External users are invited to a task through a welcome email which contains a link to the PIQNIC application.

Registering and logging in to PIQNIC

Once in the application, you will be prompted to register your name and password and log into the application.

You will then be able to see the list of tasks you are invited to and change your application preferences through user settings.

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Tasks you are invited to

Filters and sorting 

Tasks assigned to me list can, over time, become quite busy. This is why it has filtering and sorting capabilities built in. 

The easiest way to filter this list and access a desired task perform a search by entering partial task name into the search box at the top right of the list.

Alternatively, you can use the Filtering bar which sits above the list offering the following options:

• Filtering on User type: 
  • Assigned – Shows the tasks a user is assigned to.
  • Watched – Shows the tasks a user is watching.
• Filtering on Type: 
  • Simple – “To do” and “File Sharing Tasks” that don’t have Advanced properties set. 
  • Advanced.
• Filtering on Due Date
• Filtering option showing only Standalone (non-Project) Tasks 

You can sort by clicking on the arrows beside the column name in the list. Some columns (messages, status, step) cannot be used for sorting. 

Pinned tasks will always be at the top of the list, overriding the selected Sorting order. 

Task list 

Shows the list of tasks assigned to you with the following columns: 

• Status and progress – This is a visual cue showing the current status of the task and its indicated progress as follows: 
  • Where there are multiple users assigned to the task, this represents the average of their individual Progress percentages, however voting rule is taken into account as shown in this example: 
  • If 2 out of 3 users assigned to a Step/Task need to make a decision for Step/Task to be completed, then progress will be 50% after the first user completes the Step/Tasks (progress indicated by other two users will be normalised against the remaining 50% and added to show overall Task/Step progress). If a specific user needs to complete, progress will remain at 0% until that user completes. “Not mine” default decision by any user means 100% complete by that user.
• Icon to show if there are files in the task not saved to the repository.
• Task Name and Description (abbreviated in the second line)
• Step – Current and overall number of steps in the task.
• Project the task belongs to.
• Last Action, when and by whom. Push updated.
• Due Date – Different colour for due today/overdue tasks.
• Date Created
• Priority
• Number of new messages (resets after opening the task). Push updated.
• Owner icon showing the name of the owner as a tooltip.
• Ellipsis – Task functions available from the list for each task:
  • Pin Task – Task or a project can be pinned to the top of the work list by the user. Pinned tasks are ordered according to the sort order column selection. Pinned tasks are preserved between user logins and can be unpinned by the user at any time. 

Task detail

User’s view of the task:

• provides information on the task assigned and access to task’s payload
• facilitates users’ decision making and collaboration on the task assigned. 

Task detail has the following key elements: 

• Task Name, Description, Priority, Ownership, Date Created and Progress.
• Project Name and Description, if applicable.
• Breadcrumb style visualisation of past, current and future steps if task has multiple steps defined. 
• Step Name, Description and Progress – This shows the step that the task is at currently.  
• Age of the task (how long it has been active) and Due Date (read only).
• List of users assigned to the Task/Step. Users are shown with their Profile Pictures (or initials) with the tooltip showing full name and reported progress on the Task. “Info” button beside each user show the timestamp and the last user activity on the Task.

Progress indication

Allows user to set the progress for the task. Additional comment can be made and it is saved on the task wall. 

Decisions

Assigned user completes work on a task by making a decision by selecting one of the items from the decisions list, as set by the task owner. 

Task window is closed and removed from the user’s list. Decision is registered on the task wall. Progress is set to 100% 

“Not for me” decision is always available to task users. When selected, it removes the task from user’s list. Task owner will be notified and status updated in his Task Details view.  

This function is available to watchers, as well, to stop watching the task.

Voting rules run to determine the task status. Voting rules take into account a user’s decisions and watchers activity is ignored. 

Activities tab 

The task wall has a dual purpose. It captures significant events within the task lifecycle and also saves messages the users send to each other in relation to the task, and shows them combined on a single panel.

It is useful to think of user messages as a task-related group conversation which remains private to the task and all users assigned to it (including the task owner and watchers).

Task events captured (always showing when and by whom): 

• Task created
• Task completed (based on voting condition…) at step (if applicable)
• User added
• User removed
• User declined work (“Not for me” decision)
• File added (file title, link)
• File removed (file title)
• User made decision (decision)
• Dispute (decision removed) 

Show System Messages is a toggle filter that removes task events from the wall and shows only user messages. This de-clutters the wall of an active task.

Send Message – Users can type any text and send it as a message to the task wall. Text will overflow automatically into a new line for long messages or when user hits “enter”. Ctrl+Enter or clicking on the send button sends the message. 

Users can also attach files to the message. These files will be also added to the task as “task only” documents. 

Attachments tab 

Main part of this tab is the list of files associated with the task (task attachments). 

This list is initially sorted by file title but can also be sorted by creation date or author. If new versions of the file have been introduced in to the task, file nodes can be expanded to show the older versions associated with the task.  

Note: There could be versions of the file that have not been created through the task but added directly to the PIQNIC document. These versions will not be shown so it is possible to have version gaps in the task’s version chain. 

Each file is shown with following elements: 

• File type icon.
• Title which may or may not be identical to the physical file name as it is set by the user when the file is added to the task .
• File description as entered by the user when the file is added to the task. 
• User icon which also shows the tooltip with the user’s full name and date/time of document ingestion.
• Ellipsis button containing following file-level commands:
  • Add a version – User is prompted to select a file and then with a pop up to set File Title, Description and version type (minor/major). Version can be added also by dragging a file from the file system into the task file.
  • Save to PIQNIC – Task only files can be classified and saved to PIQNIC repository using one of the Save Profiles the task owner has enabled in the task. After selecting a Save Profile, user will be prompted to enter document indexes so that the file can be stored in PIQNIC document repository. Indexing screen also shows the preview of selected document or allows viewing by download.
  • Delete – Removes file from the task. User can only remove files he has added to the Task. PIQNIC documents are not removed from the repository, they are just dis-associated from the task.
  • Download – Downloads the selected file. 

Files are added to the list above by using one of the following options available: 

Add files to task only

Visible only if enabled by task owner. This Drag & Drop target adds a file system object to the task. Internally, file is saved in “Task Only” document class. 

User is prompted for file title (if not supplied actual file name is used) and description. These files are confined to the task and are not returned by PIQNIC document searches until they are saved. 

Add files from PIQNIC

This option is used to add one of PIQNIC files to the task.  

User is prompted to run PIQNIC search and select one of the returned files. External users do not have access to PIQNIC document searches so cannot use this option. 

Add URL

Adds an URL reference to the task. 

URL reference is accepted as is and not validated or checked in any way by the platform. 

URLs are a useful way to add static and dynamic content or functions from other platforms. It is important to keep in mind that these functions or content are managed outside the PIQNIC platform and as such can become invalid or stop working. 

However, they are useful way of creating an effective and content-rich work environment for collaboration on a Task. 

Add files using Save Profiles

Using “Manage Save Profiles” function, task owners can select which Save Profiles they want to associate with the task. 

These Save Profiles are then shown at the bottom of the attachments panel as a set of drag-and drop zones that can be used to ingest a document in PIQNIC and associate it with the task at the same time. 

Users will be then be prompted to enter document indexes for PIQNIC classification. Subsequent pop-up will prompt the user to enter the title and description for adding the file to the task, which will be visible in the task attachments list.