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Adding tasks to a project plan

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Summary: Add the tasks that make up a project and give each one a duration, so LYNX-X can schedule the plan.

Applies to

PropertyValue
ProductLYNX-X
Version28.10.9800.0
Required permissionsRead and write access to the project
Last updated2026-08-25
OwnerSupport

Before you start

  • The project must exist. See Creating a project.
  • Know roughly how long each task takes in working days. You can change the durations later.

Procedure

Add the first task

  1. Open the project from Portfolio > Project list.
  2. Select Click here to add the first task.

An empty project offers this link. Once the plan has at least one task, use New task in the toolbar instead — or the arrow beside it, which offers Insert before, Insert task inline and Split task.

The New task button and the menu beside it

A task row appears with its Name ready for editing and a duration of 1 day.

  1. Type the task name and press Enter.

Add the remaining tasks

  1. Select New task.
  2. Type the task name and press Enter.
  3. Repeat for each task in the plan.

Tip
Build the backbone first, then multiply it. If the project repeats the same process more than once, enter that process once at the detail you need, then copy and paste it to replicate the chain. Pasting works on a block of tasks as well as a single one, so a rough backbone can be turned into a full plan quickly — and the repeated blocks stay identical.

Important Do not add tasks to represent buffers or contingency. If you plan with CCPM, LYNX-X inserts the buffers itself and sizes them from your CCPM settings. Padding individual tasks, or adding a contingency task, defeats the mechanism. See Setting up critical chain scheduling.

Set the durations

Tip
Name every task before setting any durations. Naming the whole plan first keeps you thinking about scope; switching between naming and estimating tends to produce a plan shaped by whichever task you happened to estimate first.

  1. Double-click the Prj. duration cell for a task.

You can also set it below the plan: select the task, open the General tab and edit Duration. It is the same value — the grid calls the column Prj. duration, the tab calls the field Duration. Use whichever view you are already in.

A task duration can be edited in the grid or on the General tab

  1. Type the number of working days and press Enter.

Note
Prj. duration is the initial estimate — how long the task itself takes. Once the task has assignments, the assignment duration governs the schedule and what the Gantt shows.

Expected outcome

The grid lists one row per task, numbered in plan order, each with the duration you entered. Beside it, the Gantt draws a bar for every task.

The example below is a five-task plan — Design, Software, Hardware, Integration and Installation — with durations of 3 to 6 days each.

Tasks in the grid, and the bars they produce on the Gantt beside them

Troubleshooting

ProblemResolution
Typing replaces nothing and the cell keeps its old value.Double-click the cell first. A single click selects the row without opening the cell for editing.
A task was added in the wrong place.Use the up and down arrows in the toolbar to move the selected task within the plan.
Every task starts on the same date.The tasks are not connected yet. Until they have dependencies, LYNX-X schedules them all from the project start date.
A duration you have changed still shows the old value.The cell can lag behind the value you entered. Move to another cell, or wait a moment, and it refreshes.

See also

  • Creating a project
  • Understanding the critical chain
  • Setting up critical chain scheduling

Revision history

VersionDateAuthorChanges
1.02026-08-25SupportWritten for LYNX-X 28.10.9793.0. Replaces the Add Tasks, Add and edit more tasks and Save your progress sections of Get Started - LYNX-X walkthrough.

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