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Warning - significant predecessors bug

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Level 10
Hi all, I have raised this issue with Support and they are suggesting that we should wait until the new tasks list functionality is released for this to perhaps be fixed. Given that this new functionality has been pulled from 18.3 we would now need to wait for 19.1 so we need to rely on existing buggy code for another several months. I am concerned that this bug can cause significant corruptions of dates in project plans. The bug relates to existing predecessors numbers which are not renumbered on screen when you insert or delete other tasks. Task numbers are renumbered straight away but predecessor numbers are not. You have to remember to manually refresh your screen to have them updated each time you add or remove tasks in your plan. If you instead make edits to the predecessor numbers without refreshing first it will write the old predecessor numbers back into Workfront, thereby removing some predecessors and adding others that you didn't want. I don't get the impression that Workfront want to fix this, but I see it as a significant issue. Please give it a try and if you are also concerned, raise it with Support. David Cornwell
27 Replies

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Level 10
Really a warning sign. Kundan Kumar KGON (Kverneland Group Operations Norway AS)

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Level 10
Holy moly! Yes that needs to be fixed ASAP. Jamie Hill JLL EMEA

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Level 2
I am also having the same problem and I had multiple tickets opened due to predecessor and date adjustment. As robust Workfront can be, my company Is looking to start demoing other platforms. Stephanie Lou Follett

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Level 6
Wow, this is a big deal. Thanks for flagging. Catherine Hayes The Channel Company

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Level 2
We have significant issues with predecessors- some user and some unexplained- this may be the culprit! Julie Ohman Optum

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Level 10
Thanks for the heads up, David. When did you notice this? Sadly are PMs don't use a lot of predecessors, we're trying to get them there...but now I going to be reluctant to push this if a bug has been introduced. I have used predecessors on some of my tasks, but have not had this specific issue, but we will execute your test and follow-up with Support and our CSM if we are able to replicate as per your steps. We will update this thread once everything is done. :) Admin Kelly-Wehrmann SSFCU

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Level 10
@David Cornwell - Hello....we have confirmed the issue occurs exactly as you had outlined in our instance; we have escalated it to support. The following is what we've heard back from our ASE: Thank you for the explanation and video. I see why you'd be concerned about this behavior. I've replicated the issue in my Preview and Production environments, so I'll reach out to development to see where we'll go with this one. I know we're planning on making some drastic changes to lists in the next few releases, and it's possible that this issue doesn't exist on the new lists. If it'll be a while before the new lists are applied with the fix (depending on our decision), then I could see that having a negative impact on work utilizing this functionality until that point. -------------- Until then, our work-around will be...refresh, refresh, refresh.... :) Thanks, Kelly Admin Kelly-Wehrmann SSFCU

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Level 10
Thanks everyone for confirming that I'm not alone on this! Please log an incident with Support if you haven't already. David Cornwell

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Level 10
My ticket is now with Development for investigation. David Cornwell

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Level 10
@David Cornwell - we received the following update from our ASE this morning... I've confirmed with my development team that we won't be fixing this issue on the current task lists. We've verified that the new tasks lists, which are scheduled to come out as part of the 19.1 release, do not experience the referenced issue. To avoid duplicating efforts, prioritizing other issues and developing new functionality, we have made the decision to not fix this issue. Admin Kelly-Wehrmann SSFCU

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Level 7
Hello everyone, I've been watching this discussion, and have brought it up within our internal teams here at Workfront. First off, we do have a workaround, in that the problem only happens when resource leveling is set to manual on the project. If you set it to Automatic, the issue doesn't occur. Next, we would like your help gathering more information to show how many people really are impacted by this problem, and would like each of you to submit a ticket to support, and ask to have it escalated so we can link it to an internal defect. Please mention this community post so we can work on tying all of the tickets together. Here's the link to this community post for reference:

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Level 2
I witnessed this issue occur yesterday while working with my newest PM on our team. This is a huge problem, especially for the newer members of my team, who are still learning WF. They expect that the system reflows predecessors when they insert/delete tasks and now it's causing confusion. Especially having to refresh after inserting tasks, because they lose sight of where they were working. Per Dustin's note, I did note that our Resource Leveling Mode is set to a default of "manual," but considering the number of templates and projects out there with this setting already in place, it's not a quick fix on our end to change this. I submitted a support ticket and linked to this thread. Thanks everyone! Bree Main General Nutrition Centers, Inc.

