September 23rd, 2008· The Process Dashboard is now released under version 3 of the GNU General Public License.
· For new team projects, created after the installation of this update, a new streamlined task structure will be used.
· For a new-style team project that is underway, new columns will appear in the Work Breakdown Structure Editor to display actual metrics. This makes it possible to see which tasks have been completed, which are in progress, and which have not yet started.
· When changes are made in the WBS, individuals use the "Sync to WBS" operation to copy those changes into their personal plan. In a new-style team project, the synchronization is now bidirectional. When individuals make changes to the following data in their personal plan, many changes will be propagated back into the WBS automatically.
· The colored bars in the WBS Editor are a useful tool for balancing work between team members. For a new-style team project that is underway, these bars can now be toggled between two modes: "Show End-to-End Plan" and "Show Remaining Work." The new "Remaining Work" mode is a powerful way to rebalance work during a relaunch. Teams can also use it throughout a project iteration to continually rebalance work.
· The Process Dashboard now supports baselines for earned value data. You can save a baseline for any earned value schedule, then view baseline metrics in the task list and EV charts.
· The WBS Editor now includes support for project milestones
· A new icon on the main toolbar makes it easy to attach free-text notes to any component or task in the Process Dashboard. On a team project, these notes are shared by the team, and accessible in the WBS Editor.
· Play and pause now appear as separate toggle buttons.
· A new "timing reminder" feature is available. This feature can periodically display pop-up alerts, reminding the user to start or stop their timer or to change the active task.
· The WBS Editor now allows you to enter detailed schedules for each team member, to include start dates, end dates, and planned time exceptions on specific weeks. This information is bidirectionally synchronized with each individual's personal earned value schedule.
· Previously, the WBS Editor would not allow you to assign a task to an individual until a time estimate had been entered for the task. Now, it is possible to assign a task to an individual even while the task's time estimate is still zero. Agile project teams may use this feature to support on-the-fly cost estimation.
· The Team Dashboard Users Manual is now included in the dashboard's searchable online help.
· When starting a new project or iteration, you can now bring forward the data from historical earned value schedules. As a result, the dashboard can calculate forecast dates and prediction ranges during a team project launch, even before any actual data has been collected.
· The weekly earned value report now includes a "Tasks In Progress" section. This section displays tasks that have been started but not yet completed, making it easier to spot problems such as overspent tasks.
· Historically, "PSP Tasks" were required if a team wanted to capture planned and actual LOC for their project. Now, LOC can be captured for "code" tasks as well.
· Installation and operation of the dashboard on Mac OS X is greatly improved.
· ON Unix/Linux systems, the default web browser has been changed from Netscape to Firefox.
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