Explaining a Project in IQ | InfoQube IM

Submitted by jan_rifkinson on 2009/08/05 20:06

let's say you have a task item like: "Finish the basement"

"Finish the basement" can be assigned (therefore appear) in various grids.

Again, for example, let's say

the task is scheduled for Tuesday

the task is assigned to Jim's Contracting Co,

the task is assigned to Tom who works for Jim's Contracting Co.

Grid 1 could be your weekly schedule & "Finish the basement" would appear under Tuesday in the following way

Tuesday

"Finish the basement"

Grid 2 might be a list of all your task items in the re-modeling of your house & "Finish the basement" would appear in the following way:

"Finish the basement" and in a cell next to it "Jim's Contracting Co."

Grid 3 might be a contact list of all the employees of all the contractors including "Jim's Contracting Co" & "Finish the basement" you appear in the following way

Contractor A

Contractor B

Jim's Contracting Co

Tom

"Finish the basement"

You could also see all this information in one Grid as well & it might appear in the following way:

Task Day of week Start Date Completion Date Contractor Carpenter

Remodel of House

Finish Basement Tue July 1 July 10 Jim's Contracting Co. Tom

However you have only added "Finish the basement" a single time. It is a single item that can appear in many contexts

Now this may seem a little complicated to you right now but it is very simple once you grasp the idea. While there are times you may want to actually make a copy or clone of an item, most times it's really a matter of assigning different fields to it.

You should spend a little time working thru some of the examples provided in the online manual. Much of the manual is being written by users like us so you may find the approach is less technical but offer more practical information. I've found it very helpful on many an occasion

HTH

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Jan, I threw together a quick file.

Hi,

I'm new to IQ.

I'm trying to create a project that includes a Gantt view.
The only way I have been able to do it is to load a new file with sample data.
If I create a new file without sample data, add a project view, enter some tasks, and select View/Gantt View, I don't see a Gantt chart.
I downloaded the "finish_the_basement.sndb" but cannot see a Gantt view.

Can someone help me with what I am doing wrong?

Thanks,

Dave

Try View>View Gantt and click on the words "View Gantt". That toggles between showing the gantt or not.

Today must be may lucky day. Previously I'd worked on this for hours. I tried several times to figure out how to get Gantt view to display. And, today I stumbled on the solution. I found out if I clicked on "View Gantt" a second time in the "View" menu, I then get a dialog box saying the Gantt chart is not configured. From the dialog box, I then selected "use the default configuration" and whala...I can now see the Gantt view.

Dave

Hi Dave,

First a warm welcome to the IQ community !

Glad you got the Gantt going for you. I'm puzzled as to why you had to click twice. I was not able to reproduce it.

In checking this, I noticed that the Gantt sub-menu were enabled when the Gantt was not shown, so this is now fixed in v0.9.25N

Thanks !

Pierre

Pierre,

I did some more experimenting and you are correct. I did not have to click twice on "View Gantt." I only have to click once. The problem was that I kept clicking on "Show Overview" in the fly-out menu. Since you have fixed the sub-menu not to show, this will make the problem go away for the new user.

Thanks,

Dave

Pierre,

I am concerned with the fix you created for the Gantt View in 0.9.25N. In this fix, the fly-out menu has nothing to select. This is not standard. I think this can cause the user to get confused and frustrated. That is why I went around and around on trying to get a Gantt view before. That is, I never thought to click on the master item, as it is customary to select a sub item when you have a fly-out menu. See video below.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thanks for taking time to create such great and clear posts.

Split buttons are used in many places in IQ and in some MS applications. They combine an On/Off toggle with a sub-menu.

See : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511453.aspx

For the time being, the plan is to continue using them. If user feedback is clearly against them, it is quite easy to add a specific On / Off toggle button

HTH

Pierre

Hi Pierre,

Thanks for sending me the link to the split button standard...I was unfamiliar with that term. Based on what I read in the standard, I have no problem with the use of split buttons. However, in this particular case, I don't think the Gantt View fix fully meets the standard...and that is why I got so confused and was unable to turn on the Gantt chart. See video below for my reasoning.

Video: /drupal5/files/351/Split button.swf

Thanks again for your quick response, this truly amazing app, and the attention you give to user questions and feedback.

Dave

a big +1 to Dave's request that whatever is shown in the on/off part of the split button be also shown in the sub-menu.

That's the best of both worlds then (I think)

I'm not sure what to think about this split button matter. I don't have problems with it myself.

Maybe is the suggestion of repeating the menu title in the menu options a good compromise, but it also seems to be redundant.

Probably better to just have a *standard menu* then (menu title, click, then access the submenu items).

(Note that the split button implementation in the "Find" dialog ("Quick Search", in fact ctrl-f) is exactly as it should. And even this seemed to cause problems to some users -- like Jon, for instance.)

Slightly off-topic (could create another thread): As far as homogeneity and standards go, I'd first start with coherent terminology everywhere and insuring that menus items and dialogs share the same names. E.g. problem : when you click on "Find" menu item, you get a "quick search dialog"; When you click on manage grids, you get "manage grids" but when you click on "manage fields" you get "field management"; Clicking on "New item" shows an "add item..." dialog, etc. These are small things but they help understanding the app... and communicating when there are issues to be fixed.)

Thanks

P.s. : Dave, what application are you using for your great screencasts ?

> Maybe is the suggestion of repeating the menu title in the menu options a good compromise, but it also seems to be redundant.

I dont think redundant is quite fair - the on/off part is great - once you figure it out - but for those of us who havent come across it this way it allows us to learn.

