I have a couple of types of tasks (requirements, development, testing etc.) that I want to represent in different colors in the Gantt chart. Formatting every task bar individually (start, middle and end color) is hopeless. What I'd like to do is simply define that this task is a requirement task, this is a development task etc (much like a paragraph in Word). Can't figure out how to do that.
I'm using MS Project 2013.
Best Answer
You can use a combination of a drop down list with the text (Requirement, Development, Testing, etc) and flag fields to automatically change bar colors.
To create the list:
Return to the Gantt view and select the appropriate task type from the new lookup list.
To add Flags for each of the list items:
Insert Flag fields (Flag1, Flag2, Flag3, etc.) for as many of the types as you have defined. (For this example we'll use Flag1 for Requirements, Flag2 for Development, and Flag3 for testing.)
For Flag1 add the formula: Text1= "Requirements". The field should now show "yes" for any task you have selected Requirements from the lookup list.
Repeat for Flag2 using the formula Text1="Development" and for Flag3 Text1="Testing".
To create the Bars:
You may remove the Flag fields from the view. Now by selecting the value from the Lookup list, you have automatically colored bars.