Configuring and Administering Project Server

 Server  The Project Server administrator has permission to add, modify, deactivate, and remove user accounts; set database options; clean up the Project Server database; and control access to the Microsoft Project Web Access. The administrator can also customize the appearance of Web Access pages by adding a company logo, hyperlinks to other websites, or hyperlinks to other files on the network. The administrator defines roles, which limit available functionality, and categories, which limit views of project data.

The Administration Overview page, shown in Figure 20.7, is where you configure and administer all of Project Server’s functionality. The Project Server configuration options are grouped into 10 categories, each of which is detailed in the following sections. To access an administration category, just click the link.

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Figure 20.7: The Administration Overview page, where all configuration and administration take place

Managing Users and Groups

Probably the most important configuration and administrative function is that of creating new users. The administrator does this from the Users page of Project Web Access, shown in Figure 20.8. You open this page by clicking the Manage Users and Groups link on the Administration Overview page.

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Figure 20.8: Use the Web Access Users page to create new Project user accounts.

Note 

When you first access the Users page, information about you, the current user, is displayed. To display information about other users, pull down the Select a User list, and select another user.

Each person who uses Project Server must have a user account. Part of each account is the username (to identify a specific person) and password (to authenticate that person’s identity). Accounts can be created in a couple of ways, although the most common method is for the Project Server administrator to set them up in advance. If you’re the project manager, you can also create accounts for yourself and your team members from within Project, assuming that the administrator has enabled that setting for you. Creating an account isn’t as simple as entering a name and password, however. To ensure the security of your company’s sensitive project data, each account has certain permissions granted to it.

The specific data you see when you log on to Project Server depends on the role, and more specifically the categories, to which your account has been assigned. The assigned role and categories are collectively referred to as permissions, and these are typically set by the Project Server administrator. For example, those assigned to the Team Member category can usually do the following:

  • View their own task assignments and timelines

  • Send progress reports to managers

  • Delegate tasks to other team members (unless this setting is disabled by an administrator)

  • Access views for which they’ve been given permissions

  • Keep managers abreast of changes in their available working time

Users in the Executive Manager category can do all of this, but they may also have access to views on many different projects, even those with which they are not directly involved. Two other standard categories are Project Manager and Resource Manager, and, of course, your administrator can create custom categories.

It’s conceivable, even likely in many companies, that a person could serve different roles on different projects. For example, you might be an assigned resource (team member) on one project and the project manager on another. On the project where you serve as an assigned resource, you can view your tasks, your e-mail messages, and certain views of the project data on Projects X, Y, and Z. As the manager of Project Q, you can see all that, plus you can use the status reports provided by team members to update Project Q. Naturally, as project manager, you have access to all views and reports for the project you’re managing from within the Project file.

The Project Server administrator has the ability to add and delete accounts and set other users’ permissions. The administrator can even provide other users with administrative permissions. Those with administrative accounts have the ability to customize views, allowing users to see certain areas of projects, based on fields and filters. If you’re a project manager but not an administrator, you may have to coordinate with the Project Server administrator so that your team members have access to all the information you want them to see.

The Users page displays a list of users, how each account is authenticated, its role, and its status. You can use the drop-down arrows to filter any of the columns in the user table.

Adding a New User

To create a new Microsoft Project user, follow these steps:

  1. From the Administration Overview page, select Manage Users and Groups.

  2. From the Users page, click Add User.

  3. When the Add User page appears (shown in Figure 20.9), begin by selecting the desired authentication method—Windows Authentication or Microsoft Project Server authentication.

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    Figure 20.9: Adding a new user from the Add User page

  4. If you choose Windows Authentication, you need to enter the Windows User account, e-mail, and username. If you choose Microsoft Project Server authentication, you need to create a username and password; then enter the new user’s e-mail address.

  5. Select the groups of which the user is to be a member. The default groups are Administrators, Executives, Portfolio Managers, Project Managers, Resource Managers, Team Leads, and Team Members. Select the desired group(s) and then click the Add button. (Groups are discussed in the next section, “Choosing a Group.”)

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  6. Expand the Categories section and then select the category (or categories) that can be accessed by this user—My Organization, My Projects, My Resources, or My Tasks. (A category is a collection of projects and resources that a user or group is granted permission to view. Learn more about categories in the “Managing Categories” section later in this chapter.)

