Conditional formatting in MS Project Online Desktop (2019?)

Question

I've created a new column that has "Status Notes" with the following dropdown. I'd like the background to be shaded based on the following (in brackets). Can I do this in MSProject? I came across a similar post (but didn't want to hijack theirs) Applying conditional formatting on task status!

0 - Not assigned (white - no shading) 1 - In progress (white - no shading) 2 - Waiting for input (yellow shading) 3 - Issue (red shading) 4 - Completed (green shading) 5 - Ongoing (no end date) (white - no shading) 6 - Cancelled (grey shading)

Answer 1

Conditional shading of a cell or row in Microsoft Project is not possible. What I would recommend is to add a graphical indicator to your "Status Notes" field. The graphical indicator won't shade the entire cell or row, but it will give a graphical indicator just like you are looking for. To do this, go to the Project tab --> Custom Fields and choose the field that you are using for your "Status Notes" field. Then click on the Graphical Indicator... button and set it as shown below:

Test - Equals Value - 0 Image - Leave Blank or choose a white image

Test - Equals Value - 1 Image - Leave Blank or choose a white image

Test - Equals Value - 2 Image - Yellow dot

And so on...

Then, you just need to select your appropriate dropdown value in the cell and it will automatically display the appropriate colored dot. Not the ideal situation, but it does work.

You could also add the graphical indicator to a different field and just reference the "Status Notes" field in the formula field of the new field. For example, if your "Status Notes" field is Number1, then you would enter [Number1] into the formula box of the new graphical indicator field...

Hope that helps!