Give system admins an option to remove "Commit Dates" from the system.

[#1]

If you don't use commit dates and everything is based on planned dates setup by the project manager, as a system administrator you should be able to remove commit dates from the product. When commit dates are removed, no user will see them or set/change them anymore.

To be honest, most users don't even notice commit date until it starts messing with their projections. In the innovation lab there have been numerous requests to change commit date behaviour, that either haven't been implemented, or have been marked implemented when the solution doesn't actually resolve the issues users are experiencing.

The historical requests to fix commit date include:

1. Give system admins an option to remove "Commit Dates" from the system – 2100 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSAKAA4/detail

2. New Home: Admin ability to customize left side Work List – 970 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSgfAAG/detail

3. Viewing Planned Completion vs. Commit Dates – 510 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSB0AAO/detail

4. Commit Dates Approvals follow the same flow as all approvals – 180 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSaMAAW/detail

5. Ability to reject a proposed new date (commit date) – 150 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSZRAA4/detail

6. change the view for "Assigned To" view to use planned completion date instead of commit date – 100 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSG1AAO/detail

7. Home: Make Commit Date Field Editable – 90 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSmAAAW/detail

8. Provide option in set up area to turn off automatic set commit date – 70 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSlQAAW/detail

9. Allow clearing / deleting a commit date on a task – 60 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSShAAO/detail

10. Progress Status on Commit Date Later than Planned Completion Date – 70 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSlKAAW/detail

11. Allow change of commit date by PM after team member clicks "Work on it" – 60 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PSpdAAG/detail

12. Commit Date User Control – 40 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000PScwAAG/detail

13. Ability to batch update commit dates – 30 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0870z000000XiFvAAK/detail

14. Users with Manage it Access to Projects/Accepting Commit Dates – 20 points

https://one.workfront.com/s/idea/0874X000000sYLlQAM/detail

So here is one idea that address all of the above, without impacting any current instances that are actively using commit dates.

1. Under ‚ÄòSettings’, ‚ÄòProject Preferences’ there is a default setting for how projects handle commit dates. Sys admins can set this to:

· Set to planned when edited

If ‚ÄòTrue’ or enabled, (default) Workfront continues to function as it currently does

If ‚ÄòFalse’ or disabled, changing the status, percentage complete, actual start date etc does NOT populate a commit date ‚Äì the field continues to be blank

· Calculate progress status on

Commit Date (default) Workfront continues to function as it currently does

Projected Completion Date Workfront ignores commit date unless accepted by someone with manage rights to the project (which would update the planned date and thus the calculations anyway)

· Commit date editable by

If set to ‚Äòassignees’ (default) Workfront continues to function as it currently does

If set to ‚Äòassignees and project owner’ all commit dates are editable by the current project owner or the assignee(s)

If set to ‚Äòassignees and project managers’ commit dates can be edited by the assignee OR anyone with manage rights to the project

· Commit date changes approved by

If set to ‚ÄòProject Owner’ (default) all commit date approvals go to the project owner ‚Äì current functionality

If set to ‚ÄòProject Managers’ commit date approvals can be accepted or rejected by anyone with manage rights to the project

2. Under ‚ÄòProject Details’, have the same fields as ‚ÄòSettings’, ‚ÄòProject Preferences’

Note that this fields can be hidden (deselected) in layout templates, meaning if they are set a particular way in project preferences (and/or templates), sys admins can choose whether project owners can change them or not

3. If you have permission to edit the commit date, you have permission to simple delete it. Doing so will have Workfront perform the same calculation for projected completion date that it would if a commit date had never been entered.

4. If you have permission to edit the commit date, it is editable anywhere it is displayed – home page right pane, any dashboard/report, and view that includes the commit date field, task details pane etc. This includes selecting multiple tasks in a view/report and bulk editing to update or remove it.

5. Commit date becomes an option in areas dealing with dates

· A date field option on calendars

¬∑ The ‚Äòsort by’ drop-down on the home page

· Left side worklist of the home page (planned for implementation)

6. If a commit date is generated that is different to the planned completion date, it shows in the home screen along with task/issue/project status change approvals and proof approvals. The workflow is a single stage with only one approval needed, and either contains just the project owner or all people with manage rights to the project (depending on the setting in project preferences)

7. The Project owner and/or users with manage rights to the project can reject a commit date. While the commit date will still be on record, the planned completion date and progress status will NOT be based on the commit date.

[#2]

We don't use commit dates because they don't work for us as a team. So, generally we just ignore them. However, since some system processes are still tied to them and the "work on it" button, they still have an effect. It would be nice to be able to disable that functionality all together.

[#3]

Has there been any updates on this resolution? It would be super helpful to be able to hide commit dates OR have the option to connect the commit date on an Issue with the Planned Completion of the resolving project.

[#4]

Hi All,

We appreciate your patience on this. The functionality change is still in our roadmap, but was pushed a bit further due to other priorities. We are working on finding the best solution that will support both people that rely on the functionality and those that don't actually use it.

As mentioned above I might reach out to you for additional questions if necessary.

Thank you again for your patience.

[#5]

Yes, please - let's remove the functionality altogether if we cannot build a way for Sys Admins to override them.

[#6]

So NWE has the ability as of 7/14/20, that's cool...but what about Classic?

Many of the items (most?) in Idea Exchange are from the days of Classic and I dare say a fair few of us aren't going to NWE for a while yet…

[#7]

That's awesome! Follow up, if we can remove commit dates from the tasks, can we remove it from "Home" where users can sort tasks, etc. by "commit date?"

[#8]

I absolutely refute that this has in any meaningful way been delivered. Sure, you can hide the 'commit date' but as soon as a worker clicks 'work on it' it over-rides the projected date with the commit date anyway, only now you can't even edit it. It hasn't fixed the problem of removing commit dates, it's just throwing a rug over a fire so you can't see it but actually making it worse. Can we get an update on when this will be fixed properly?

[#9]

... or can we add an option for Admins to remove the "Work On It" button entirely? Would that be an easier temporary fix, instead of simply hiding it from view despite users still inadvertently populating it?

[#10]

In my testing, simply changing the task status populates the commit date and overwrites projected dates, which has a knock-on effect on subsequent tasks. Work on it does it because it also changes the task status. So unless we remove the ability to change task status (!), adding or removing things from the interface won't cut it.

[#11]

I have given up completely with projected dates because of this. It was causing too much grief with users. Until we can switch it off, or edit it, or choose the functions which auto populate the date, I wont be going back to using it