Download dp User Guide - v2.x - Section 4 Ancillary Modules

dotProject Version 2.0.2 Basic User Manual
Section 4: Project Elements – Ancillary Modules
De Bortoli Wines
Table of Contents
Ancillary Modules............................................................................................................................................. 2
Adding Documents and Files....................................................................................................................... 2
The Files Module.....................................................................................................................................2
Checking Out Files.................................................................................................................................. 3
Checking in Files..................................................................................................................................... 4
Working with Multiple Versions............................................................................................................... 4
Deleting a File or Version ....................................................................................................................... 5
Attaching a File....................................................................................................................................... 5
Project Forums............................................................................................................................................ 6
Filters...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Creating a Forum.................................................................................................................................... 7
Editing / Deleting a Forum.......................................................................................................................8
Description of the Topic Listing Screen...................................................................................................8
Starting Topics........................................................................................................................................ 9
Replying to Topics ..................................................................................................................................9
Deleting / Editing Topics......................................................................................................................... 9
mailto Link .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Watches (Forums and Topics) ............................................................................................................... 9
Interface to Projects / Project Tab...........................................................................................................9
Creating a Calendar of Events...................................................................................................................10
Monthly Display .................................................................................................................................... 10
Weekly Display .....................................................................................................................................11
Daily Display ........................................................................................................................................ 11
Creating a New Event........................................................................................................................... 12
Setting Up Invitee Lists ........................................................................................................................ 13
Handling Event Clashes ....................................................................................................................... 14
Suggest Alternative Time ................................................................................................................ 14
Mail Request ....................................................................................................................................15
Reoccurring Events .............................................................................................................................. 15
Deleting Events .................................................................................................................................... 16
Links Module..............................................................................................................................................17
Adding a Link........................................................................................................................................ 17
Non-Human Resources............................................................................................................................. 18
Setting Up Resources........................................................................................................................... 18
% Resource Allocation.......................................................................................................................... 18
Adding a New Resource...................................................................................................................19
Editing a Resource Entry..................................................................................................................20
Deleting a Resource......................................................................................................................... 20
Assigning Resources to Tasks..............................................................................................................20
Smartsearch Module..................................................................................................................................21
Ticketsmith / Ticket Module....................................................................................................................... 22
Add on Modules......................................................................................................................................... 22
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Section 4: Project Elements – Ancillary Modules
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Ancillary Modules
There are a range of associated modules within dotProject that add to the basic Project Management
functionality but are ultimately optional. This section of the manual discusses those.
Adding Documents and Files
Documents (or files) can be added to dotProject either as part of a general central file storage area or as
attachments to projects and/or tasks within projects.
The Files Module
When you access the files module, dotProject will display a listing of files.
At the top of the screen, there is a Filter that allows you to select a project changing the display to only
those files associated with the selected project. If a project is not listed in that Filter listing, then it has no
files associated with it at present.
As of dotProject version 2.0.2 these listings will be automatically broken into smaller pages of display to
ease use.
As with most dotProject displays, there are tabs that divide the view of files into the available file types. File
types are assigned to the file record as you generate / upload and you can modify them later using the edit
option if required.
Regardless of the tab selected there are a series of column's that list the associated files:
Edit File
This column will display a standard dotProject edit Icon (notepad and pencil) if the
file is available for checkout. If the field is blank then the file is not available for
editing or checkout.
Checkout /
Checkin Status
This column indicates the checked out status by displaying a CO if the file is
checked in and available for checkout OR CI if the file is checked out and not
available.
Checkout Reason
This column will display the reason the file was checked out - see Checking out Files
below for more details.
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File Name
Description
Versions
Task Name
Owner
Size
Type
Date
Name of the file as it was uploaded
Full description of the file as entered when the file was uploaded.
Indicates the total number of revisions or versions of the file that have been
uploaded.
This column indicates the task that the file is associated with.
This column indicates the name of the user that has a file checked out. If the file is
not checked out then the option CO will be displayed. If you have previously checked
out a file your name will not be shown but CI indicates that you can check in the
latest revision of that file.