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  7. Within the Categories section, select which permissions are granted to the new user. Put a check mark in the Allow column to grant a permission; put a check mark in the Deny column to disallow a permission.

    Tip 

    In both the Categories and Global Permissions sections, you can set a list of permissions pre-defined for a particular user group by choosing a group from the pull-down list below the permissions list and then clicking the Set Permissions with Template button.

  8. Expand the Global Permissions section and then select which global permissions are granted to the new user. Put a check mark in the Allow column to grant a permission; put a check mark in the Deny column to disallow a permission. (There are lots of permissions in this; remember to scroll down to set them all.)

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  9. Click the Save Changes button.

    Note 

    You don’t actually have to set permissions for each new user you add. If you don’t specify any permissions in steps 7 and 8, the user will be assigned permissions according to their group. Any permissions you do specify on the Add User page override the default group permissions.

Choosing a Group

Within Project Server, users are assigned to one of several groups. A group is simply a collection of users who are assigned the same permissions; when you assign a user to a group, that user is assigned the group’s default permissions (unless you override them on the Add User page).

You use groups to quickly segregate the various types of users on your system. For example, senior management is typically assigned to the Executives group; individual team members are typically assigned to the Team Members group; and project managers are typically assigned to the Project Managers group.

There are seven default groups available in Project Server; Table 20.3 describes their categories and permissions.

Table 20.2: Project Server Default User Groups

Group

Categories

Permissions

Administrators

My Organization

Edit enterprise resource data Open projects Save projects See enterprise resource data See projects in Project Center See projects in project views See resource assignments in assignment views View documents and issues

Executives

My Organization

See enterprise resource data See projects in Project Center See projects in project views See resource assignments in assignment views View documents and issues

Portfolio Managers

My Organization

Edit enterprise resource data Open projects Save projects See enterprise resource data See projects in Project Center See projects in project views See resource assignments in assignment views View documents and issues

Project Managers

My Organization My Projects

Open projects Save projects See enterprise resource data See projects in Project Center See projects in project views See resource assignments in assignment views View documents and issues

Resource Managers

My Projects My Resources

See projects in Project Center View documents and issues

Team Leads

My Projects

See projects in Project Center See projects in project views See resource assignments in assignment views View documents and issues

Team Members

My Tasks

See projects in Project Center See projects in project views View documents and issues

You assign user groups when you create a new user account from the Add User page. You can change user groups from the Modify User screen, as discussed next.

Modifying a User Account

You can modify the settings of any user account at any time. For example, you can change the user’s permissions, or reset the password. Follow these steps:

  1. From the Users page, pull down the Select a User list and then select the account you want to modify.

  2. Click Modify User to display the Modify User page, which is identical to the Add User page in Figure 20.9.

  3. Change any desired options.

  4. To reset the password, click Reset Password to display the Reset Password dialog box; enter a new password, and click Save Changes.

  5. When you’re done modifying the account, click the Save Changes button.

Deleting a User Account

When you delete a user account, you are deactivating the account. It still appears in the user list, but the status is inactive.

To delete a user account, follow these steps:

  1. From the Users page, pull down the Select a User list, and select the account you want to delete.

  2. Click Deactivate User.

  3. A message box asks you to confirm the deactivation:

Click Yes, and another message box appears, confirming the update. The user still appears on the user list, but is inactive.

Note 

You can reactivate user accounts by selecting the account on the Users page, clicking Modify User, and selecting Active from the Account Status list.

Merging User Accounts

Project Server user accounts can be created by the Project Server administrator, by project managers (when they create a new project), and by other resources (when they delegate tasks to other resources). If everyone involved does not use a central naming convention when they create new accounts, a single resource might end up with multiple Project Server accounts, under different variations of his or her name. For example, the same resource might be listed as James Jones; Jones, James; and Jim Jones.

Tip 

As a Project Server administrator, you can restrict project managers and resources from creating user accounts. See “Managing Security,” later in this chapter.

When a person has more than one resource account, you can consolidate these accounts to prevent this person from having to log in several times to retrieve all their information. If more than one account has actually been used for a resource, before you merge the accounts, the project managers must make the required changes to their project files and resend corresponding workgroup messages. Only after this has been accomplished in all active projects should you merge the two user accounts, or these assignments will be lost.

To merge two user accounts, follow these steps:

  1. From the Users page, click Merge Users.

  2. When the next page appears, select the two users you want to merge from the two drop-down boxes. (After the merge operation, the new account will be the user account in the text box on the left.)

