Learn four ways to create a project

Transcript

Creating a project from a template is one of the most popular ways to create a project, and it’s highly recommended if a template was previously created for the project you have in mind. We’ll assume that’s the case for now. To create a project from a template, go to the Projects page and click on New Project. Then click on New Project from Template. You can see there’s a Favorite Templates option as well. We’ll talk about that in a minute. In New Project from Template, you see a list of all the active templates that are shared with you. This can be a long list, so you can click on any template to see a preview summary to help you make the right choice. You get information like the duration, owner, a task summary, and custom forms. You can also see your favorites here, and you can add to your favorites from the other templates list easily. Or you can go the other way and unfavorite something from your favorites. Once you decide on which template to use, click Use Template to select it and move on to the next step. But we’re going to cancel out of this so I can show you a nice shortcut. Going back to New Project, now we’ll talk about Favorite Templates. If you already know what template you want and it’s on your favorites list, you can just select it from here and go directly to the next step. In this step, you’re going to fill out some initial information and then click on Create Project. It’s recommended that you at least change the project name. We’ll call this Test Project from Template. Everything else has been preset for you in the template. You can edit it, or you can accept it as it is and click on Create Project. You’ll still be able to edit any of these fields later if needed. To create a project from scratch, we’re going to go to the Projects area and click New Project, and now we’re going to select New Project. And we’ll name this Test Project from Scratch. We’ll click outside the Name Edit field to save the name. Then we’ll click on Project Actions and Edit. Creating a project from scratch means that you don’t have a template to help you. But you do have several defaults established by your group or system administrator that you can accept or change, like the condition type and initial status. One downside to creating a project from scratch is that you have to fill in all the right details like sharing options, custom data, portfolio and program. These are common differentiators that reports use to filter and group projects, and they’re normally preset for you if you’re using a template. But simple projects and projects you don’t want to have showing up on reports yet can easily be created from scratch. Click Save and you’ve created it. At this point, your project is only shared with you, and no one can see it except you and all the system administrators. To start adding tasks, just click here and create tasks just by typing in a name. Hit the return key and you can add another task. Click here to end adding tasks. The Name field is the only required field to create a task. Many other fields start out with defaults, like duration and planned hours, and you can edit them from here. Notice how the Due On Date recalculates when we change the task duration. There are other videos that go into great detail about creating and working with tasks, so we won’t get into any more detail here. Check out the links provided after this video. Copying a project has the advantages of creating a project from a template, except you don’t need a template. You just need a project you want to copy. We’ll copy World Cup Sweet Steaks Email Blast 1. Once we’re in the project, we click on the three dot menu and choose Copy. This brings up a page with some handy things you might want to copy or not. First we’ll change the name. We’ll change the status to Planning. That’s always a good idea. And then you can deselect any of the things that you don’t want to have copied, like maybe expenses. And click on Copy Project. The new project is created and you’re taken right to it. You’ll probably want to start by editing the planned start date. Go back to Edit. If you want to import a Microsoft Project file, make sure that you save it as an XML file in Microsoft Project first. Then you come here to the New Project menu and select Import MS Project. Click on Select File. You’ll be prompted for the XML file name. When you open it, the import will begin. Workfront will import the MS Project file as a new project. This feature was designed for people who are transitioning from MS Project to Workfront, so they can import any projects in progress and then begin working on them in Workfront going forward. Not all the information and settings in MS Project will carry over into Workfront. Comments, custom forms, and milestones will not transfer. You should set the status to Planning to give you a chance to review the import and make any edits needed before it goes live.