Indicates the size of the file.
Indicates the mime type as established by browser at the time the file is uploaded. If
you require further information about the mime types applied (and hence the
applications that will be associated with the file if you chose to download the file please refer to your browser documentation or the web in general.
Date and time that the file was uploaded.
The latest version of dotProject incorporates a basic file version control system. This system manages
checking out and checking in files and associated locking of files.
When you list files available from a particular project, via the Files link (not the Files tab under a Project),
there will be three possible options / displays:
CO
CI
owner name
Check Out
Check In
If the file has been checked out by another user
If a file is checked out by another user then their name will be shown in the CO column and you will not be
able to access that file for updates (you will still be able to click on the filename and view the file) until it is
returned by the nominated user.
Checking Out Files
Checking out a file is done by clicking on the CO option in the CO column discussed above.
The top of the form shows the File Name, the Type, Size (in bytes) and the name of the user that uploaded
the file.
You then have a box in which you should record a reason for the checkout so that other users will know the
work that is being done with the file.
Click off the Notify Assignees of Task or Project Owner by Email option if you do not wish dotProject to
automatically send an email to advise that the file has been checked out.
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Clicking on submit will then allow you to download the file via your standard OS file browser.
You will need to keep track of where you download the file to yourself - dotProject does
not know that.
Once you have checked out the file, then the Checkout Reason will be displayed in the relevant column on
the main Files screen and the options in the CO column will update to CI (check in).
For other users accessing this screen - the name of the person who has checked out the file will be
displayed as well as the Check out reason.
Checking in Files
To check in a file that you have previously checked out, you should click on the CI option on the main Files
screen. This form consists of:
Version
Category
Task
Document version number
Select the relevant document category
Use this option to select the task that the new version is related to
Description
This field will automatically contain the existing document description which you can
update / overwrite for this version if required
Upload File
Using the upload file / browser combination locate the file that you wish to upload as
the new version
Final Version
Tick this option if this is the final version and the file should be locked for future
checkouts
Notify Assignees
Tick on or off depending on whether you want email advice to be sent
Once the new version has been uploaded, then the checkout flag, reason and owner will be reset and the
file display will return to indicating that the file is available.
Working with Multiple Versions
dotProject provides you with access to previous versions of files if required.
From the main File listing, if there are multiple versions of a particular file then this will be indicated by the
number in the Versions column.
This option displays a list of all the versions uploaded directly below the main files listing. The layout /
columns on this display are the same as the standard listing except that it does not include facilities for
checking out / checking in previous versions. You can, however click on the file name of any of the
revisions to display the contents of the file / version. Click on the version number again to remove this
listing.
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Deleting a File or Version
Click on the edit icon to the extreme left of any of the file listing (main listing or in the version listing) will
allow you to edit any of the header information stored against any of the files. You get that listing by clicking
on the edit icon beside the name of the file in any of the file listings.
Attaching a File
Files can be attached via the links at:
➢
➢
➢
➢
- new item - > File link
Main Project Detail Screen – new file option on the top right hand side
Main Task Detail Screen – new file option on the top right hand side
Files Module itself
dotProject provides a file entry screen:
Each of these fields is self-explanatory remembering only that you will not be able to select a specific task
to record the file against unless you first select a project. If you do not select a project (leave the default to
All) then the file will be listed in the main Files Module but not displayed specifically against any project.
Once you attach a file to a project, then the files will be listed on the File Tab on the Project Detail display.
If you have attached a file to a particular task, then there will be a paperclip icon displayed against the
filename in the priority column (P) on the main task display screen / Task Tab.
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Project Forums
dotProject incorporates a basic forums package for use in association with projects. The optional use of
forums within projects can provide a more free-form discussion platform than can be achieved with task
logs; provide an option for team members to discuss elements of the project or perhaps to simply post
announcements and updates on the project for access by all team members.
Filters
As with all dotProject displays, there is a filter at the top right hand side that will let you adjust the posts and
forums that you can access:
My Forums
My Watched
My Projects
My Company
Inactive Projects
List just the forums that you have created
List just the forums that you have set a watch on.
