Create, duplicate, and delete playgrounds

Create, duplicate, and delete playgrounds

A playground is a sandbox in which you will create your schedule scenarios. Each playground is a snapshot of the schedule from the time it was pulled, as opposed to being live data.

Your playgrounds will be visible from the home page, displayed as cards.

Each playground card displays:

• When it was created
• Its description
• The number of tasks in the imported schedule
• The number of days required to complete the tasks

Creating playgrounds

Once you have connected Flow Generative Scheduling with your Flow Production Tracking site, you can start importing project schedules by creating a new playground.

Step 1: From the home page, select Create new Playground.

Step 2: You will be prompted to choose a data source. Select Use schedule data from Flow Production Tracking and select Next.

You will be prompted to choose a project from your Flow Production Tracking site.

Note: You can select multiple projects to import into a single playground, however, if you want to work on the schedule of only a single project, it is better to choose only one project per playground.

Step 4: Now configure your playground by choosing a name and description to identify it.

When you create a playground with imported data, you will run into one of two scenarios.

1. Your imported schedule data does not contain any tasks with start or end dates.
2. Your imported schedule data contains one or more tasks with start or end dates.

Scenario 1: Using schedule data that does not contain tasks with start or end dates

In a scenario where the imported schedule data does not contain tasks with start or end dates, you will be prompted to choose the date from which you want the schedule to begin. This is the Schedule from date.

For example, you may be working on a scenario in July for a project that starts in November. Choose the date from which you would like the schedule to begin.

Scenario 2: Using schedule data that does contain tasks with start or end dates

In a scenario where the imported schedule data does contain tasks with start or end dates, you will first be prompted to choose the date from which you want the schedule to begin. This is the Schedule from date.

Next, you will be asked what you would like Flow Generative Scheduling to do with the tasks that already have dates applied to them. You will be provided with two options.

1. Ignore assigned dates and reschedule all tasks from the Schedule from date.
2. Keep assigned dates for tasks that begin before the Schedule from date.

The first option is ideal for reworking a schedule on a project where work has not yet started.

The second option is ideal for a scenario in which work is already in progress and you would like to maintain the dates of existing tasks that have been completed or have been started. It is also ideal for a scenario in which a project has been worked on but is facing a hiatus, or where future work needs to be delayed.

Step 5: Once you've configured your Playground, select Next.

Review the details of your playground, including the Selected project(s), Playground name and Description, and Schedule from date. Once satisfied, select Create playground.

The Playground will now be created and accessible from the home page.

 

• Once you're working within a Playground, you will be able to create scenarios of the schedule data you just imported.
• Scenarios allow you to experiment with a schedule and its resources, to anticipate and plan for different possible outcomes.
• A new scenario can be created from the initially imported scheduling data you used to create the playground by choosing +New.

This will not duplicate the scenario, but simply create another scenario based on the originally imported scheduling data.

Duplicating playgrounds

Playgrounds cannot be duplicated, as they are created from the unique scheduling data you imported, which is a one-time snapshot of your project schedule.

Within a playground however, you can create duplicate scenarios.

Option #1: To duplicate a scenario, select the three dots on the top of any scenario card on the left-hand side of the screen and select Duplicate. From here, you will be able to add a new name and description to the duplicated scenario.

Option #2: Alternatively, hover over the card and select Duplicate.

Unlike creating a new scenario within a playground, duplicated scenarios do not use the original schedule data you pulled to create the playground. The duplicated scenario is a duplicate of whichever scenario you selected. If you’ve made significant changes to a scenario’s schedule, those changes will be a part of the new duplicated scenario.

Deleting playgrounds

Deleted playgrounds can be restored up to 30 days after deletion. After 30 days, a deleted playground is permanently erased.

To delete a playground, from the home page, select the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the playground card and select Delete.