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  3. Scroll to the top of the page and then click Save Changes.

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Mastering the Opportunities: Account ID Methods

If you’re a manager creating accounts for yourself and your team members, you will be prompted to choose an authentication method for logging on to Project Server. Here are some issues to consider when making that choice:

  • The Windows Authentication method allows managers and resources to use the same username and password for Project Server as they use for logging on to the Windows 2000 Server. Messages sent through Project Server display the Windows username in the From field. With this option, you also have the advantage of being able to use Windows 2000 Server security features.

  • The Microsoft Project Server authentication method enables you to use the name stored on the General tab of Project’s Options dialog box—or each Project user can enter whatever name they like. In small companies, first names often suffice, which lends a personal touch to e-mail messages. Of course, standards must be established, or else you’re sure to see messages from the likes of Rich “Wild Man” Steinhoff. Naturally, team members must have Project installed on their workstations to pull usernames this way.

  • If your company is using mixed authentication methods for logging on, switching to strictly Windows Authentication invalidates all accounts using the Project username. The administrator, as part of the switch, must manually change the authentication method for each of these accounts to make them active again.

  • If the administrator has set up an account for someone on the team and has chosen to use the Windows account, and then a project manager sets up an account using a Project username, the user will end up with two user accounts. If this happens, the Project Server administrator can merge the accounts from the Web Access Users page, as described previously in this chapter.

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Managing Security

When you click Manage Security from the Administration Overview page, you’re taken directly to the Categories page, shown in Figure 20.10. From here you can perform three different security-related functions: add, modify, and delete project categories; add, modify, and delete security templates; and specify how users should be authenticated.

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Figure 20.10: Manage project categories from the Web Access Categories page.

Managing Categories

A project category defines which projects and resources a user or group has permission to view. Project Server includes four default categories, as defined in Table 20.4.

Table 20.3: Project Server’s Default Categories

Category

Assigned Groups

Can View

My Organization

Administrators Executives Portfolio Managers Project Managers

All available projects

My Projects

Project Managers Resource Managers Team Leads

All projects they manage or are assigned to All resources that they manage

My Resources

Resource Managers

Resources Summary only

My Tasks

Team Members

All projects they are assigned to

As you can see in Figure 20.10, the current categories are listed in a spreadsheet-like table at the top of the Categories page. When you select a category in this table, the description of that category is displayed beneath the table. For example, here is the detailed description of the My Organization category.

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Modifying an Existing Category

You can modify many different parameters for any existing category. To modify a category, follow these steps:

  1. From the Categories page, select the category you want to modify.

  2. Click Modify Category to display the Modify Category page, shown in Figure 20.11.

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    Figure 20.11: Edit the configuration of an existing category on the Modify Category page.

  3. Scroll to the Users and Groups section; then add or remove users and groups assigned to this category by using the Add and Remove buttons.

  4. Still within the Users and Groups section, edit the permissions associated with this category by checking the Allow and Deny boxes.

  5. Scroll to the Projects section and then select to include All Current and Future Projects or Only the Projects Indicated Below. If you choose the second option, use the Add button to add items from the Available Projects list to the Projects in This Category list. Just below these lists are check boxes for four universal options that you can enable for projects in this category.

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  6. Still in the Projects section, add or remove individual project views to or from the Project Views in This Category list.

  7. Scroll to the Resources section; then select to include All Current and Future Resources or Only the Resources Specified Below. If you choose the second option, use the Add button to add items from the Available Resources list to the Projects in This Category list. You can also choose any or all of three universal options.

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  8. Still in the Resources section, add or remove individual assignment views to or from the Assignment Views in This Category list.

  9. Still in the Resources section, add or remove individual Resource Center views to or from the Resource Center Views in This Category list.

  10. Scroll to the Project Center Views section and then add or remove individual views from the Project Center Views in This Category list.

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  11. Still in the Project Center Views section, add or remove individual Portfolio Analyzer Views from the Portfolio Views in This Category list.

  12. Still in the Project Center Views section, select to include All Current and Future Models or Only the Models Specified Below. If you choose the second option, use the Add button to add items from the Available Models list to the Models in This Category list. You can also choose either (or both) of the following universal options: Allow Users in This Category to View Their Own Models, or Allow Users in This Category to View Models Created by Resources That They Manage.