List just forums associated with projects that you own.
List just forums associated with projects that are recorded against the same
company that you belong to
List forums from inactive projects only
The main forum display (Forums from the options menu) provides a listing of all open forums (connected to
projects that you have access to). The details shown across the screen are:
Project Name /
Colour Coding
Edit Icon
The top line of each forum display shows the name of the project that the forum is
attached to and automatically shades that line with the same colour that is applied to
it's parent project
The standard dotProject edit icon is shown if you have permission to change the
forum details.
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Lightbulb Icon
The lightbulb icon is shown if the forum contains posts that you have not yet read
(the posts themselves have the same icon displayed beside their subject lines).
Watch
This box indicates the forums that you have ticked Watch on for - see Watches
below for more details
Forum Details
This section shows the name of the forum, the forum description and the Owner and
date the forum was created in three lines down the screen.
Topics
Replies
Last Post Info
This column shows the total number of topics in the forum
This column shows the number of replies on those topics
Shows the Date, time and a short synopsis of the last post in the forum, as well as a
quick visual summary of the number of days since the last post
From this screen you have the option of creating a New Forum using the link at the top right hand side of
the screen.
Creating a Forum
Forums are generated via the Forums module (from the
main module listing), new forum option on the extreme
right hand side of the screen. Click on that button to
generate your forum.
You will need to provide:
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Forum Name
Description
A name for the forum
Descriptive outline of the forum purpose
Related Project
Forums have to be attached to a Project, select the relevant project from your drop
down list
Owner
Select the name of the forum owner - at this stage forum ownership does not imply
any special permissions or access
Moderator
Nominate a dotProject user who will moderate the postings in your forum
Editing / Deleting a Forum
If you have permission to edit a forum, then the Edit Icon will be displayed beside the forum detail display
on the Main Forum display page.
Deleting a forum is done by selecting the forum you wish to delete, click on the edit icon to the left hand
side of the forum name. There is now a delete forum link on the top right hand side of the screen.
Description of the Topic Listing Screen
When you select an individual topic within a forum, the display screen will show that topic and any replies
that have been created. You'll also see a number of options between the forum summary and the actual
topic listing.
breadcrumbs
View
Sort by Date (desc)
The breadcrumbs at the right hand side of the options listing allow you to return to
the main Forum Display, return to the topics listing for this forum, create a PDF of
the forum topics.
There are options for controlling the topic view including Normal, Collapsed and
Single message at a time - these are options that you click on to select
Allows you to sort the view in descending order on date
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Post Reply
New Topic
Create a reply to a topic
Create a New Topic
Starting Topics
To start a topic you must first select the forum. You can then either create a new topic or reply to an existing
one (as we'll outline up next). To create a new topic you click on the start a new topic option (just under the
forum summary) and you'll need to provide:
Subject
Message
Subject line for the topic
Body of the topic
Use the submit button to record your topic.
At the top of this screen there is a date / time for the message, a Subject and Message box. These are
used when you are replying to a topic - see Replying to Topics for details.
Replying to Topics
To reply to any topic within a forum, firstly select that topic. A list of the original topic and any associated
previous replies will be displayed.
At the top right hand side of the listing of replies there is an option for Post Reply (in between Sort by Date
and New Topic). Click on post reply and the same screen as is used when creating a topic will be displayed,
only this time, the original topic will be displayed in the top part of the screen and the last reply will be
automatically incorporated into the Message box at the bottom (prefaced with > to indicate included text).
Type your response into the bottom message box according to the established protocol for your site (ie
some people may remove the text being responded to, others may choose to leave it in position). Use the
submit button to save your reply.
Deleting / Editing Topics
If you have permission to either edit or delete any particular topics there will be an edit icon (a notepad and
pencil) and a delete icon (garbage can) on the last line / right hand side of the topic. Click on either of those
to effect that action.
mailto Link
The user names included in the Detailed Topic listing is a mailto link - click on the user's name to send them
an email. The email you send will not be recorded in the forum.
