Using Dates

One way to date a task is to set both Start date and Due date, but this is not suitable for all tasks.

There are tasks without dates, but the user needs to track them. It is common to use a Progress icon to mark a topic as a task rather than an information topic. This way, you can check the task's completion progress.

Some tasks only have one date.

For example, you need to do something, but you are unable to do it right now. You will be able to start the task at the beginning of March, so you set the Start date to March 1.

Some tasks don’t require a user to complete them until a specific date, so they only set the Due date.

Refer to the Date Usage Rules to see how MultiMaps works with such cases.

Another case is set dates not to action topic but to the parent topic (or Summary Task in terms of Microsoft Project), for instance, to see general information of subprojects (dates on Main Topics) or of all project (dates on Central Topic).

The data collection engine will collect this topic onto the map where a user has defined the date criteria (Today, This week, etc.). However, the topic is not a task, and we do not need it on the collection map. To prevent MultiMaps from collecting these topics, you can use the Project icon or Subproject icon . This way, you inform the Data Collection Engine that these topics are not tasks and ignore them during data collection.

Finally, there is the case when you turn a parent topic into a topic with summary information. To do this, you use the Roll up Task Info function from Task Info pane or Task tab on the Ribbon.

The Data Collection Engine does not consider this topic a task, so it ignores the summary dates and the resulting Progress information (MindManager calculates and automatically sets them). It will not gather these topics onto the collection map.