What is Microsoft Planner?
Microsoft Planner is a simplified task management tool, useful for streamlining collaboration and managing small team workloads and projects in a visual way.
How to Sign in to Microsoft Planner?
To sign in to Planner, go to tasks.office.com and sign in with your ALTA/Microsoft username and password. If you're already signed in to Office 365, you can choose Planner on the Office 365 app launcher
Can't find the app you're looking for? From the app launcher, select All apps to see an alphabetical list of the Office 365 apps available to you. From there, you can search for a specific app.
How do I Create a New Plan?
After you sign in to the Microsoft Planner, you'll see a plan for each of your Office 365 Groups.
To get started
- Select a plan under Favorite plans or All plans OR Start a new plan by choosing New plan.
To create a new plan and group
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Name your plan.
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Choose whether to create a new group (follow these steps) or add your plan to an existing group (see the next set of steps).
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Choose who can see your plan.
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Select Options to add a description.
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Select Create plan.
Note:
What's the difference between "public" and "private"?
Public plans are visible by everyone in your organization. Private plans are only visible by people you've added to the plan. When people in your organization search for plans, only public plans come up in search results. Remember that when you make a plan public or private, you also make the Office 365 Group public or private.
Add a plan to an existing group
You can also add a plan to the same members, document library, and other group features you're already using.
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Name your plan, and then select Add to an existing Office 365 Group.
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On the Choose a group page, either search for or select a group from the list.
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Select Choose Group.
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Select Create plan.
How do I add tasks to a plan?
Once you've started a plan, you can add tasks to list what needs to get done.
Enter a task name in the box under “To do”, and then choose Add task by clicking the plus sign (+) to show the box and add a task.
Add details to a task:
- Add labels to your plan
On the Board, select a task to open details, and then choose the colored boxes on the top right side. Select the flag you want to use, and then give it a name.
Once you've defined labels on one task, they're available to all tasks in the plan.
- Set and update task progress
Sharing out task progress doesn't have to involve complicated calculations. In Planner, it's simple. Tasks can be:
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Not started
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In progress
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Completed
Note: To quickly mark one of your tasks as Completed, point to it and select the check mark.
3 Add task start and due dates:
Select a task to get to its details, and then add a Start date and a Due date.
Note:
You can also add a due date when you create a task. Add a task name, and then select Set due date to choose a date from a calendar.
Why is my date red?
Due dates are shown in red if the task is overdue.
In this example, the symbol next to the date shows that the task is In progress , but its due date has passed. If no symbol is shown, the task has not yet started.
- Comment on tasks in Microsoft Planner
As you work through your plan, you might have questions for the person working on a task. You can add a comment to the task to start a discussion.
To add a comment, select a task to bring up its details, and then use the Comments box to discuss things with your team. Click Send when you're ready to post the comment.
Important: Once you post a comment, you can't delete or edit it.
- Attach files, photos, or links to a task
In Planner, you can attach files, photos, and links directly to the tasks themselves, making the plan a central location for everyone to collaborate and get work done.
Add an attachment
To attach a file or link, select the task to bring up its details, click Add attachment, and then choose File, Link, or SharePoint.
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File: Upload a document or file from your local computer. Files you upload are stored in the SharePoint document library associated with your plan.
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Link: Fill in a URL and the text you'd like displayed in Planner.
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SharePoint: Choose files already stored in the SharePoint document library associated with your plan.
- Add a checklist to a task
As you start planning your work, there may be lists of things you need to keep track of for each task. You can add a checklist to a task to help you stay on top of your to-do list.
To add a checklist, select the task to bring up its details, and then click Add an item under Checklist, and then start typing your list. Press Enter to add another item to the list.
Set the checklist as the task preview to make it easy to see what work is involved in a task. You can use either a checklist or a document/image preview, but not both.
Mark things completed from the Board view by checking them off as you go.
Turn a checklist item into a task
If a checklist item starts to get more complicated, you can turn it into a separate task in your plan.
Select the task to bring up its details, point to a checklist item, and then choose Promote item.
Delete a checklist item
Select the task to bring up its details, point to a checklist item, and then choose Remove checklist item.
Add people to your plan
In Planner, select Members, and then enter the name of the person you want to add. Each member will receive an email notification that they've been added to your plan.
Remove someone from your plan
If you no longer need someone on your plan, select the arrow next to the plan members, point to the person you're removing, select the three dots, and then choose Remove.
Assign people to tasks
You can assign someone when you create a task. Add a task name, and then select Assign to choose a plan member from the list. If the right person isn't listed, type a name or email address in the search box to add someone new.
Note: You can assign a task to more than one person. When a task is being worked on by more than one team member, you can assign it to up to 11 people so that they can all see it in their My tasks list. When any team member marks the task complete, it's marked complete for all team members.
Add your Planner Calendar in Outlook
In Microsoft Planner, once your task has a start or due date, you can choose to view it on a calendar. You can simply use Schedule view in Planner or add your plan to an Outlook calendar.
To view your Planner calendar in Outlook, the plan owner first adds it to the Outlook calendar with an iCalendar format feed. Then each member can add the plan to their own Outlook calendar.
Add your Plan to an Outlook calendar
- At the top of your plan, choose the ellipses ..., and then select Add plan to Outlook calendar.
Note: Plan owners will see a the Add plan to Outlook calendar using an iCalendar feed dialog box, and then select Add to Outlook.
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In Outlook for Web, in the Calendar subscription dialog box, review the link and calendar name, and then at the top of the page choose Save.
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To the left of your calendar, under People's calendars, find the name of your plan's calendar, and select it. You'll see a new tab above your calendar with the plan's name, and you'll see the plan's tasks on the calendar.
Note: If you use Outlook for desktop, your plan's calendar will appear in the Calendar view under My Calendars.
Publish your iCalendar feed
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As the plan owner, at the top of your plan, choose the ellipses ..., and then select Add plan to Outlook calendar.
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In the Add plan to Outlook calendar using an iCalendar feed dialog box, choose Publish. This will automatically publish your plan's schedule information at an iCalendar link.
Note: You can also copy and paste the iCalendar link into any calendar app that connects using iCalendar. Once a person has this link, they can see the task information for your plan without needing to sign in.
