Welcome to the Planner Community Blog!
Published Dec 20 2016 10:30 AM 12.7K Views
Microsoft

Welcome to the new Planner Community Blog, we’re glad you’ve found your way here! Planner makes it easy for your team to create new plans, organize and assign tasks, share files, and chat about what you’re working on and your team's progress from anywhere, on any device.

 

In the past year since introducing Planner, our team has worked to create the best experience possible based on your feedback and suggestions.

 

This community and blog is the next step in providing a direct line of communication to you, the customer, about what we’re thinking and what’s coming next. This blog won’t replace the official Office Blogs channel, but it will be an added way for us to connect with you. You can expect to see top-of-mind posts, behind the scenes insights into why we’ve made certain decisions regarding the product roadmap, and a place where you can ask questions and provide direct feedback.

 

Thank you for joining us! Let us know a little about who you and what information you would like to see from the team in the comments below.

 

- The Planner Product Team

 

36 Comments
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Not applicable

Love using Planner for simple team projects. iOS apps to have Planner on the go would be great. I believe it's been on the roadmap for a while?

 

We use Planner extensively within our consulting firm.  However, one of my clients is a local government, and they are missing out on Planner because it's not deployed to the "Gov cloud" yet.  What can you share about why that's the case and when it would come to their environment?

Microsoft

@Deleted Hi - the apps (Windows Universal, iOS, Android) are in development and will ship in 2017.

 

@Michael Blumenthal Glad to hear your firm is using Planner! Would love to hear feedback if possible. Planner is not yet in the gov cloud, but the plan is to get there in 2017. The process of deploying in the gov cloud has extra steps/processes that are time-consuming, which is why we didn't deploy there at GA.

Iron Contributor

Would love to hear about the nature of the architectural changes to Planner to get it to fit better to Teams.  Are you adding a 'layer' above buckets to correspond to channels? Just continuing the notion of planner id = team+channel where channel planners are note xplicitly connected to each other? or?

Copper Contributor

@Dave Heller I'm supporting a Gov client also, they are seeing the Planner tab within their Office 365 Groups however it errors out.  It would be nice for the tab not to be present if the product isn't available for the tenants.  Do we have an approximate launch date in 2017 yet for this, it would be nice to get a date in front of them.

Bronze Contributor

Glad to see continuted dev on Planner. The key issues for me are:

  1. Ability to copy a card. Scenario: I would like a card of specific tasks on a checklist that needs to get done once a month. I would copy it from a "Pending" bucket to a "Today" bucket and work on it. Retyping the checklist each time isn't practical.
  2. Increase the checklist to something beyond 20. Only 20 items is pretty small.
  3. Full Planner in Teams, so needs attachments, links, and ideally dashboard.
  4. Easier way for users to see what items are assigned to them in Teams and when they are due. Right now, if you have 20 tasks assigned to you in 5 Planners in Teams, you have no clue what is assigned to you or when it is due without going to all 5 planners.

 

Looking forward to updates!

Copper Contributor

I am a government cloud client.  Am very much looking forward to having access to Planner.  Anyone have any insight into when that might happen?

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good one

Copper Contributor

Here's to hoping that Planner get's the attention it deserves from both Microsoft and the community. Sometimes, simplicity brings great benefit. This is an excellent addition to the Office365 product line and it's already well received in my org and it hasn't even been officially introduced. People love it. Instant productivity tool that actually works out of the box without a lot of training. My first plan was a personal Kanban board and it works great for that. Three buckets: Waiting, WIP and Success (your buckets may vary) and a great way to visualize workload/workflow without all the sticky notes. Already tried it out on a large touch screen and will be displaying on a Surface Hub for a group to show them how to work with Planner in a team environment.

 

Have been using it in a group for activity tracking and social media/communications planning.

 

Dave - I was at Ignite but didn't see much about Planner (certainly may have missed) so I hope there is more Planner activity planned for the next Ignite. Even if only hallway sessions or similar to generate more buzz.

Iron Contributor

Office 365 Planner Add-ins Business Collection.

 

From the first time I saw the Office 365 Planner I just knew this will be a great tool.   But it all has to be done from the Online Planner, and this is just not the way we work.

 

After having a success with a Planner Add-in for Outlook, we decided to make a Planner Business Collection with the purpose of making it easier to work with Planner Tasks seamlessly across some of the Office 365 services.

