When a new project is added to Kavi Status Tracker through the Add a Project tool, the Status Tracker Admin selects a Project Type on which the new project will be based. This causes all the components of the Project Type to be installed, including project data fields, Project States, Activity Types and activity data fields. The administrator enters a name and sets the Project State to a preliminary value. The administrator can enter any additional project data that is available at this time.

Once this initial setup is complete, the administrator or Project Recorder can project details or add new information as it becomes available.

Project State is project data, so it is managed through the Project Details tool, but is so important that it deserves it's own instructions. When a project is created, the set of Project States that are available in the Project Type are installed for that project. This is an ordered list of Project States that projects of this type can enter during the project lifecycle. The Project State is first set when the project is added. Later in the lifecycle, Project State is reset as the project passes certain milestones, represented in Kavi Status Tracker projects as recording a specific Activity Type. Each activity has its own instructions, so when you record an activity, check the instructions to see whether you should update the Project State. For more information, see the Concepts document on Managing Project States.

Be aware that Project State is frequently used to determine which projects are automatically included in the organization's project displays. If you change a project to a Project State that is eligible for public display, project data can become immediately viewable in public areas of the website, so it is a good idea to review project data and make sure everything is up to date and ready for prime time before setting a new Project State.

If the Submissions module is enabled in Kavi Status Tracker and available in the Project Type on which this project is based, you will also see the Project Submissions button. The Project Submissions page lists all available submissions. If you are ready to submit project information through one of these submission forms, click the link for that submission and complete the submission form. You will be prompted to select any attachments that should be sent along with the form. When you click the Submit button, an email is created from the form, faithfully capturing all the information from the form and attaching the selected files before automatically sending the email to the designated recipients. The email is CC'd to a special 'status_tracker' mailing list that automatically archives the email and its attachments for retrieval by Mailing List Admins. The submission is automatically recorded in the project's Activity Schedule, entering the current date in the Date Occurred field.

When a new project is created, the Status Tracker Admin or Project Recorder can set up a preliminary Activity Schedule. The easiest way to do this is through the Schedule Activities tool, which presents a list of all available Activity Types in order. Just enter the Date Scheduled for those Activity Types that you want to schedule. The Date Occurred can be entered later when the activity is complete.

The Date Scheduled can be edited at any time, so you can use this tool anytime you want to update the schedules of multiple activities.

When you want to record an activity, you should use the Activity Schedule page. From here you can click Record Activity, which takes you to the Edit Activity Details tool. Read the instructions for recording this type of activity, then review the activity data to make sure it meets whatever criteria is established in the instructions. Enter the Date Occurred and update any other activity or project details as instructed.

The instructions may direct you to set a new Project State when this activity is recorded. To access the Edit Project Details tool, return to the Project Activities page and click the Project Details link.

When you want to view or update activity data, go to the Activity Schedule and click View Details (if you are a Project Recorder) or Manage (if you are an administrator), to go to the Activity Details page. From here you can click the link to Edit Activity Details. Read the instructions for this type of activity before adding or editing activity data.

If an activity is already recorded (i.e., the Date Occurred has been set), exercise discretion before updating activity data. This is particularly true of submissions activities, which store activity data that was transmitted in the submission form or as attachments. Submission form data and attachments are archived (in the 'status_tracker' mailing list message archives), and edits are logged, but you wouldn't want to edit information that should remain part of the project history. For instance, information submitted to ANSI should remain untouched so that when the project details are consulted, they present a true record of the exact set of information that was transmitted to ANSI. The one field where you can add information retroactively is the Activity Notes field, so if you need to add comments about a modified attachment that had to be sent separately or some such, you can make a note of it here.

By default, every type of activity includes an Activity Notes field. The Activity Notes field is very flexible, and can be used anytime you want to add a comment or make a note about an event that happened offline, etc. Since this field may be used to add more than one note and may be used by other administrators or Project Recorders, it's a nice idea to include your initials and the date that the note was added. When you add a new note to the Activity Notes field, you should take care to leave other existing notes intact.

If your organization uses the Submissions module and Submissions are enabled for projects of this type, the Activity Types list displayed in the Schedule Activities tool will include submission-related activities such as 'ANSI PINS Submission'. You can schedule this kind of activity, but it is automatically recorded when the submission is sent through the Submissions tool. If it wasn't scheduled in advance, it will be automatically added to the Activity Schedule, and all the data from the form will be used to populate the activity data fields.