  13. When you’re done selecting the desired options, click the Save Changes button.

Adding a New Category

Adding a new category is much like modifying an existing category. Follow these steps:

  1. From the Categories page, click Add Category.

  2. When the Add Category page appears, as shown in Figure 20.12, enter a Name and Description for the new category.

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    Figure 20.12: Create your own Project Server user categories.

  3. Proceed through steps 3-12 under “Modifying an Existing Category” to configure the parameters of this new category.

  4. Click the Save Changes button when you’re done.

Deleting a Category

To delete an existing category, follow these steps:

  1. From the Categories page, select the category you want to delete.

  2. Click Delete Category.

  3. A message box asks you to confirm the deletion; click OK and the category is deleted.

Managing Security Templates

Each of the seven default user groups has its own default set of permissions that can be automatically applied when you assign a new user to a group. You can modify these default permissions—what Project calls security templates—by clicking Security Templates in the Options panel on the Categories page. This opens the Security Templates page, shown in Figure 20.13. From here you can add, modify, or delete individual security templates.

Modifying a Security Template

To modify an existing security template, follow these steps:

  1. From the Security Templates page, select the template you want to modify.

  2. Click Modify Template to display the Modify Template page.

    click to expand
    Figure 20.13: Use the Security Templates page to modify the default user group permissions.

  3. All available permissions are listed in the scrolling Permissions table. Check the Allow box to enable a particular permission; check the Deny box to refuse a permission.

  4. Click the Save Changes button when done.

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Adding a New Security Template

You create new security templates by copying and then modifying an existing template. Follow these steps:

  1. From the Security Templates page, click Add Template.

  2. When the Add New Template dialog box appears, enter the new Template Name and Description; then pull down the Copy Template list, and choose which template you want to copy from.

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  3. Click OK to create the new template.

You’re now returned to the Security Templates page. From here you can follow the steps in “Modifying a Security Template” to customize the newly created template.

Deleting a Security Template

To delete an existing security template, follow these steps:

  1. From the Security Templates page, select the template you want to delete.

  2. Click Delete Template.

  3. A message box asks if you’re sure you want to delete the template; click Yes.

The template is now deleted.

Managing User Authentication

The final security option in Project Server determines how the server authenticates users. These user authentication options are accessible by clicking User Authentication in the Options panel of either the Categories or Security Template pages. This displays the User Authentication page, shown in Figure 20.14.

Project Server users are authenticated in one of two ways. The first uses the existing Windows Authentication; the second is a dedicated Microsoft Project Server authentication. You can choose one or the other of these two authentication methods, or a mix of the two—which means users can use either method. This Mixed method is enabled by default. You select the authentication method in the first section of the User Authentication page, as shown in Figure 20.14.

Warning 

If you chose Windows Authentication Only, all current Project accounts will be disabled; if you chose Microsoft Project Server Authentication, all current Windows user accounts will be disabled.

The User Authentication page has two other security-related options you can configure:

Password Length Enter the minimum length that users must use for their passwords. Note that changing the password length affects only new users or existing users changing their passwords; it does not affect existing passwords.

Authentication Required When Publishing from Microsoft Project This option, when selected, requires Project to authenticate any project before publishing from that project.

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Figure 20.14: Set Project Server’s user authentication options.

After you make changes on the User Authentication page, remember to click the Save Changes button before proceeding.

Managing Views

Views are composed of a set of fields and filters that allows the user to focus on only certain areas of a project. This part of the configuration defines what views Project Server users can see in Microsoft Project, the Web Access Project Center and Resource Center, the Assignment display, and the Portfolio Analyzer. You configure these options by selecting Manage Views from the Administration Overview page, which displays the Specify Views page.

Note 

For more information on views, see Chapter 16.

As you can see in Figure 20.15, the Specify Views page displays a scrolling table of all available views, organized by type—Project, Project Center, Assignment, and Resource Center. You can modify or delete any of these views, as well as add new views that you create yourself.

Modifying an Existing View

To modify an existing view, follow these steps:

  1. Select the view you want to modify.

  2. Click Modify View.

    click to expand
    Figure 20.15: Use the Specify Views page to manage available Project and Web Access views.

  3. When the next page appears, as shown in Figure 20.16, you are presented with all the options that define the selected view—the View Type, the Table and Fields displayed, the Grouping format, and so on. You can change any of these options, except for the View Type.

  4. Click the Save Changes button when done.

    click to expand
    Figure 20.16: Edit any or all parameters for a specific view.