 

iPlanner Business Collection SWAY presentation

 

The Business Collection will offer:

We hope soon to be able to add much more functionality to our Add-in, but we are waiting for the Planner and Task Graph API to be updated. I have heard that an update is coming soon. I am just wondering what will come?

 

Any new features/roadmap. New ways of using Planner.

Iron Contributor

Hi Kevin

 

We just released an update for the iPlanner Pro Outlook Add-in. You are now have the same features from Outlook when you are managing or creating a task. We are working on a new video. Below you can see the current features and a screenshot of the add-in. For more info visit http://planner.iglobe.dk/

 

iPlanner Pro FeaturesiPlanner Pro Features

 

iPlanner Pro in edit modeiPlanner Pro in edit mode

Copper Contributor

Is is possible for an admin or otherwise to move entire plans from one 365 Group to another?

Microsoft

@Luke Catlin We're working on out of the box functionality in this regard (making templates, copy/paste, etc.), but for now, I can direct you to this article on cloning plans: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/brismith/2017/02/17/microsoft-planner-how-to-clone-a-plan-with-grap...

 

Bronze Contributor

Excellent @Dave Heller - hoping the "copy/paste" also includes things as simple as a card and bucket.

Microsoft

Hi @Ed Hansberry - Yes that is the current line of thinking. We will present our updated roadmap at Ignite in Orlando at the end of September, when we will share more details of the what and when for Plan copy/paste.

Iron Contributor

If you are using iPlanner Pro Outlook Add-in you will be able to copy a task. And you can do it from the add-in in outlook.

Copper Contributor

Are there any plans to add the ability to delegate tasks?  I manage multiple projects across multiple locations and in order to keep track of which tasks I've delegated I currently have to assign the task(s) to both myself and the assignee.  This then requires me as a work-around to @mention the users name in the task name in order to insure they're aware the tasks is assigned to them.  Also, without adding myself on the task, I won't see the tasks I'm ultimately responsible for in the "My Tasks" section.

Copper Contributor

Our company would love to adopt Planner more broadly but there are 3 things we're hoping to see soon: individual (not group) email notifications, ability to copy/paste individual tasks, and integration with Outlook calendar.

Microsoft

@Luke Catlin My hope is that updated notification controls (coming in the next few months) will overcome the challenge of others knowing when they have tasks assigned to them.

 

@Austin Lasseter all three coming soon! 

 

 

Iron Contributor

@Dave Heller Why, oh why, isn't any of this being communicated at Planner.Uservoice.Com ? 

And why, oh why, doesn't ANY of this appear on the Microsoft Office365 roadmap? 

Over here you're saying "it's in the plan", and over there ... crickets.  Nothing.  

 

The messages are inconsistent and that ought to be fixed.

 

Luis

Bronze Contributor

@Dave Heller- one way is to add a link to https://tasks.office.com/EMAILDOMAIN.com/EN-US/Home/MyTasks in the Teams sidebar for My Tasks. Shows all tasks everywhere. There is a lot of room in that sidebar.

 

Would like all Saved items there too vs buried under the avatar menu.

 

Microsoft

@Luis Rodrigues good points across the board - thank you for the feedback! 

 

We will update the Planner roadmap in the next three weeks to refresh almost all of content that exists, while adding a good deal more. There should be consistency between what I say is coming and what is "planned" in UserVoice, and I'll check to see if there are any discrepancies. 

Iron Contributor

If you can't wait, you have all three requirement in iPlanner Pro and you can do it from Outlook.

Copper Contributor

Hey that's good to know. Is iPlanner Pro difficult/expensive/time-consuming to get started with? How do I get started? And, if Planner is rolling out these changes in 3-5 months, is it worth the investment to pick up iPlanner Pro as a temporary stop-gap? Thanks for the advice.