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Level 10
Hi @Bree Main , Excellent point! Between you and @Dustin Martin I think it might actually be a quick fix for this Predecessor problem: As below, unless you have good reason otherwise (see Dustin’s and Vic’s notes following note for details), for everyone who would prefer to have Predecessor Numbers automatically resequence as new Tasks are entered into a Workplan ( thereby avoiding the current requirement of having to manually refresh the page each time), consider Bulk Update the Resource Leveling from "Manual" to "Automatic" on all Projects and Templates Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

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Level 7
Hello again everyone, I wanted to provide another update, as I know this issue has been a hot topic for many people. First, I want to reiterate there are 2 workarounds: 1) You can set the resource leveling to automatic. -- This just means that if a single user is assigned to multiple tasks that are scheduled to be worked on all at the same time on that project , the resource leveling will re-align the dates so they don't conflict. This only happens for tasks that have 1 assignee, and it's the same assignee on each task on that one project. 2) You can inline add your tasks, refresh the page, then add your predecessor relationships, IF you choose to stick with manual resource leveling. **Note : Per @Doug Den Hoed and his example screenshot above, you can bulk edit the resource leveling option in Workfront. At this point, we've had enough info to review this issue, and based on the possible workarounds and how it's functioned for several years, we've already created a story to address this issue long term, and are aiming to include it with the new task functionality with 2019.1. Note, that is not set in stone, but is something that we're aiming for. Keep an eye on our "https://workfront.com/release" title="Workfront Release">Workfront Release page for up to date information on the features we will be including on the upcoming release. Please don't hesitate to reach out to Workfront support if you have any questions, or direct message me on the community, and I will reply as I get time. Thank you everyone! Dustin Martin Assigned Support Engineer Workfront

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Level 10
I would be careful of the option to turn on automatic Resource Leveling. It can cause havoc with your plan. It can cause Tasks to move. This is actually a good thing because it means those Tasks should move anyway (i.e. a Resource is overloaded). However, if you're not familiar with Resource Leveling it can be hard to detect what moved. One weird thing too (not sure if this is still true), but if you have even one task with a Duration Type of Effort Driven, the Resource Leveling doesn't work for the whole project. So if that's still the case, perhaps that's a way to avoid the Pred issue and also avoid your plan from moving. But if you notice the Resource Leveling isn't working (and you want it to), check you Duration Types for that Effort Driven one.

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Level 10
Fair comment, Vic (and Dustin). I’ve amended my previous comment accordingly. Regards, Doug

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Level 10
Thanks Dustin for jumping in, and the usual suspects for their contributions. :) I personally don't feel that expecting users to refresh their screen is a reliable or reasonable workaround. However, I'll explore the resource levelling option and see whether we are comfortable to put this in place. Regards, David Cornwell

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Level 4
David: I absolutely agree. Having the quality of a project plan be reliant on people remembering to click refresh after EVERYTHING they do is completely unrealistic. And Vic's concern regarding Resource Leveling could have a huge impact. My firm, and I imagine many others here, frequently over allocate resources because we know in reality the work does not distribute evenly over a period of time. We can't have the system deciding for us what dates should shift or move. In my opinion, the ability to easily and correctly update predecessors is a core ability of any project management system. No one would ever sign up for a PM tool that they could not rely on something so basic to work correctly. I am very displeased with Workfront's response to this being slated for 2019. You're asking us to be unsure of our project plans for months. Concerns are frequently raised here that Workfront's continued push towards the Marketing focus is leaving any development towards the core project management functionality as a minor priority and now that you have a major bug with it we're told maybe early 2019 to resolve. This should be an All Hands On Deck, cancel vacations kind of bug! Jason Maust McGuireWoods LLP

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Level 10
Totally agree @Jason Maust - there appears to be a significant lack of focus/priority on core project management functionality. I'm going to keep pushing this ticket, because like you, we do sometimes conciously over-allocate certain resources, so auto-levelling isn't an option. Another example of the lack of focus/priority: we have a major bug incident (timezone issue where planned daily hours go missing from the Team and My Work calendars for our european users) which has been open since August 2017. I have been told on numerous occasions that it will be fixed in a certain release, but as we get closer I'm told that it will be in a later release. I've just been told that our fix won't even be in 19.1, which is ridiculous so this is now in the process of being escalated via my executive to Workfront executives. Workfront really need to re-evaluate their focus on the new shiny marketing stuff and make sure that the core PM/RM funcitonality also keeps working or the longer term customers who signed up for that functionality won't be around much longer. David Cornwell

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Level 3
@David Cornwell - Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Because of this thread, we at least were able to send a warning to our users, though I agree that a real solution should be put in place sooner than later. Wayne Wayne Ellyson OH-DAS