Editing in project workspace

Earl L · ‎05-24-2023

We only recently enabled the new project workspace and are currently on Tokyo release. The new project workspace is pretty and all, and has some nice features built into it but I'm finding several things that just don't work or behave differently than I'd expect.

First, when I'm editing a WBS I like to type my dependencies into that field. Drag and drop seems to require a hover, find the connector, click, drag, find the other connector and drop. All too tedious for me if I can just type it in. However, I'm finding that while the keyboard editing works similar to the classic planning console (type enter to open the field, edit the value, etc) the new console simply will not recognize the enter key when you finish typing a dependency. It just sits there, in edit mode, waiting, and waiting and... you get it.

Are others finding this to be the same for them? Or am I simply unaware of the keyboard magic that needs to be cast to make the input go where you want it to go? I'm on a Mac with Firefox and Google Chrome.

The other thing (that isn't broken per-se but super annoying) is that after you choose to "Add a task below" you enter your description and hit enter and SN decides that you need another task, and inserts one with the "New Task" description. I only wanted one task. So now I have click off the description field so I'm not editing any more, right click and "Delete Row". Why all the extra work when I just wanted to add one task?

I'd really like to hear what others are experiencing with editing in the new project workspace GANTT chart, especially if you're seeing the same things I am. Thanks.

Angela Olson · ‎05-24-2023

Hello,

First, the trick to STOP adding tasks is to hit the ESC key. I learned that from a ServiceNow employee and it changed my life. I now take time in my training/onboarding to call that out because it was super annoying.

The problem with the tool not "recognizing your typing" is a problem we also have. It isn't only the Dependency field. We have it A LOT on the task name field. You type and it just doesn't recognize the enter key or it will erase what you typed and revert back to the "New Task" default text. I have been tempted to take a video and open a case but just haven't gotten around to it. I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone, we have the same problem.

The things we really do not like about the new workspace:

- You click the button to highlight the Critical path and can't click it again to turn it off. You have to go into Settings to turn it off.

- We go into settings to turn on Bar Labels every time because it doesn't "remember" you want them on.

- We wish the Planned Start date wouldn't default to the start of the project because when you go to change it then you often get that "date cannot be after end date" message. When a project is 2 years old it would be so nice if the new task defaulted to today's date at least so we can move it easier in the Gantt chart instead of typing or something like that.

Anyways, overall we like the new tool but wish they would fix some of these "quirks" to make day-to-day useability better for our power users. Hope I could help a little.

Earl L · ‎05-24-2023

One of the other things I noticed is that collapsed portions of the WBS will automagically expand after entering new task information and you lose your place in the WBS because the screen scrolls as the WBS expands. Hopefully the SN product lab team is paying attention to these quirks and will setup some sort of control panel to turn off/on various data entry features.

The dependency field not recognizing the ENTER key is so frustrating that I'm going back to the classic planning console until some of these things get sorted out.

Earl L · ‎05-24-2023

@Angela Olson wrote:
Hello,

First, the trick to STOP adding tasks is to hit the ESC key. I learned that from a ServiceNow employee and it changed my life. I now take time in my training/onboarding to call that out because it was super annoying.

When precisely do you hit the ESC key during task entry to stop the addition of new tasks? I've hit ESC after the "New Task" has been inserted and it just stays there.

Angela Olson · ‎05-25-2023

Right after you add a task so "New Task" is still highlighted/selected I hit ESC and it deletes the task entirely. A WBS Number is never created for that item and was blank when I hit ESC. It sure sounds like you are hitting ESC at the exact same time though as me.