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TaskMap Help Text

The TaskMap Stencil

Visio is packaged with dozens of stencils containing simple or complex shapes that you can use to produce drawings of various types.

The TaskMap Stencil includes six TaskMap shapes that were designed by Harvard Computing Group, Inc., specifically to produce TaskMaps.

The following is an image of the TaskMap Stencil arranged horizontally.

If you hover the mouse over any of the TaskMap shapes in your stencil, descriptive text about the shape will appear as shown above for the Task Link.

Positioning the Stencil

You can position the TaskMap Stencil window in a variety of ways. You can make it float over the drawing page, or you can dock it at the top, bottom or side of the workspace. In any of those locations you can alter the size and shape of the stencil pane to fit your needs.

For drawing TaskMaps, many people find it convenient to make the stencil tall and thin and then dock it on the left side of the workspace as shown in the picture below.

Opening the TaskMap Stencil

The TaskMap stencil should open automatically when you select a TaskMap template to start a new drawing or when you open an existing TaskMap. If the TaskMap was saved without the stencil and you want to add additional shapes to the drawing, you can reopen and reattach the stencil using the procedure immediately below.

If the Stencil Is Missing

If the stencil does not appear when you open a TaskMap drawing, perform the following steps to reattach the stencil:

1. Open the TaskMap that does not have a stencil attached.
2. Open the stencil:
   • Visio 2003 and 2007: Select File >> Shapes >> TaskMap >> TaskMap Stencil
   • Visio 2010: On the View  tab click Task Panes then Shapes Window
3. In Visio 2007 and 2010, saving your document should also save the open stencil. If it does not:
   • Visio 2007: Select File >> Properties and check Save workspace.
   • Visio 2010: Select File the on the right side of the Info panel, click Properties then Advanced Properties and check Save workspace.
4. In Visio 2003, use this procedure:
   1. Select File/Save As…
   2. Provide a new filename or reuse the same file name
   3. Click the down arrow to the right of the Save button:
      • If the Workspace item is not preceded by a checkmark, click once to check this item.
   4. Click the Save button
      • When you close and reopen the document, the TaskMap stencil should now be attached.
5. When you close and reopen the document, the TaskMap stencil should now be attached.