Watches (Forums and Topics)
Watches can be placed on forums and topics by ticking the box either on the main forum display (against
the forum name) or on the Topic display (beside the topic subject). Once a forum watch has been set the
system will send an email advising you of any updates.
Interface to Projects / Project Tab
Once you have created any forums that are linked to a Project, dotProject will automatically include a
Forum tab on the main Project Detail display. You can use that tab to go straight to the project forums by
clicking on the name of the relevant forum.
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Creating a Calendar of Events
The calendar in dotProject is a combined diary and Project Task view.
Monthly Display
When the calendar module is selected, the default view will be the monthly view.
At the top of the screen there are two filter options that can be applied:
Company
Event Filter
Select the name of the company to only display entries that belong to that company.
All can be used to display details for all companies.
This option allows you to select a filter for entries to be displayed
At the top of the calendar month display there are left and right arrows that can be used to scroll forwards
and backwards through months.
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At the bottom of the month display the system will display the month previous and the following month to
the current display.
You can change the view from the monthly view to a daily view by clicking on the number of any day in
either the previous / current / next month.
When you are displaying tasks on a calendar - any view including at the top of the Today /
Tasks tab you will often see two instances of this task. This is because we display an entry
for the start date and an entry for the end date. If the task happens to fall on the one day then you see two entries..
Weekly Display
You can go to the weekly view by selecting the
week icon on the left hand side of the view.
Daily Display
The daily display is actually the Today view discussed in the Basic User Manual section of this document.
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Creating a New Event
There are two ways of entering a new event:
➢
➢
- new Item - > Event
New Event button on the Day / Today View of the calendar (access this view from the main calendar
by clicking on any of the dates on any of the months.
This form is completed as follows:
Event Title:
Type
Description
Enter the name / short description of the event
This is a drop down box with options that have been defined by your System Admin
or as part of the default setup of dotProject. Selecting an event type will alter the type
of image used to display the event on the main calendar view
Enter a full description for the calendar event
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Click this option to make the event private - in other words only viewable in the
calendar for the person generating the event.
Private Entry
Start / End Date
Start / End Time
Careful with this because even if you have assigned other people to the event if
private is ticked on, they will not be able to see the entry in their calendar.
These options will automatically default to the nominated date if the event is added
from the daily calendar view or to the current date if a new event is selected from the
module listing line
Select the required start and end times for the event
Recurs
This is a drop down box allowing you to nominate the re-occurrence frequency. See
below for more details.
x times
Use this field to indicate the number of re-occurrences required. See below for more
details
Resources / Invited
to the Event
Invited to Event
The Resource box lists all users recorded in your dotProject environment
Lists all the users that have been included in the event
Setting Up Invitee Lists
There are two lists at the bottom of the New Event screen which are used as follows:
Resources
Invited to Event
Automatically lists all active users on your current dotProject listing
Automatically displays the current user's full name on create a new event, and will
ultimately display all the users who have been invited to the current event.
To invite a user to the event (or remove a user from an event), highlight the user name (in resources or
invitees) and use the arrow keys at the bottom of the screen to remove or add them to the opposing list.
If you wish to send an email advising that the user has been added to an event - click on the Mail
Assignee's box or click the option off to not send out an email invite.
The email sent to the assignees will indicate whether this is a new or updated event and provide a standard
message in the format:
Event:
URL:
Starts:
Ends:
Project: Example:
Attendees:
testing
This is an appointment
22/10/2004 08:00 am
22/10/2004 05:00 pm
Type: General
Karen Chisholm
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Handling Event Clashes
Version 2.0 incorporates a facility for advising / managing event clashes alongside the ability to invite other
users to events.
To manage a timing clash, enter an event as per the instructions provided above. When you submit that
event dotProject will check all schedules of all invitees and if a clash is identified a summary of the clash will
be displayed for you to resolve.
This screen will indicate which invitees have clashing appointments at the time you have nominated and
provide you with the following options for resolving that clash:
Suggest Alternative
Cancel
Mail Request
Book Event Despite
Conflict
This option will look for the next available block of time (after the requested date /
time) that is available for all invitees.
