If you have a collection of related tasks that fall under one umbrella task, consider making a summary task. Just like regular tasks, you can assign a summary task to a person from all of our work views. If you assign a summary task to a person, the person can’t be assigned hours unique to the summary task.
Assign a Summary Task on All Views
You can assign a summary task on all views.
Summary Tasks On the Gantt and Sheet Views
On the Gantt and the Sheet, summary tasks are notated with a small "+/-" symbol as illustrated below.
Simply click on the plus symbol to expand the summary task and see the subtasks. To create a summary task in the Gantt view, enter the summary task name in the Task Name column. You can then enter tasks underneath the summary task in the same column and click "indent" from the menu bar.
This will automatically house the sub-task underneath the summary task. A summary task can be assigned to any user in the system, regardless of role. Make sure to note additional details such as priority, due date, duration, etc.
Summary Tasks on the Board, List and Calendar
On the board, list and calendar, summary tasks will have a small triangle on the left corner of the task in your customizable Gantt color, if you have one selected. In the photo below of the board view, the light blue corner represents that this is a summary task.
Board View
To create a summary task in the board view, simply create a task and assign it to an individual on your team. Underneath the task name, you'll see an option to add a subtask as illustrated below. Adding subtasks will automatically denote them as part of a summary task.
List View
On the list view, the same flags will represent which tasks are summary tasks and which are standard tasks. You'll be able to create and add summary tasks on the list view as per the board view. If you need to add additional summary tasks, you can add them directly to the list and then open the task card to add subtasks.
Calendar View
On the calendar, hover over the task for additional information. There's a small black flag on tasks that are summary tasks. Click on the task of interest to learn more or to add additional subtasks.
If you need to create a new task altogether, you can hover over the date of choice and click "+ Create".
Once created, simply click the task name to display the task card and add details, including subtasks.
Filtering by Summary Tasks
You can also filter by summary tasks and exclude other task types to isolate summary tasks. Click the task to see all the details, including subtasks, description and the to-do list.
If you don’t see the triangle on the left side of the task, the task isn't a summary task.
Where Can I See Summary Task Assignees?
You'll see summary tasks across all views and team pages. Summary task assignees won’t appear on the timesheet and workload pages because hours can’t be allocated or logged on summary tasks. They also don’t appear on any assignee time reports.
Please note that you can have different assignees for summary tasks and subtasks.
Contact Us with Questions on Summary Tasks
If you have any questions about summary tasks, please email support@projectmanager.com. We're happy to help!