Creating A New Project
To create a new Project click Start > Projects > Projects > New Project. You can create a blank Project or copy a Project Template. Click here [insert link] for more information about Project Templates. Choosing a blank Project will display the screen below.
- Name: The name of your Project
- Description: An overview of your Project that can be referred to later.
- Status: Select a status. This picklist can be edited in the ‘Project Statuses’ picklist within Configuration.
- Type: Specify the type of project. This picklist can be edited in the ‘Project Types’ picklist within Configuration.
- Settings: Allows you to select certain behaviours and values for your Project. The below table shows what options are available for both Simple Projects and Advanced Projects.
Settings | Sub-Section | Simple Projects | Advanced Projects |
Time Units | |||
Project Units | x | x | |
Task Units | x | x | |
Time Entry Units | x | ||
Task Statuses | x | x | |
Task Categories | x | x | |
General | |||
Task Behaviour | x | ||
Time Entry Behaviour | x | ||
Finance | x | ||
Time Categories | x |
Settings
While creating a Project you are also able to make changes to the Settings.
When looking at the Settings of a Simple Project you can change ‘Time Units’, ‘Task Statuses’ and ‘Task Categories’.
Time Units
Time Units enables you to specify what units are entered and what units are displayed. It may be easier to measure how the Project is being delivered in Days but your Project Tasks are shown in Hours.
With Advanced Projects you can also change the Time Units for when Users are logging time.
Task Statuses
Task Statuses allow you to track the progress of Project Tasks. The default statuses can be managed by a System Administrator (Start > Configuration > Customisation > Picklists and selecting ‘Project Task Statuses’). However, it’s common to want different Project Statuses on different Projects so click ‘Add’ to create more. You can create a Project Template for this type of Project where you choose the ones you want.
Task Categories
You may wish to classify Tasks depending on your needs. The default values can be changed within the Configuration (Start > Configuration > Customisation > Picklists and selecting ‘Project Task Categories’) by a System Administrator though you are also able to add more that are specific to the Project by clicking ‘Add’.
Task Behaviour
When starting a Project, you may want to add estimates for how long each Task will take. Selecting ‘Default Estimates’ means that the Estimates will match the Budget you allocate.
Some Task may take less time that expected to complete. The ‘Clawback’ checkbox means that the ‘Allocated Budget’ on a Task is reduced by the ‘Remaining Budget’ and the ‘Remaining Budget’ is reduced to 0. This makes that Budget available to be allocated elsewhere.
Time Entry Behaviour
A Project Manager may want to sign off on time that has been logged before it is marked as Delivered. Enabling this means that Time Entries need to be approved before appearing in the ‘WIP’.
Ticking the ‘Require Approval for Delivery’ checkbox means that Time Entries will not appear in the ‘WIP’ unless they’ve been approved.
Finance Section
Within the Finance Section you are able to set your Budget Type where you have the following options:
Rate Only – A rate for the project has been given but there is no agreed cap on the number of hours/days.
Price only – A set price is provided for the project. While a potential time frame can be given, if this goes over or under, the price remains the same.
Time and rate (Budget) – A rate is provided along with an agreed cap on the number of days/hours.
Time only – this allows you to track how long a project takes.
Tip
NOTE: The default is Time and Rate. If you will have a lot of Projects that will need a different Budget, it is suggested to create a Project Template with the one you need.
For more information about budgets please see our budget section.
Time Categories
For some Projects you may want to categorise how time is spent and mark if time is Chargeable or not. For example, some time that is being logged may not be chargeable as a goodwill gesture or you may want to redo some of the work. This tab allows you to create different categories and mark if they are chargeable.
Once a Project has been created, you will be taken to the ‘Main’ tab. The below table shows what other tabs will be available for Simple and Advanced Projects.
Available Tabs | Simple Projects | Advanced Projects |
Main | x | x |
Project Tasks | x | x |
Time Entries | x | |
Delivered | x | |
WIP | x | |
Team | x | x |
Budget | x | |
Activities | x | x |
Notes | x | x |
Comments | x | x |
Related Items | x | x |
Emails | x | x |
Files | x | x |
Project Team Members
The Projects ‘Team’ Tab allows you to easily manage and track which Users are part of the Project. Here you can Add/Remove Project Members and also control their Roles and Permissions within the Project. For example, your project team may have a Project Sponsor and Project Manager who will provide the direction of the project and make important decisions daily. These members will likely need full permission. Whereas a Resource manager may only need to be involved a lot in the beginning stages to make sure the right members are in the project team. For this reason, they may only need permissions to manage ‘Roles’ and ‘Members’. Participants on the other hand may only need permission to log time entries. All of this can be controlled in this section of the Project and will be described in more detail below.
Adding/Removing Project Members
When a new project is created, the User who created it will default to being the Project Manager and will hold all permissions within the Project.
To make managing the Project easier, within the Team tab you can add new project members by selecting the +Add Member button at the top left of the Project window as well as remove project members by clicking on the x on the right hand side at the end of the member row.