I was familiar with split button implementation using icons in toolbars, but not with text within menus.

> Note that the split button implementation in the "Find" dialog ("Quick Search", in fact ctrl-f) is exactly as it should. And even this seemed to cause problems to some users -- like Jon, for instance.

And me :-)

Armondo,

I personally can live with the split button as it is and never have a problem with it again forever. However, I think I am about to make a serious commitment to learning and using IQ. I can see spending countless hours learning IQ and developing expertise. But I am concerned about IQ making it in the real world because of its many quirky things and the difficulty in learning the product. So, the real point in my spending time on the split button is to point out that--the way I read the standard--split buttons require a sub-item. In the apps that I could find that use the split buttons...they all use the sub-item. Maybe some of you developers out there can tell me if I am wrong on this.

I have spent a zillion hours looking for and testing every imaginable outliner (single pane (ECCO), 2-pane, 3-pane), PIM, mind mapping software, concept mapping software, and project management software on the planet over the last 20+ years. IQ has the potential be the best bar none. I'd like to work with some of you dedicated users and Pierre to make this product a real success. I spend most of my life sitting in front of this computer and that damn split button caused me to get so pissed off because I could not make the Gantt chart work that I walked away from IQ. But I could not get IQ out of my mind...so I came back for another go. I could point out many other quirky things that threw me for a loop...but I'll save those for another day. So far I have spent hours working my way through quirkies in IQ...most people would not do that...but I can see the potential in this app...this thing is amazing!!!

I wish I knew what you were talking about in the "Slightly off-topic" paragraph, that sounds really important...but I don't have a clue of what you are talking about.

As for the screen cast application I use, it's Camtasia by TechSmith. They also make Jing, which I have never used. I think Jing is a freebee. Screen recording software is another area where I have spent countless hours looking for and testing software. Camtasia is the best and TechSmith is a great company. They also make Snagit which I use throughout the day...it is the best screen capture software I've ever come across.

Dave

Hi Tom and Dave,

Thanks for your comments.

Please don't get me wrong... I'm just voicing a personal opinion to offer a different perspective. I'm definitely not trying to force my view upon you -- and I don't even have any clear-cut view on that one! I totally respect the fact the split button is confusing for some or the majority.

Like you, my hope is that the changes/modifications made are for the better (i.e. : increased usability) and that they respond to the majority of IQ users' needs. So if that means no more split button or just a different/improved one etc., so be it, I'm all for it. :)

==============

What I'm talking about in the "Slightly off-topic" paragraph : sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I was referring to the expressions/words used in the IQ menu items not being the same as the expressions/words in the dialog's title bar they trigger.

E.g. : Edit -> click on Find --> Dialog appears but the title bar says Quick Search. The consequence is that users might look for Quick search instead of "find" in the menus, or (conversely) might not know what someone's talking about when speaking about "quick search", etc.

Dave : thanks for the Camtasia link. I actually use Jing and it works well too. Of course, it doesn't have as many features, etc.

Suggestion:

I think it would be helpful to make a manual page where we could list discrepancies - we could then create a "Disrepancies" mantis entry with a link to the manual page, rather than creating multiple mantis itty-bitty entries.

I like the idea. How about 22. Nomenclature descrepancy listing

Whatever is more convenient for Pierre and the users.

Many Mantis entries might be a bit longer to create but it's easier to mark what's been solved and what hasn't. Mantis is more precise in many aspects since it's been designed for bug entries etc.

If we have a long list here and just one mantis entry, the mantis entry will have to remain open, and someone will have to maintain the list etc.

there are pros and cons to both ways.

[quote=Armando]Whatever is more convenient for Pierre and the users. Many Mantis entries might be a bit longer to create but it's easier to mark what's been solved and what hasn't. Mantis is more precise in many aspects since it's been designed for bug entries etc. If we have a long list here and just one mantis entry, the mantis entry will have to remain open, and someone will have to maintain the list etc. there are pros and cons to both ways.[/quote]

an option could be one manual-page here but then have individual mantis entries.

I havent really thought it through myself but advantages would be a central page where people could look up what has been reported.

The page could also cover GUI requests as these overlap already (?)

Obvious advantage is that as a manual page, anyone can edit - and comment (although I know you were trying to get that stopped and I find that in general a good idea...)

XP - SP3 IQ Portable - usually up-to-date :-)

>although I know you were trying to get that stopped and I find that in general a good idea...

I was strictly speaking about comments, not the actual editing. Everybody editing the manual is not only fine but necessary. However, having 10 comments at the end of a manual page can be annoying. (Isn't that why you wrote -- link to nonexistent node ID 294 --?). But if it's not perceived as problematic by Keith and other heavy manual contributors, I won't/don't mind.

[quote=Armando]>although I know you were trying to get that stopped and I find that in general a good idea...

yes, I understood that - I just didnt phrase myself very well :-)

I like Mantis very much. :) But if its entries are going to fall into oblivion and not stimulate any activity around the subject, it,s a poor choice. So considering what you said about editing, and the fact that most users don't use or look at Mantis, forget what I said. A list with a Mantis reference (just so that the list, with its discussions, doesn't sink into the forum's depth) should do the job.

Thanks

I created a the manual page and a mantis entry referring to it. -- link to nonexistent node ID 2307 --

If you want me to edit the Mantis entry, just say it and I'll do it.

[quote=davet]I could point out many other quirky things that threw me for a loop...but I'll save those for another day.[/quote]

dont forget them though! (I suspect you already have a list!) -

my point being that the first impressions are very important, as one can very quickly get used to quirks that throw first-time users.

Hoping you stick with it

Tom