - Moves the Project start date to a date selected in the pop-up calendar. This will change the date of the first Booking and ripple any subsequent Bookings accordingly.
- Move Stop Day From Calendar - Moves the Project Stop date to a date selected in the pop-up calendar. This will change the date of the last Booking and ripple any prior Bookings accordingly.
* Moving start or stop date could lead to that weekends and public holidays are booked. - Force Colour - Changes the Colour of the Project overriding the Client colour.
- New Marker - Creates a New Marker. A Marker is a deadline or a milestone and is used to display certain significant dates within a Project in the Projects Tree.
Click on New Marker > Select the Date > Select the Time > Select the Name, Colour and Note for the Marker. The marker is displayed as a red triangle ranging from the top to the bottom of the Project. Mouse over to see the details of the Marker. To Edit the Name, Colour and Note, Change the Time And Date, modify the Checkpoint status, or Remove the Marker click on the Top or Bottom triangle or anywhere along the stem to display the menu. To change the size of the Marker go to Toolbox > Settings > Project Tree and tick / un-tick the checkbox "Small Markers".
Default Marker Names and related custom fields can be created in Toolbox > Settings > Binder/Marker Defaults. Click on the tab next to Marker / Defaults > Name / Colours. Type in Name and select Colour of the Marker. For Custom fields click on the Custom Fields icon.
- Container - To Edit, Add or Detach the Project to/ from a Container.
3. Project Tree Display: Sort & Order.
farmerswife allows you to organise your projects in a very straightforward structure so you can have an overview just with a glance. Below you can see the different options you can use.
Display Project Number and Name
The default order is to display the Project Name and the Project Number within brackets.
To display in the order of Number / Name go to the Toolbox > Miscellaneous and select Display Number / Name:
When adding Projects to the Long Form > Projects tree, the Project Name would always be shown at the beginning of the project's bar within the "View Port" area. This meant, that if you changed the date period in the Long Form > View Port in a way that you could not see the beginning of the Project, then the Project Name would not show.
Now you can see the Project Name irrespective of the time period displayed within the "View Port". This is especially helpful for long-term Projects:
Sort Projects in the Tree
It is possible to sort either
a) alphabetically (Sort A-Z)
b) by project number (Sort By Project Number)
c) (new in 7.0!) or Sort By Booking Start Date (also considering ad-hoc time reports!)
Reorder Projects by Drag and Drop
Either click on the Project Name in the Project Tree or on the Project within the timeline and drag it in the desired direction. The blue arrow defines where the Project will be located once you drop it.
Expand Project to show all levels and content
To view the Project in its entirety click on the expand arrows on each level.
Expand/Collapse All Loaded Projects In Tree
Selecting this will Expand all, or Collapse all Projects that have been loaded into Projects Tree at once.
This menu option is also available to be added as a Hotkey through the Hotkeys Editor in the Toolbox Settings.
Change the order of Binders
The order of the Binders can be changed by:
- Dragging and dropping the binder to the desired position as indicated by the blue arrow. The Binder can be dropped onto another Binder icon to make it become a Sub-Binder.
- Clicking on the Binder icon to display the menu and select Reorder. Up and Down will move the binder one step up or down. First or Last will move the Binder to the top or the bottom.
Order of Bookings in the Tree / "Sort Bookings By Booking Date”
Bookings would always get listed under their Project in the Project tree in the order they got created, so the last Booking created would go to the bottom of the list, regardless of the actual Booking Date. And you could always move them up or down the list to manually sort them.
By enabling the setting in Toolbox > Settings > Projects Tree > "Sort Bookings By Booking Date”, Bookings will get sorted respecting the Booking Date, rather than the Creation Date.
Beware that this setting also affects the Edit Project window: the same sort-order from the Project tree will be displayed in the according opened Project.
If the setting is OFF, the Edit Project window will show the same order as the Project tree, as well as the printout using the Project Print Designer.
This is a per-user setting that is enabled by default. So each user can decide how they would like to visualise the Bookings in the Project tree and Edit Project window.
Auto Sort By Booking Start Date
Enabling this setting, when you add a new project to the tree, the order will always be by booking start date, so the project might "jump" to another position in the list when adding as last project or by right click in toolbox / projects > Add To Tree.
4. Booking Operations
Bookings are the main element that build up the Project. When Bookings are added, the Project will be visible in the timeline and its length will continually be adjusted according to the dates of the added Project Bookings.
Bookings are in the level below Binders and can be made in the Long Form by highlighting a Time Range and dragging the desired Object/Objects directly into the highlighted time from the Toolbox > Objects, from the Objects Tree, from the Personnel Tree, or from the Hourline View Selection.
Next, select the Project from the Project Selector drop-down. Note that if a Project is selected in the Tree, this will always appear at the very top of the Project Selector.
Bookings can be moved by dragging them into the calendar at the top and dropping them in the desired direction of the black arrows: if the arrows face to the right, the Booking will start on that day; if they are facing to the left, the Booking will end on that day.
This operation can also be executed with multiple Bookings at the same time. farmerswife will keep the Booking integrity and will move each Booking the correct number of days.
You can also use SHIFT & Click to select multiple Bookings in one go. Click to highlight the first booking, then press SHIFT and click on the last booking you want to highlight. All Bookings in between will be included in the selection. (Since 6.6)
From version 6.7 it is also possible to use SHIFT & Click to select multiple BINDERS in one go.
Shift + cmd + click allows to e.g. select booking 1-3 (SHIFT + CLICK) and then click CMD and SHIFT CLICK again to include bookings 5-6.
To Delete a Booking just drag and hover it over the Trash Can until it turns Red, then Drop. Multiple Bookings can be deleted in one go if they are multi-selected on the left-hand side and dragged to the Trash Can at the same time (unlike in the Hourline where only one Booking at a time can be deleted).
Any other Booking related operations can be done from the Booking Menu that appears when clicking on the Booking icon – See Hourline chapter for more details.
