A few weeks ago I started a loose series of best practice blogs on the VJS, our Gantt chart add-in for easy project planning in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV jobs module by writing about how to move a complete project in the VJS by just one mouse interaction.
Today I'd like to continue this series by introducing yet another small but powerful visual project planning feature helping the planner to keep the overview of his project at all times: See the impact of showing or hiding items in a project plan, a feature a partner asked us to include in the VJS so that I'm sure it will be of great interest also for other partners and users.
Too much items may obscure the plan
Most projects require items - i.e. working materials being used up while the project is carried out. Often the required items have the same delivery date, mostly at the beginning of the project. In the plan, they might be visualized like below:
Now, imagine a plan containing lots of projects, all using a large quantity of items - such a plan might easily become a bit confusing.
So, if the items are already delivered and scheduled, why have them shown any more? Why not hide them and at the same time clear up the plan a bit? This can be done in the "Setup" dialog which is called by clicking 
.
Small tick - great effect
As cannot be stressed enough, the "Setup" dialog holds small but powerful features, that often go unnoticed. So please give attention to the "Show Items" option and if the items are to be hidden, make sure to untick the box.
Hidden items - tidy plan
Keeping our example from above, the result will look as follows:
The items are hidden and out of your way. And the nice thing about it: though they are hidden, they are not forgotten. Of course, in case an operation is moved, the depending items will move together with this operation.
Your benefits
Of course, the necessity of hiding the items depends to a large extent on the project. It eases the planning if
- the project consists of lots of work steps not depending on items
- the items all have the same delivery date and after that are not planning-relevant any more
More information
Webinar about selected features of the VJS and the VPS.
Blog The 3 Most Loved Features of the Visual Jobs Scheduler for Microsoft Dynamics NAV