Cancel the Appointment for all invitees
This option sends out a note to the invited users advising of the appointment details
so that separate discussion can be entered into for an appropriate time.
This will create an entry in all invitees calendars despite the clash
Click on any of these options to activate.
Suggest Alternative Time
When choosing Suggest Alternative time, firstly you will be given a screen to set the alternative time
parameters.
You can use this screen to give dotProject some parameters for the timeframe to locate an alternative time
within:
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Select the search period - either by entering an earliest date or a latest date. See
Earliest / Latest Date below for warnings.
Earliest Start / Finish
Time
Duration
Select the preferred time frame
This will automatically default to the length of the previous appointment in minutes.
Replace if required
Click on submit and dotProject will check within the timeframe you have provided and return to the Add a
New Event screen with a message at the bottom of the screen indicating whether your preferred
You should take care that you enter either an earliest date - in other words when to start
searching OR a latest date - in other words when to stop searching.
Mail Request
Mailing a request sends a message to all invitees associated with the event and cancels the appointment
entry, allowing the user to let those invitees originally intended for the appointment know that an attempt
had been made to schedule an event and asking them to contact the originator directly. The wording of this
message is similar to:
You have been invited to an event by <name>
However, either you or another intended invitee has a competing event
<name> has requested that you reply to this message
and confirm if you can or can not make the requested time.
Event:
<details>
Starts:
<date>
Ends:
<date>
Type:
General
Attendees:
<list>
Reoccurring Events
Setting up a reoccurring event requires that you establish the frequency of the re-occurrence and then the
number of iterations that are required. Firstly you will need to set up a standard event .
Make sure that you set it up as if it was a single event (ie do not set the start and finish
dates as if you were trying to stretch the event from the start and finish of the reoccurrence, otherwise you will find you have repeating entries in your calendar view.
You should set up the event as if it was a single entry and then use the re-occurrence settings to establish
the repeating sequence.
Set the Recurs field to one of the options in the drop down box. These should be self-explanatory
x times should be used to establish the number of re-iterations of the event that are required
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As an example, if you wanted to repeat an event monthly for the next 12 months you would set the options
to:
Recurs: Every Month x 12 times
Saving the event will perform the same clash checks that would occur for a single event.
If you choose to enter a recur period (weekly / daily etc.) and then do not nominate a x
times option then dotProject will just create a one-off diary entry.
Deleting Events
Once you have displayed an individual event - there will be a Delete Event option to the right-hand side of
the screen if you have permission to delete calendar events. Click on this to delete the event.
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Links Module
The links module is a useful central storage location for important web links which can be of use to all users
on your site or that provide supporting or extra information to the projects on your site.
You may wish to use the links module to store links to your Intranet, to your site's home page or to any
other important documentation or supporting information sites.
Links, as with files, can be attached to specific projects or can be general as in the All Projects example in
the example above.
In the event that you attach a link to a specific project, then a Links tab will be incorporated on the Main
Project View screen showing you the associated link.
Adding a Link
To add a link use the option at the top of the links module and complete the detail screen.
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Non-Human Resources
The resources module is used to set up non-human resources that can then be assigned to tasks as
required. Non-human resources are items such as equipment, venues, facilities and tools.
Setting Up Resources
Resources need to be recorded before they can be allocated to projects. The resource module
automatically controls the % of availability of the resource that can then be allocated across projects.
Clicking on any of the tabs gives you a streamlined view of resources - ie All (to see all Resources),
Equipment, Tools or Venues (to see just those items flagged as such). The tab (or resource types) are
configurable by your system administrator if you need to change them.
% Resource Allocation
When allocating resources to projects the total amount of allocation across all attempts to use the resource
will be checked against the resource availability.
For example if a resource is flagged as 100% available and 3 projects have requested 20% of that available
time then the total used time of the resource is 60%. If you then attempted to allocate this resource to
another project for say, 50% of the available resource then dotProject will not be able to allow that to
proceed. To release available allocation you must unassign resources from projects where they are no
longer required.
