Wednesday, July 17, 2013

How to Promote a 2013 SharePoint Task List to be Managed in PWA 2013


Summary
Project Server 2013 has the ability to import a SharePoint Task List into the Project Server database for reporting purposes. The data will reside in the Reporting schema of the ProjectWebApp 2013 database. However, the SharePoint Task List is still edited on the site's Tasks list where it was created. 

Once the SharePoint Tasks list is imported into PWA,  the site will gain some additional Project Web App (PWA) features.  The list of features available for a SharePoint Tasks List are listed below:

•The SharePoint Project Site is the master for editing the task list.  
The Tasks list can be opened from the site into Project Professional 2013 in order to use Project's scheduling engine to calculate the project, for example, duration, dates and work.  The plan is then synchronized back to the Tasks list on the SharePoint Project Site.  
If changes are made to the SharePoint Tasks List while the list is also open in Project Professional, a conflict management dialog will help to resolve differences from the stand point of the SharePoint Tasks List being the master.Some scheduling engine features are not available, such as resources not authorized by SharePoint and cross-linked projects.
•A Project Details page is added to the SharePoint Project Site.
◦This page contains basic plan info such as Name, Description, Start Date, Finish Date and Owner
◦Enterprise custom fields can be created and marked for use with SharePoint Tasks Lists which then display on the Project Details page.
•Issues, Risks and Deliverables web pages are added to the Project Site for tracking these items related to this specific Tasks list.
To add a SharePoint Tasks List to a ProjectWebApp 2013 database for reporting, it is assumed that your site collection already has the Project Server 2013 service activated and at least a Project Center web part added.  For information on how accomplish these steps to enable the Project Web App features in an existing site collection see the following article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200305.aspx . Once the PWA features are activated follow the steps below to Add SharePoint Sites to the ProjctWebApp database.

1.Navigate to the Project Center page in your site collection as the Administrator
2.Click the Projects ribbon tab
3.In the Project section click on Add SharePoint Sites.  A dialog will display with a list of the Project Sites within the site collection that are available for import.
4.Select the SharePoint Site you wish to import.  You can choose to change the Project Name. Also select the Tasks list you wish to import from the dropdown menu.  Note: A Project Site can contain multiple Tasks lists, but only one can be imported per site.
5.Click Add
A queue job is submitted for each SharePoint Site that is imported. Once the queue job is complete the plan will show up in the Project Center page.

A SharePoint Tasks List plan that has been imported into PWA, can be promoted to an Enterprise plan, see More Information for details.

To promote a SharePoint Task List plan to use the full Enterprise management features, follow these steps:

1.Log into PWA as the administrator.
2.Click the gear in the upper right and click PWA Settings
3.Under Operational Policies click on Connected SharePoint Sites
4.Click the Activate button to the right of the project name you wish to promote.
5.The following message will display "This will set the tasks list in the project site to read only and allow project edits from Project Web App. Are you sure you want to change the project mode?"  Click OK.
To demote a plan from Enterprise management style to SharePoint Tasks List style follow these steps:

1.Log into PWA as the administrator.
2.Click the gear in the upper right and click PWA Settings
3.Under Operational Policies click on Connected SharePoint Sites
4.Click the Deactivate button to the right of the project name you wish to promote
5.The following message will display " This will disable the enterprise project features for project <ProjectName> and the SharePoint Tasks List will be enabled for editing. Are you sure you want to do this?" Click OK.
More Information
There are now two project management styles available when the Project Server 2013 service is deployed in your SharePoint 2013 farm.  They are called: 

•SharePoint Tasks List management style 
•Enterprise management style 
Listed above are the characteristics of a plan managed in the SharePoint Tasks List style once the PWA features have been activated.  A plan that is of the Enterprise management style will have the full set of PWA features available for scheduling plans and tracking progress as well as reporting.  In order to enable the enterprise management style you must have a PWA site provisioned within your site collection, not just the PWA features activated as with the SharePoint Tasks List style.  To install and configure a PWA site see the following article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee662109.aspx . Below are just a few basic PWA features available for enterprise managed projects, this list will help you to distinguish between the two management styles.

•The plan is editable in the PWA Scheduled web part.  The plan can also be opened in Project Professional for editing and synchronized back to the ProjectWebApp database using the full functionality of Project's scheduling engine, no limitations.
•A Project Site Tasks list connected to an Enterprise plan displays a yellow warning bar with the following message "This project can only be edited through Project Web App. Edit Project".  Edit Project is a live link that will take you back to the PWA Scheduled web part for editing.
•Timesheets can be used to update enterprise managed plans
•Any plan created from Project Professional connected to the server will be an enterprise managed project regardless of the EPT (enterprise project type) template used. The default template used with in Project Professional is set in PWA Settings, Enterprise Project Types.  
Enterprise Project Type vs. Management Style

This article has been discussing the two new project management styles that can be used in PWA 2013.  Do not confuse the management style with the template used for Enterprise Project Type (EPT). Management style has to do with feature capabilities and EPT has to do with which web pages will be displayed for the project in PWA.  For example: On the far right of the Project ribbon in PWA, the Change Project Type button is used to change the template that the plan uses.  If you want to change a project from a SharePoint Task List to a fully featured Enterprise plan you use the PWA Settings and Connected SharePoint Sites as discussed above.

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