By default PPM creates tasks certain default values:
Planned Start/Planned Finish—Planned Start and Planned Finish are set to the current date (the date you create the task) unless that date is a non-working date based on the default enterprise workweek calendar. You can change Planned Start and Planned Finish by typing in a different date.
If you select a Planned Finish date that occurs prior to Planned Start, Planned Start is set to the same date.
Planned Start and Planned Finish determine what the task Duration is, unless you set the duration. For more information, see About Task Duration and Planned Work.
Note:By default, valid days for Planned Start and Planned Finish are determined by the default workweek calendar. You can specify a different task calendar if your PPM administrator has created other workweek calendars. You may want to do this if you know the task will be worked on by resources that can work on weekends, for example. For more information about calendars and tasks, see About Task Calendars.
Task Calendar—By default a new task is associated with the default enterprise workweek calendar. This calendar affects what days of the week Planned Start and Planned Finish can be set to.
You can specify a different calendar if your PPM administrator has created other workweek calendars. You may want to do this if you know the task will be worked on by resources that can work on weekends, for example. For more information about calendars and tasks, see About Task Calendars.
Task Type—The default task type is a Fixed Duration, non-effort driven task.
You can change this by adding a task in the Task List Add pane, or by creating a task in the Create New Task window. Any values you set for Task Type (including Effort-Driven) are retained for subsequent tasks you create (whether you use the Create New Task window, the Add Task pane of the project Task List, or the Gantt Chart).
This Task Type setting is a per-user default. This means that two project managers who set different task types will have different defaults when creating tasks in PPM.
Note: You can change a task type for an existing task by editing the task, but be aware that doing so may impact your schedule. You should not mix task types in a schedule, and you should not change types, once the schedule is set.