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Adding a New Resource
Clicking on the Add Resource button opens a screen similar to the following:
Complete the required details as follows:
Resource ID
Enter a unique identifier for the resource - could be a barcode / alpha-numeric code /
alpha code, whatever suits your requirements
Resource Name
Enter a Full Name for the resource - this will be the item that is shown in most
selection lists
Type
Select the type of resource from the drop down box
Use this percentage setting to dictate the amount of available time that this resource
can be allocated to task for. For example 100 would mean that the resource was
available 100% of the time to be allocated to tasks. Using 50 would indicate that
Maximum Allocation
there is a limit to the amount of allocation that can be made of this resource.
Percentage
Perhaps you would use this for something that was not 100% available to just
dotProject projects.
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Use this field to provide some sort of full description for the resource. This may be
useful, for example, to outline the facilities in a venue or the add on requirements for
a piece of equipment.
Notes
Editing a Resource Entry
Click on the resource name and dotProject will display the full details of that resource. There is an edit
resource crumb at the top of the screen which allows you to modify that entry as required.
Deleting a Resource
From the same view screen as mentioned above, there is a delete resource option at the right hand side of
the screen to remove the resource from the database.
Assigning Resources to Tasks
Once resources are available you can add them to any task within a project using the Task Add / Edit
function. You will see that there is a tab there for Other Resources, click on that and:
you will be presented with an option to allocate resources. As with human resources, select the percentage
required to allocate and the highlight the resource and use the > arrow to assign it to this task. If you wish
to unassign it then you just need to highlight it in the Assigned to Box and click the < arrow to unassign
(return it to the resources listing).
The Non-Human resources facility was actually developed for a project sponsor
according to their strict requirements – hence the use of the % allocation / availability
of resources which may not always suit everyone else.
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De Bortoli Wines
Smartsearch Module
Unlike the module specific searches incorporated on many of the main module displays, Smartsearch is a
separate module which provides a way of searching for strings through all dotProject areas.
Enter your search string in the search field and click on Search and dotProject will display a listing of all
modules including details of where your search string was identified.
From the above screen you can see that we searched for the word “example” and dotProject is showing,
per module, where that word has been found. You can search for multiple words if required. The search is
case insensitive, and at present wild cards (* % etc.) are not supported.
Each of the matches is automatically a link which you can click on to go straight to the item that was
located.
dotProject Basic User Guide – v2.0.2 compatible
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dotProject Version 2.0.2 Basic User Manual
Section 4: Project Elements – Ancillary Modules
De Bortoli Wines
Ticketsmith / Ticket Module
The Ticketsmith module is used to store incoming email requests and tickets that are lodged via a simple
entry screen as ad-hoc work requests. Ticketsmith is available from the dotProject menus but is currently
not tightly integrated into any other areas of dotProject and because of licensing difficulties and the fact that
the module was originally provided by another programming group who are no longer maintaining or
updating the module we are going to drop it from future releases.
HelpDesk is an add on module which performs similar tasks and is currently actively maintained.
Add on Modules
All of the functionality we have discussed up until this point relates to modules that we call “core” modules.
In other words, the software that comes with the basic dotProject installation files and is fully supported by
the core dotProject development team. All modules in the core release of dotProject relate to basic,
industry agnostic Project Management functionality.
Because there are some specific requirements that some industries and/or organisations have that can be
added to dotProject but are not strictly part of Project Management core functionality we support a spin off
project known as dotMods. dotMods is a freely available project that third-party developers can upload any
specialist modules they have developed that work within dotProject.
From the dotMods project we sometimes “promote” modules to the core – we're currently doing that with
the Backup Module. There are other active modules which may never be promoted but are frequently in
use such as the Help Desk module, Invoicing, Timesheets and so on.
There is also a downside to this in that some modules are made available via dotMods by their developers
who promptly drop all support for the module and allow them to stagnate. There are currently some
timecard modules, an inventory module and other odds and ends on dotMods which are languishing hoping
that some developer will take pity and update them to be compatible with later versions of dotProject.
The Help Desk Module has now been installed at De Bortoli's for use in managing some ad hoc,
unexpected requests, hence you will notice it on menus and possibly in project and task tabs.
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