Mindmaze is used by many people for hierarchical tasks. Especially for software testing plans or projects. These mindmaps
Ofcourse, this can be done manually. But 'Progress' extension makes this easily done. You can add custom variables/statuses and set it for nodes. When any of the nodes in a tree branch is blocked, the entire branch is blocked. This extension is especially useful for hierarchical tasks like testing plans.
To activate 'Progress', click 'Extensions'. On the Extensions window, tick 'Progress' and close the window. Mindmaze now loads 'Progress' extension. You should see a menu named 'Progress' at the top menu bar.
Load the map where you want to apply 'Progress' extension. Open 'Progress' menu. You will see options like 'Generic Tasks', 'Testing' and 'Custom Status'.
'Generic Tasks' is a pre-set option for generic task management. It has pre-built variables for statuses like 'Blocked', 'In Progress', 'Parked', 'Not Started', 'Done' and so on.
'Testing' is again another pre-set option for general testing purposes. It has pre-built variables for statuses like 'Failed', 'In Progress', 'Not Started' and 'Passed'.
There is another option, 'Custom Statuses' which lets you create your own variables. It is explained below. Ofcourse, you can add pre-built statuses and later edit it.
Once you load pre-built task type or create your own, the 'Progress' menu changes. You get to see the list of statuses in 'Progress' menu. For instance, after loading 'Generic Tasks' task-type, the progress menu changes as follows:
Once the 'Progress' menu is updated, choose a node and select the status for that map from 'Progress' menu. You will notice that its parent nodes will be updated accordingly.
For instance, consider generic task list. A parent node will have 'Done' or 'Under Review' status only if all its children have the same status. Whereas 'Blocked', 'In Progress' and 'Parked' updates parents automatically. It is done according to the priority set. (You can change the priority of a status at any time by clicking 'Progress'->'Configure statuses'.) That is, consider a node which has two children. One child is in state, 'Blocked' and the other one is in state, 'In Progress', then the parent node's status is set as 'Blocked'.
This scenario is similar to a testing plan. All child tasks has to be 'Completed' or 'Passed' before the parent task is marked as 'Completed' or 'Passed'. A single failure on any node breaks the whole branch.
This extension along with the Collaboration extension works well together. You can assign different tasks for different team members and monitor the updates in real time.
Custom status lists
If you want custom names for statuses or custom priority for your mindmap, you can choose, 'Progress'->'Custom statuses'. Ofcourse, you can edit/modify pre-built status types like 'Generic Tasks' and 'Testing'. On clicking 'Custom statuses', a window appears where you can add and edit different status types. You can edit its name, color and priority. A window similar to the below image appears.
Click on 'Add New' button to add a new status type to the list. To modify the values, click anywhere on the table row of that status. You might have noticed that each status type has a description (this appears later in the 'progress' menu), a background color (the background of all nodes having the corresponding priority will have this background color), and a priority (this is optional). Priority value determines how the status of a child node affects its parent node.
- Status items without a priority propagates only if all the sibling nodes have the same statuses
- Status item with a priority set propagates if there are no siblings with a higher priority
Floating toolbar/Legend
Suppose if you want to show 'Progress' menu bar as a toolbar instead of at the top bar, choose 'Progress'->'Floating Legend/Toolbar'. Especially if you have a large screen, it will be useful to see the 'Progress' menu as floating toolbar. It will clear the top menu bar as well. Statuses available and the actions available in 'Progress' menu will now be shown in this toolbar. Click on minimize (arrows) button on the top-right corner of the toolbar to set it back as a menu at the top bar.
Resetting statuses of all nodes
Suppose you want to start afresh with statuses of all nodes, click on 'Progress'->'Reset progress on this map'. It will clear all statuses associated with the entire mindmap.
Deactivating 'Progress' for a map
If you want to deactivate 'Progress' feature in a mindmap, click on 'Progress'->'Deactivate for this map'. Ofcourse you can unload the 'Progress' entirely by clicking Extensions and then untick 'Progress'. But if you want 'Progress' functionality in some maps and don't want this feature in some other maps you are working with, you can deactivate it for certain maps.