How to keep previous shedules in MS Project

You can create up to ten baselines in your project, and then compare your current schedule with a baseline.
But if you keep on changing your schedule, 10 baselines will probably not be enough. And it also indicates that you may want to review your project management strategy ;-)  

So u saying i can only view upto 10 changes max?

Also is the max of 10 changes are per project or per line (where each line has a date entry)?

It's per project. Basically, you record a "snapshot" of your current project schedule as a baseline.
On the other hand, I'm not sure you really need to track every version of your project schedule. You need the initial plan for sure, and maybe a few snapshots against which you would like to be able to compare in the future, as well as a snapshot of the latest plan (so you can revert your latest changes). But keeping a trace of every version of your project plan is probably overkill.
So you could create an "Initial" snapshot after the initial planning, a "Latest" snapshot you overwrite every time you start updating your schedule, and a few extra snapshots of your project at key moments.

Ok...thanx lots!

How do I setup or configure the baseline?

See http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/pub0009/lpmarticle.asp?id=577

Ok...i'm working at it...it seems many steps to have the baseline setup...

I haven't noticed before, but why after I finish entering the tasks, a question mark is present?  is based on baseline setup?

Where do you see a question mark? If it's after the duration, it's because you haven't associated resources to these tasks so Project cannot really know how long the tasks will really take (it depends on how many resources you devote to the task).

Yes, its in the duration colums.  But I notice if I enter the day(s) there, ot disappear.

Ok...I just finished the sample given, and yes I see both time: baseline and actual.

Question:

Can I see in the dates column the actual time and also the baselin time?

I tried doin g changes for a 3rd time and didn't see the the tracking (i did the save baseline and chose 2). Am I missing something?

Regarding duration: if you type in a value, you're basically telling Project how long it'll take so there is no unknown. However, if you input a workload instead and no resource, then it'll show 1d? because it doesn't know how to convert from work to duration.

You can add baseline columns the same way you add other columns in a tabular view.

Regarding your final question, I'm not sure I understand what you did.

Understood on the duration, but I just created a task, included a start/end date, resource name and predecessors, but still get "?" in the duration.  What am I missing to include in the task in order not show the "?".?

Regard to "add baseline columns", that is the only way I can have both dates in the columns, adding baseline1,2,3,etc.?

What I meant on the final question how can I see additional "effect of the delay" if there were more than one change?  That is, when I did the first baseline (the steps in the link), I saw the effect.  How can I see the same when more than one occurance?  (see attachment of your link, i circle in red)
EffectOfDelay.jpg

You need to input either a duration or a work effort ("work").

Regarding tracking, you can only compare your current schedule with one baseline at a time. If you want to be able to track the evolution of each and every task through every change you make, I would recommend that you export your project data to Excel and do your analysis there (although I'm not sure how pertinent that analysis really is...)

Regarding work, u mean insert the column "Work"?

Regarding tracking, one a time comparison is ok.  How can I compare subsequent baseline with the first?

Work: yes, I mean inserting the work column. This is useful if you work with effort-driven tasks (e.g. in software development).

Regarding tracking, most of the views Project offer allow you to compare between the current schedule and the Baseline. However, you can always copy between current, baseline and numbered baselines, which should allow you to compare any baseline with any other baseline (try it on a temporary copy of your project file).

Thanx...can u tell me specifically how can I compare from the original baseline with subsequent baseline?  (i have tried it and can't get to go it)

To compare two baselines (or the current schedule with a baseline):
- in a table form: go to the "variation" table view (or something like that - I'm not using the English version of Project) which will show you current dates versus the initial baseline. If you want to see another baseline, double-click on the baseline columns and select another baseline start/end date
- in a Gantt view: use the Wizard to create a chart that shows you the current schedule and the baseline. If you want to compare something other than the current schedule or the "initial baseline", you need to right-click on the background of the chart, edit the Styles, and then edit the information that's displayed (replace Planned start/end with Planned start1/end1 for example)

Excellent! thanx!

One last question regarding tracking, in order to function the movemente/baselines properly, I have to every time that there is a change do both of these:

1. goto Project/Project Information and update Current an Status?

2. goto Tools/Tracking/Update Tasks?

In essence whats the continues step to keep that traking movement updated?

Ok thanx