Adding a New View

To create a new view, follow these steps:

  1. Click Add View.

  2. The next page closely resembles the page you use to modify an existing view. Select the View Type, and enter a new Name and Description.

  3. Choose which options (Tables, Fields, Filters, and so on) you want for this new view.

  4. Click Save Changes when done.

Deleting a View

To delete any existing view, follow these steps:

  1. Select the view you want to delete.

  2. Click Delete View.

  3. When asked to confirm the deletion, click OK.

Importing Additional Views

You can import HTML, data access, and ASP pages you create in other applications to use as Project views. Follow these steps:

  1. In the original application, save the page you want to use in the \\Program Files\Microsoft Project Server\IIS Virtual Root\Views\Project\ folder in the Project Server computer.

  2. Switch to the Project Server configuration, go to the Administration Overview page, then click the Manage Views link.

  3. From the Specify Views page, click Get Additional Views.

Project Server now adds any new pages in the views folder to the views table.

Working with Project 2000 Views

In Project 2000, creating a new view required the creation of a data source name (DSN). Project 2002 does not have this requirement. If you have older Project 2000 projects on your server, you can still view their DSNs by clicking DSNs for Views in the left pane of the Specify Views page.

Managing Organization

When you select Manage Organization from the Administration Overview page, you can select the features and menus you want to make available to team members when they use Project Web Access. There are two pages of configuration options: the Features page, and the Menus page.

Configuring Web Access Features

The Features page, shown in Figure 20.17, is displayed when you click the Manage Organization link. The table at the top of this page lists the various features that can be made available to Web Access users. These features are organized into the following categories:

  • Account Creation

  • Admin

  • Collaboration

  • Enterprise Folio Management

  • General

  • Status Reports

  • Tasks

  • To-Do List

  • Transactions

  • Views

  • Workgroup

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    Figure 20.17: Select the features available to Web Access users.

To enable access to a specific feature, check that feature’s Allow box; to block access, check the Deny box.

This page also enables you to enter the intranet and extranet (Internet) addresses that will be displayed in all e-mail communications. Remember to click the Save Changes button when done.

Configuring Web Access Menus

When you click Menus on the left pane of the Features page, the Menus page (shown in Figure 20.18) is displayed. This page contains a table of available menu commands for Project Web Access. You can change the order, name, and URL of any menu item by entering new values into the table. You can also create new menu items by clicking Add Custom Menu. Click Save Changes when done.

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Figure 20.18: Customize your Web Access menus from the Menu page.

Managing SharePoint Team Services

Project Server can connect to a server running SharePoint Team Services. This is necessary if you want to support Project Server’s documents and issues features.

You manage the SharePoint connections by clicking Manage SharePoint Team Services from the Administration Overview page. This displays the Connect to Servers page. To add a server, click Add Server to go to the Modify Server Information page. Enter the technical information required and then click the Save Changes button to return to the Connect to Servers page.

The management of SharePoint Team Services is highly technical, and requires the provisioning and management of individual subwebs. All of these activities are accessed from the Options panel on the Connect to Servers page.

Warning 

The configuration of SharePoint Team Services should be attempted only by a qualified network administrator.

Managing Enterprise Features

To configure Project Professional’s many enterprise project management features, click Manage Enterprise Features on the Administration Overview page. This opens the Features page, shown in Figure 20.19, as well as the Enterprise Options list in the Options panel (on the left side of the page).

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Figure 20.19: Enable or disable selected enterprise features.

Features

The Features page, shown in Figure 20.19, enables you to turn on or off five different options:

  • Enable enterprise features

  • Allow master projects in Microsoft Project Server

  • Allow projects to use local base calendars

  • Enforce single currency as specified in the enterprise global template

  • Allow only Microsoft Project Professional to publish to this server

Update Resource Tables and OLAP Cube

Click Update Resource Tables and OLAP Cube (in the Options panel) to display this page, which allows you to build and update OLAP cubes. (See “Configuring the Portfolio Analyzer” in Chapter 22 for more information.)

Check In Enterprise Projects

Click Check In Enterprise Projects (in the Options panel) to manually check in projects that have been checked out by other users, but not yet checked back in. Select the project to check in; then click Check-In.

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Check In Enterprise Resources

Click Check In Enterprise Resources (in the Options panel) to manually check in resource that have been check out, but not yet checked back in. Select the resource to check in; then click Check-In.