Iron Contributor

iPlanner Pro takes you 5 min to deploy in Exchange online. It will be avlible on for all selected users on all deviced. It is a subscription based model with a minimum of 5 users with 12 month subscription.  That will be $ UD 60,-  please contact me and I will send you the add-in. If you are on skype for business I can assist you. aek@iglobe.dk

Bronze Contributor

I would also recommend you to try 

Apps4.Pro Outlook add-in which provides deeper Outlook integration such as Sync Planner tasks with Outlook tasks, Outlook calendar, Set reminders for tasks, Convert email to Planner tasks, etc.. http://apps4.pro/planner-outlook-integration.aspx

Apps4.Pro Planner Manager which offers the features such as Copy / Move tasks from one plan to another with attachments, Create plan templates using Excel and import it to create new plans from scratch, additionally Gentt chart, Calendar and TImeline view for tasks. http://apps4.pro/planner-manager.aspx

 

Iron Contributor

Already using Apps4.Pro as without it Planner would be pointless and unusable. 

Iron Contributor

Please notice - You should compare an apple to an apple.

 

1.  iPlanner Pro is just one of the services you get in the iPlanner Business Collection.  iPlanner for Outlook, Excel (with GANTT chart) and SharePoint Online and Group Sites.

 

2. iPlanner is a true Office add-in. NOT A COM Add-in, no local installation, this means

  • nothing to make your Outlook client crash.
  • No updates to install
  • avilable on ALL devices

3. iPlanner do NOT save any data localy or on the providers (our) server or service. All is on YOUR office 365. This means we follow the new EU data requirements.

There are other product that can do much more and have more functionality. The question is what is importnat for you.

 

For íPlanner Pro it is extremely important, that all the add-ins in iPlanner Business Collection follow the authentication and consent model required by Microsoft for Office 365 Add-ins. Nor do we want to store data localy or have your data on our server. All is on your O365!.

 

Yes this give some limitation to what we can offer at the moment. But as soon as Microsoft add functions to the API, so will we update the features of the Add-in.

 

Still I belive iPlanner Pro offer very rich functionality - on all devices - I hope this clarify what is important for the iPlanner Pro and the product. To test it you get the full functionality the second you add-it to your Outlook from the Store. 

Copper Contributor

I use iPlanner every day.

 

We chose this add-in first of all because we need the planner inside Outlook. Secondly we need a seamless integration to

Office 365 and not a COM add-in.

 

We know that the team behind iPlanner has great plans for the future with new functionality and we look forward to it.

 

The onboarding is easy and smooth so do not hesitate Austin to try it out. You will not regret.

 

 

 

Bronze Contributor

On a further note, I would like to mention here that Apps4.Pro was awarded as Winner First place, Best use of Microsoft Graph and Best SharePoint app in Hackathon conducted by DevPost and Microsoft.
More details here - https://devpost.com/software/apps4-pro

Copper Contributor

 Is iPlanner FISMA compliant? Will any data be stored outside our own Office 365 environment?

Iron Contributor

Hi Austin

Yes, if Office 365 is compliant, so are iPlanner. We don't save any data.

iPlanner is a true Office 365 Add-in. It follow the scurity model set by Microsoft, hence it follow the authentication and consent model set by Microsoft. No data is saved locally or any other places. iPlanner get tasks data and display them, it is all LIVE.  When you deploy the addin it is avialable on all clients the user has. Outlook for windows, MAC, Web and Outlook for IOS. When you deploy the Add-in you will not need to install or update with any local installation. An important part of Microsoft authentication and consent model is that a Global Administrator must give consent to the Office 365 organization/tenant user allowing them to use Microsoft Graph access O365 services, like Planner, SharePoint, Groups and Calendar on your tenant. This mean no one else can access these data.

 

The only thing we have is user information for the Add-in license management. When you open the User management in the Add-in you can see what we can see.

 

If you have any question please feel free to contact me.

 

/Alon

Deleted
Not applicable

Hi all, 

we adopted Planner for a few weeks now but i am still in a struggle with adding guests or members to planner from outside the organisation. It seems i can add them but when i share the link with them they get the notification  i posted at the end of this message...

 

I want to collaborate on a project (plan in planner) with a person outside of my organisation. Can someone help? 

 

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The requested resource could not be found.

c317815b-ff80-4dca-b37a-f8055ff1a638

Date and Time: 24/04/2018 10:02:58

Planner Version: 16.0.9318.5003

 

 

Copper Contributor

Hello Team,

Loved the Planner for my daily task through MS Teams, but facing issues if anyone deletes the tasks by mistake.

Is there any chance of restoring deleted tasks or Tasks buckets only ?

 

Regards

Dayanand

Iron Contributor

Perhaps Microsoft support

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