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Customize the column headings in grid view.

Quick reference

Customize Column Headings

Customize the column headings in a project plan. 

When to use

We customize the column headings whenever we want to display specific pieces of information for each task. 

Instructions

The column headings we can see in a project plan determine the type of information displayed for each new task. When we create a new project plan, we can see the default column headings: Name, Quick Look, Assigned to, and Duration. 

We can delete any of these columns, or add columns to display different types of information. Effectively, we are customizing our view. 

Add a Column

  • Click + Add column.

Project will display a list of columns we can add to our view. 

  • Select Bucket.
  • Click + Add column. 
  • Select Priority. 
  • Click + Add column. 
  • Select % complete. 

New columns will be added to the end of the view. 

Rearrange Columns

We can rearrange the order of our columns. 

  • Click on the column to be moved. 
  • Drag and drop it to a new location. 

Hide Columns

We can hide columns so they are not visible in the plan view. 

  • Click the drop-down arrow next to any column heading. 
  • Click Hide. 

We can un-hide the column by clicking +Add column and re-selecting the column. 

Resize Columns

We can resize our columns to better accommodate the text in the column. 

  • Hover the mouse over the boundary line of the column. 
  • Drag to the left or right to resize. 

Custom Columns

Aside from the pre-set columns, we can select from the +Add column drop-down menu, we can create our own custom columns. 

  • Click +Add column. 
  • Click New field. 

Let's create a custom column that shows what team a task is assigned to.

First, we need to define the type of field we are creating. 

  • Click the drop-down arrow in the Type field. 
  • Choose Text. 
  • Add a Field name of 'Team'. 
  • Click Create. 

The new column will be added to the view. We can free-type the team name into the custom column. 

Let's add another custom column. This time we are going to add a column where users can specify if this task is 'Mandatory' and choose 'Yes' or 'No' from a drop-down menu. 

  • Click +Add column. 
  • Click New field. 
  • Click the drop-down arrow in the Type field. 
  • Choose Yes/No. 
  • Add a Field name of 'Mandatory'. 
  • Click Create. 

Let's add another custom column where users can select their location from a list of choices. 

  • Click +Add column. 
  • Click New field. 
  • Click the drop-down arrow in the Type field. 
  • Choose Choice. 
  • Add a Field name of 'Location'. 

We can now type in our choices. 

  • In the Choice 1 field, type 'London'.
  • In the Choice 2 field, type 'Oxford'.
  • In the Choice 3 field, type 'Cambridge'. 

To add more choices, click the Add a choice button. 

We can change the color of our choices to add interest and differentiate each item in the list. 

  • Hover the mouse over any of the choices. 
  • Click the paint bucket icon. 
  • Choose a color from the palette. 
  • Click Create. 

Edit Custom Columns

We can edit a custom column at any time. 

  • Click the drop-down arrow next to the column name. 
  • Click Edit. 
  • Make the required changes. 
  • Click Update. 