Versions

When you click Versions in the Options panel, the Versions screen is displayed. This is where you add new version types to use when you save your enterprise projects. (See “Working with Project Versions” in Chapter 21 for more information.) The default version is Published, but you can add more versions by following these steps:

  1. Click Add Version to display the Add Version page, shown in Figure 20.20.

  2. Enter a name for this version in the Version box.

  3. Pull down the Version Archived list, and select whether or not you want files of this version archived.

  4. Pull down the Gantt Bar Name list, and make a selection. (The default name is Project Summary.)

  5. Click Save Changes to create the new version type.

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    Figure 20.20: Create new version types for your enterprise projects.

Customizing Web Access

Microsoft Project Web Access is the web-based component of Project Server that lets authorized users access project information using a web browser. Many facets of Web Access can be customized according to your company’s specific needs—including the Web Access home page, Gantt chart formats, and various notifications and reminders. You access all of these customization features by clicking Customize Microsoft Project Web Access from the Administration Overview page.

Note 

To learn more about using Web Access, turn to Chapter 22.

Tracking Settings

When you click Customize Microsoft Project Web Access, the Tracking Settings page (shown in Figure 20.21) is displayed. This page enables you to change the following Web Access settings. Remember to click the Save Changes button when you’re done.

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Figure 20.21: Change Web Access’s tracking settings.

Default Method for Reporting Progress on Tasks You can choose how resources report their progress on their assigned tasks: percent of work complete, actual work done and work remaining, or hours of work done per day or per week.

Lock Down Defaults You can allow project managers to change the method for reporting progress, or force managers to use the default method.

Time Period Settings By default, Project starts each week on a Sunday, and uses timesheets that span a weekly period. You can change the starting day of the week; whether timesheets span weekly or monthly periods; how many weeks are spanned in a timesheet; whether resources should report their hours worked every day, their total hours worked for a week, or their total hours worked during the entire time period specified; and the maximum number of hours that can be entered per day.

Define Current Tasks By default, resources see all tasks that are currently in progress, as well as tasks that are scheduled to start up to 10 days from the current date. You can change the number of days in advance that resources can view.

Gantt Chart Formats

Click the Gantt Chart Options link on the Tracking Settings page’s Options panel to display the Gantt Chart Formats page, shown in Figure 20.22. On this page, you can customize the shape, color, and pattern of each element in 19 different Gantt charts.

Tip 

Click the left arrow at the top right of the Options panel to hide the panel (and provide more room for the table); click the arrow again to show the panel. You can also drag the separator bar between the two columns in the Gantt Chart table, to see more of the left column—or use the horizontal scroll bar to scroll through all the options in the left column. If the number of elements is too overwhelming, pull down the Gantt chart list (which displays All Gantt Charts by default) and then select a specific chart to edit.

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Figure 20.22: Setting Gantt chart options for Project Web Access

To customize an element in a Gantt chart, click within the desired cell in the left table. This opens a pull-down list; make your selection from this list. Your changes are reflected in the right preview column. After you have made your changes, remember to click the Save Changes button.

Grouping Formats

Click the Grouping Formats link in the Tracking Settings page’s Options panel to display the Grouping Formats page, shown in Figure 20.23. Here you can select a grouping format for the Tasks section of Web Access, and up to 10 grouping formats for Web Access views. Click in any cell within the table to display a pull-down list of options; you can change grouping level, cell color, cell pattern, font color, and font style. Click Save Changes when done.

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Figure 20.23: Modify Web Access grouping formats.

Nonproject Time Categories

Project Server enables you to set up and specify categories of nonworking or nonproject time. These categories are displayed in users’ timesheets, in a special Nonworking Time section, and users are able to report time against these categories.

You manage these categories of nonproject time by clicking the Nonproject Time Categories link on the Options panel on the Tracking Settings page. This displays the Nonproject Time Categories page shown in Figure 20.24. Click in the table to enter a new nonproject time category, and assign it a numeric, text, or outline code. Click the Insert Row button to add new categories.

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Figure 20.24: Nonworking time categories can be created to suit your organization.

Home Page Format

You can add your own links and content to the Microsoft Project Web Access Home page. (This is the first page that users see when they log on to Web Access.) The links and content you add will appear in special sections at the bottom of all users’ home pages. This is one way to provide organization-specific information to all users, saving them from browsing or searching for the project information that you want them to have on hand. For example, you may want to add your company logo, important phone numbers, or links to related sites on the Web. Figure 20.25 shows a customized Home page that includes a page from a website.

