Support and FAQ

A file with a .zip extension is called a Zip file and is simply a way of either compressing a file (to make it a smaller size for faster download) or archiving multiple files into a single file. Vertex42 uses .zip files for both of these reasons.

You must extract Excel files from a .zip file before opening them or the spreadsheet will open as "Read-Only" and you'll be unable to save changes.

Most of the time, to open a .zip file all you need to do is double-click on the file and it will open as if the file were a directory and you'll see a list of the files inside the .zip archive. At that point, you can drag and drop the files onto your desktop or into some other directory.

Another common way to Extract files from a .zip file (when using Windows) is by right-clicking on the .zip file and selecting "Extract all..."

If neither of these methods work, you may need to use an Unzip utility, which you usually get for free and your computer most likely already has an unzip utility built in. For more information, see the following articles:

• Zip Files in Windows
• Unzip Files on a Windows or Mac

If you are having problems downloading a purchased template, please contact me and include your receipt number and exact name of the template you purchased and I'll email you a copy.

Keep in mind that the cells highlighted green represent values you need to enter (i.e. inputs). The only other cells you need to modify (that are not green) are the task, task lead, and the information in the header (current date, project title, etc.) The dark green cells used for the main tasks contain formulas, but they are highlighted green because these formulas are optional. If the main task has no sub tasks, you could instead manually enter the start date and duration.

Important: When using formulas for the end date and total duration and % Complete for the main tasks, if you add or remove rows, you'll need to check the formulas in the dark green cells to make sure they are still referencing all the correct sub tasks. Make sure that if you add rows, you insert rows above the last sub task, so that the references will "stretch" correctly.

Some people have asked why the % Complete value doesn't update automatically, based on the current date. The % Complete is always a manually entered value (except for the dark green cells which calculate the overall % Complete for the main task based on the respective sub tasks).

A main assumption in the Gantt chart is that the % Complete for a task can only be estimated by the task lead or their team members. The two different colors of the bars in the Gantt chart (gray for incomplete and blue for complete) are extremely useful in quickly determining the overall status of your project. If you see gray in the bars to the left of the red line (current date) that is a warning to you that a task is behind schedule. A lot of blue to the right of the red line indicates you may be ahead of schedule.

The Gantt Chart currently uses the mm/dd/yy format to display the Start and End dates. To use the UK format for dates (dd/mm/yy), you can change the date format by selecting the cells containing dates and pressing Ctrl+1 to get to the Format Cells dialog box. Go to the Number tab and change the Custom format to "ddd dd/mm/yy". Depending on your system preferences, you may then need to enter dates as "26 Jul 09" to make sure that Excel interprets the date correctly.

To import tasks from Excel into Project is pretty simple if the data is formatted correctly. You could create a new worksheet and copy your data so that it appears with the headings Name (for the task names), Start (for the Start Date), Finish (for the End Date), and Duration. Then use the Import Wizard in MS Project. I don't provide support for MS Project (in fact, I don't even own it).

(1) If you are using the worksheet that displays only Monday-Friday, check to make sure that Today's Date is not a Saturday or Sunday. (2) If you are using a formula for Today's Date, use =TODAY() instead of =NOW() because NOW() returns both the date and the time. (3) Make sure that Today's Date is within the range being displayed by the chart.

If you are using Excel 2007, you can copy/paste columns to the right to extend the gantt chart (because Excel 2007 has a larger maximum column limit). You will need to update the print area afterwards. For example, if you are using the GanttChart worksheet, select the last date in the chart (which spans 7 cells) and press Ctrl+Space to select the associated columns and then copy paste those 7 columns to the right.