Hints & tips

  • Allowing users to pick from a drop-down list is a good way of controlling what's going into each field and ensures that there are no inconsistencies and spelling errors. 
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  • 00:04 In this lesson, we're going to take a look at how we can customize the columns that
  • 00:08 we're seeing in grid view.
  • 00:10 And as I've mentioned previously, when you first create a new project,
  • 00:14 you're going to have some default column headings.
  • 00:17 So as you can see here we have Name, Quick look, Assigned to, and Duration.
  • 00:22 But it might be that I want to display some other information in my project plan.
  • 00:26 Maybe I want to be able to see the start and finish dates of each task.
  • 00:31 Maybe I want to see the priority, or
  • 00:33 maybe I want to create my own custom field to display specific information.
  • 00:38 Well, let's take a look at each of these scenarios, so
  • 00:41 we can really customize this project and make it our own.
  • 00:44 Now, the first thing to note here is that with any of these default columns,
  • 00:48 you do have a choice whether you show or hide them.
  • 00:51 So if you're not interested in, let's say, the Assigned to column,
  • 00:55 we could click the drop-down and choose to hide that column.
  • 00:59 Now, what about if you want to get that column back again?
  • 01:02 Well, if we jump into Add column, because the column that we've hidden is one of
  • 01:07 these defaults, we can simply reselect it to show it again.
  • 01:10 So I just need to click Assigned to, and it's going to add that back in.
  • 01:14 What about if I want to reorder these columns?
  • 01:17 Well, this is just a simple case of dragging and
  • 01:20 dropping them into their new location.
  • 01:22 So maybe I want Assigned to before Duration, I can simply click on it,
  • 01:27 pick it up.
  • 01:27 And notice that when I drag it, I get that green line, which is going to show me
  • 01:32 where it's going to be placed when I let go of my mouse.
  • 01:34 So really simple to hide columns, bring them back again, and rearrange them.
  • 01:39 But what about if we want to add in some new columns?
  • 01:43 Well, once again, we can click on Add column, and
  • 01:46 we have some default columns that we can add with one click.
  • 01:49 So I'm going to add a Start column, I'm going to add a Finish column, and
  • 01:55 I'm also going to add, let's say, Bucket, so I can see where they're assigned.
  • 02:01 Now, I'm going to do a little bit of rearranging here.
  • 02:03 I want the Start date just here, then the Finish date.
  • 02:09 Then I want the duration, the bucket that they've been assigned to, and
  • 02:14 then who they're actually assigned to.
  • 02:16 And of course,
  • 02:17 we can also resize these columns by just dragging the borders of them in or out.
  • 02:23 So I'm going to move these across, just so
  • 02:26 I can see more of my fields on the page, like so.
  • 02:31 And I think I'm going to drag Name in as well.
  • 02:33 So we can add a number of standard columns very simply.
  • 02:37 But what about if we want to create our own custom columns?
  • 02:41 Well, yes, we can do this.
  • 02:43 Now, maybe I want a column which is going to indicate to me if
  • 02:47 the particular task has been costed, and
  • 02:50 I just want to be able to select Yes or No from a drop-down menu.
  • 02:54 But what we can do here is we can say that we want to add a new field.
  • 02:58 And then in field type, if we click the drop-down,
  • 03:01 we have a few different choices.
  • 03:03 So we can choose to add a text field where people can just type in a piece of
  • 03:07 free text into the field.
  • 03:09 We can add in a date, so people can select a date from a date picker.
  • 03:14 We can add a number field, so we can type a number directly into the cell.
  • 03:19 Or we can add Yes/No options.
  • 03:22 And this means that Yes and No are going to appear in a drop-down menu
  • 03:25 to make it super easy to input that information.
  • 03:28 So for this field that I want to add, this is the option I'm going to choose.
  • 03:33 So I can now name my field.
  • 03:35 And I just want this to say Costed?
  • 03:38 And click on Create.
  • 03:40 So now, you can see I have this new column just here.
  • 03:43 And when we start adding in new tasks, if I click down here, you can see that I'm
  • 03:48 going to get a drop-down menu of Yes or No that I can choose from.
  • 03:52 So that's a really nice little option.
  • 03:55 Let's click on Add column again and add a New field.
  • 03:59 What about if I want another drop-down menu with a bunch of choices for
  • 04:03 people to choose from?
  • 04:05 So maybe I want a column that tells me if a task is on track,
  • 04:09 if it's delayed, or if it's been cancelled.
  • 04:12 Well, for this, we can choose a type of Choice.
  • 04:16 Let's give our field a name, and I'm just going to call this Status.
  • 04:22 My first choice is going to be On-Track.
  • 04:25 And notice that if I hover over the color picker,
  • 04:28 I can choose to color code my options just to add a little bit of interest.
  • 04:32 So let's make this pink.
  • 04:34 Choice number two is Delayed.
  • 04:37 And let's choose another pastel color.
  • 04:41 And choice number three is Cancelled.
  • 04:45 And I'm going to make this one, let's make it yellow.
  • 04:48 And I could carry on going, adding more choices if I wanted to.
  • 04:52 It's also worth noting that another cool little trick you can do in here is,
  • 04:56 instead of having text, you can actually have emojis.
  • 04:59 So maybe if you want a thumbs up emoji or a thumbs down emoji,
  • 05:03 you can definitely do that as well.
  • 05:05 All I would need to do, I'll just show you a quick example,
  • 05:08 is click in the field, press the Windows logo key and semicolon.
  • 05:12 That's going to bring up all of the emojis that I have available to add into these
  • 05:17 fields.
  • 05:17 So if I wanted to replace this with a thumbs up emoji,
  • 05:21 I could do that from here, click away, and there it is.
  • 05:25 So you can use emojis as well as text.
  • 05:27 In this case, I'm going to use text.
  • 05:29 So let's switch this back to On-Track, and click on Create.
  • 05:33 So now I have another column, and when we start adding in tasks,
  • 05:37 you can see that I can now choose from one of these options in the drop-down list.
  • 05:42 And of course, with any of these custom columns that we add,
  • 05:46 we can edit them simply by clicking the drop-down.
  • 05:48 And we have an Edit option just here.
  • 05:50 For this one, I can simply change the name.
  • 05:53 Whereas for this one, I can go in and I can change those choices.
  • 05:57 Now, the final column that I'm going to add here is one that shows any
  • 06:01 dependencies.
  • 06:02 Because we're going to be looking at this a bit later on in this section,
  • 06:06 so we might as well add the field now.
  • 06:08 So I'm going to select Depends on and just add that to the end.
  • 06:13 So I think this is starting to look pretty good.
  • 06:15 I'm displaying all of the information that interests me at a glance.
  • 06:19 It's now time for us to add some tasks to our schedule and
  • 06:23 see these different columns in action.

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