old Version 5.0.0

General

• You need at least macOS 10.11.6 to run Merlin Project Express.
• Merlin Project/Express 5 and Merlin Project/Express 4 documents are fully backwards/forwards compatible.
• The UI now sports a fresh, clean modern design.

Simplified style system

• You can now format table cells individually using the Format menu or the “For Selection” tab in the new styles editor.
• The new styles editor can also be accessed via the new paintbrush icon in the view toolbar.
• In the styles editor you can control the format of views in three basic ways via three tabs:
  • General: Here you set the basic format of a view.
  • By Rules: Here you can use dynamic conditions to set how the view format is to adjust automatically.
  • For Selection: You can customize the format for each row individually. You can reset these settings using the “Format > Clear Style” menu option.
• In each of these tabs, select the view elements to be formatted by clicking an overview graphic. You can also select alternative elements via the overlying popup button.
• The new styles editor now lets you control the content of the Gantt labels. Merlin Project Express 4 had its own contents inspector for this purpose. You can now access the new styles editor via the context menu’s “Style and Content” option. In doing so, the clicked element is preselected.
• If a value appears in gray in the new styles editor, this means it has not been defined explicitly in the edited rule or selection, but originates from another preset. You can access the location of this preset by right-clicking the setting label. If a value has been set explicitly, it appears in white and you can reset it by clicking the X icon.

Additional changes

• In addition to dragging and dropping them with the mouse, in the resources dialog of the main toolbar you can assign resources to the currently selected activities by clicking the new checkboxes.
• Resources have a new “Image” field into which image files can be dropped, such as an employee’s photo. These images are then displayed in the image column in the Resources view and optionally in the resources fields and columns of other views. For this purpose the field has the new “Images” format option. If you drag and drop macOS contacts in to the Resources view, their photos are imported automatically.
• The “Status” activity field now supports the format settings: “Automatic”, “Icon and Text”, “Text”, “Icon”, “Fill color”.
• If you are working in a project with no dates or dependencies, all activities are set to “Unscheduled”.