The Progress Counter displays the total number of tasks on a list (or on a particular branch within a list). Could there be an option to have it show the number of open tasks instead? That way, with a quick glance, you could tell how many items you have remaining to do. I’d rather know I have 6 items left to do than know there are 132 items, in total, on the list (seeing a large number can be a bit overwhelming).
Currently, to find the number of open tasks, you have to look at a second thing - either the red circle (which gives a rough guess how many are left to be done) or use your mouse to hover over the counter to see the pop-up info (e.g., “17 of 20 tasks completed”), taking one of your hands away from the keyboard.
Also, if you’re using time estimates, those display estimated time remaining, not the total amount of time. The number of tasks should also display number remaining rather than total number.
Lastly, I’d like to be able to turn off that red circle entirely or only have it colored if there are open tasks.
Great observation.
I can only add that we have progress counters for every list on the Lists home page, too. The changes you suggest - change color and invert the counter - will be an improvement there, too.
I will post an update here once we have something to test on the Beta server.
Once again, thanks a lot!
I can’t only understand why we haven’t thought about this before
Here’s what I gathered (in case it might help someone else)
If Progress Counter is activated at the List level, home page shows # of open tasks (excluding parents). Or, if all tasks are complete, the home page shows total number of completed tasks.
If Progress Counter is not activated on a given list, home page shows total number of list items (including parent items)
If Progress Counter is activated on a specific branch, within a list, the count on that branch includes sub items, but not nested parent items - and home page shows total number of tasks