You access the Home Page Format page, shown in Figure 20.26, by clicking the Home Page Format link in the Options panel on the Tracking Settings page. There are two sections on this page: Add Links and Add Content.

Adding Links

To add links to the Web Access Home page, follow these steps:

  1. Enter the name you want to appear in the Link Name column of the Add Links table.

  2. Enter the complete URL of the link into the URL column.

  3. Click Insert Row to add additional links; click Delete Row to delete links.

  4. Use the Up and Down buttons to reorder the links.

  5. Click the Save Changes button when done.

Note 

You must insert the full path for all URLs entered on the Home Page Format page, including the http:// or file prefix.

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Figure 20.25: A customized Web Access Home page that delivers consis- tent information to all users

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Figure 20.26: Use the Home Page Format page to customize your company’s Web Access Home page.

Adding Content

You can create a section on the Web Access home page to display other information that may be important to other Project users. This information must already be included on an intranet or Internet web page; in essence, you’re inserting a complete web page, or a graphic. Follow these steps:

  1. Enter the name for this new section into the Section Name column of the Add Content table.

  2. Enter the URL or path to the content into the URL/Path column.

  3. Enter the height of the new section, in pixels, into the Height column.

  4. Click Insert Row to add additional content sections; click Delete Row to delete sections.

  5. Use the Up and Down buttons to reorder the sections.

  6. Click the Save Changes button when done.

Notifications and Reminders

The final Web Access configuration you can make is to the e-mail notifications and reminders that you send out in the course of a project. To edit the default information in these e-mail messages, click the Notifications and Reminders link in the Options column of the Tracking Settings page. This displays the Notifications and Reminders page, shown in Figure 20.27.

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Figure 20.27: Use the Notifica-tions and Reminders page to configure the default informa- tion in your e-mail messages.

You can configure the following settings. Remember to click Save Changes when done.

SMTP Mail Server This is the address of the mail server you use to send your e-mail messages. (You can also configure the port used by this server.)

From Address This is the e-mail address displayed in the From field of all sent messages, and serves as the reply address. (This is typically your address, or the address of the project manager or administrator.)

Company E-mail Address This should be the host and domain portion of your company’s default e-mail address. (This address is appended to all user e-mail addresses.)

Default E-mail Message This is the message that will be appended to all notification e-mails you send; think of it as the “signature” for your messages. If you don’t want a message appended, leave this box blank.

Schedule E-mail Reminder Service Project Server includes an e-mail reminder service that scans the database at a specified time each day and then sends e-mail messages to remind users of any upcoming or overdue tasks and status reports. By default, this service runs at 12:00 midnight; you can select a new scheduled time from the pull-down list.

Managing Licenses

When you purchased your copy of Project Server, you also purchased a set number of client access licenses. If the number of users exceeds the number of licenses, you need to purchase more licenses. You can specify the number of licenses you’ve purchased (this works on the honor system) by clicking Manage Licenses from the Administration Overview page. When the Manage Licenses screen appears, as shown in Figure 20.28, enter the number of licenses in the appropriate box; then click the Save Changes button.

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Figure 20.28: Manage your Project Server client access licenses on the Manage Licenses page.

Managing the Project Server Database

The final configuration operation”and one you probably won’t have to perform at this early stage—involves managing the Project Server database. In particular, if the database gets too large, you may need to delete old information to create more space.

You manage the Project Server database from the Clean Up Microsoft Project Server Database page, shown in Figure 20.29. You access this page by clicking Clean Up Microsoft Project Server Database on the Administration Overview page.

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Figure 20.29: If your Project Server database gets too large, clean it up!

You can choose to delete Tasks, Resource Task Changes, Status Reports, and entire Projects and To-Do Lists. You can delete all items you select, or only those items associated with particular users. Just select the type of item you want to delete; then select the parameters for deletion (all items ever sent, older than a particular date, or sent between two particular dates). You can then choose to delete the specified item for all users, or to delete the specified items for a selected user. Click the Delete button when you’re ready to perform the cleanup.

Warning 

This action is irreversible. After data is deleted from the Microsoft Project Server database, there is no way to retrieve it.



Mastering Microsoft Project 2002
Mastering Microsoft Project 2002
ISBN: 0782141471
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 241

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