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3.1. New Project

Projects can be created manually or automatically, depending on your needs. To have Projects created automatically whenever a new Sales Order or Quote is entered, choose the appropriate setting in your system-level configuration. Otherwise, Projects will be created manually. Once created, Projects can be linked to Sales Orders, Work Orders, and Purchase Orders.

To create a new Project, select the "New Project" option. The following screen will appear:

Create New Project

When creating a new Project, you are presented with the following options:

Number

Enter a code to identify the Project.

Name

Enter a brief name to identify the Project.

Status

Specify one of the following statuses to characterize the Project:

Concept

Use this status to indicate the Project has not yet begun.

In-Process

Use this status to indicate the Project is in-process. Certain functions, like time and expense reporting, can only be performed against in-process Projects.

Complete

Use this status to indicate the Project is complete.

Note

Projects generated automatically when a new Sales Order or Quote is entered will be assigned the status "Undefined" at first. To remove this initial status, simply edit a Project and assign an appropriate status to it.

Project Type

Specify the Project Type.

Account

Enter the Account associated with the Project.

Owner

Specify the Project owner.

Assigned to

Identify the user assigned to the Project.

Due

Specify the date the Project is due.

Started

Specify the start date for the Project.

Assigned

Specify the date the Project was assigned. The Assigned date automatically populates when the a user other than the current user is assigned.

Completed

Enter the date the Project was completed. The completed date automatically populates when the document status is changed to "Complete".

Note

Subsequent changes to the above dates are tracked under the "Comments" tab as change log Comments. The changelogs include user and timestamp information.

Name

Use the lookup feature to add a new Contact or to select a pre-existing Contact linked to the CRM Account that the project is related to. Related Contact information will display below the name.

On the "Activity" tab, the following options are available:

Show Types

Select which of the following Project associations should be listed.

  • Sales Orders

  • Work Orders

  • Purchase Orders

  • Incidents

The following button is unique to this screen:

GANTT

Select to generate a Gantt chart bar chart to illustrate the Project schedule. The Gantt chart presents the Task completion time line in a graphical format.

To view additional information for the Project, select the "Additional" tab. The following screen will appear:

Additional Project Information

When viewing the additional information for a Project, you are presented with the following options:

Assignable Orders

Specify which of the following Order types can be linked to the Project.

Sales Orders

Select to indicate Sales Orders may be linked to the Project.

Work Orders

Select to indicate Work Orders may be linked to the Project.

Purchase Orders

Select to indicate Purchase Orders may be linked to the Project.

Summary

When viewing the time and expenses summary for a Project, you are presented with the following information:

Total Hours Budgeted

Displays the total Task hours budgeted for the Project.

Total Hours Actual

Displays the actual Task hours used for the Project.

Balance

Displays the balance difference between budgeted and actual Task hours for the Project.

Total Expenses Budgeted

Displays the total Task expenses budgeted for the Project.

Total Expenses Actual

Displays the actual Task expenses used for the Project.

Balance

Displays the balance difference between budgeted and actual Task expenses for the Project.

You can specify Customer and billing rate information by Project. To specify the Customer and billing rate information, select the "Billing" tab. The following screen will appear:

Project Billing

When specifying Customer and billing rate information, you are presented with the following options:

Customer

Enter the Customer you want to associate with the Project.

Use specified billing rate

Select if you want to specify a Customer billing rate for the Project. If not selected, the rate may be entered manually on Time Sheets.

Rate

Specify the Customer billing rate for the Project.

To add a description of the Project, select the "Description" tab. The following screen will appear:

Project Description

Notes entered here are displayed in the Description field when Projects are listed.

To add Characteristics to a Project, select the Characteristics tab. The following screen will appear:

Project Characteristics

To create a new Characteristic for your current context, select the NEW button from the Characteristics list. The following screen will appear:

Create New Characteristic

When creating a new Characteristic, you are presented with the following options:

Characteristic

Select a Characteristic from the list of Characteristics available for your current context. To learn more about how Characteristics are linked to specific contexts, please see Section 9.2.2.1, “Characteristic”.

Value

Enter a value to associate with the Characteristic.

Default

In some contexts, the default option will appear. Select if the Value entered is the default Value for the specified Characteristic. Default Values will always be listed first where Characteristics are used.

To add Comments related to a Project, select the "Comments" tab. The following screen will appear:

Comments Added to Project

When adding or reviewing Comments, you are presented with the following options:

Verbose Text

Select to display all Comments in the list in an expanded view which includes the entire text of each Comment. To edit a Comment, simply select the "Edit" link next to the Comment. That link will not be shown for Changelog Comments, which can't be edited. If the "Verbose Text" option is not selected, the Comment list will display only header level information for each Comment.

Comments

Display lists Comments related to the record.

The following buttons are available:

NEW

Opens screen for creating a new Comment.

VIEW

Highlight a Comment and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen.

EDIT

Enables you to edit highlighted Comments—as long as the Comments are not "ChangeLog" Comments. ChangeLog Comments are system-generated and may not be edited. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new Comment—except that when editing, the fields will contain Comment information. Double-clicking on a Comment will also bring you to the editing screen.

To enter a new Comment, select the NEW button. The following screen will appear:

Create New Comment
Comment Type

Select a Comment Type from the drop-down list to classify the Comment. This is a required step. Comment Types may be system-defined (i.e., "ChangeLog" and "General") or user-defined, as described in Section 13.2.2, “Comment Types”. Once you have specified a Comment Type, begin typing your Comment in the main text area. The text area features word-wrapping and scroll-bar support for longer Comments.

The following buttons are unique to this screen:

MORE

Select to show the complete list (i.e., "thread") of Comments associated with the record. To hide the list, simply select the SHOW MORE button again. The Comment thread will show the most recent Comment first.

To view the documents associated with a Project, select the "Documents" tab. The following screen will appear:

Project Documents

When associating documents, you are presented with the following options:

NEW

Select to create a new document and associate it with the current record. You may create the following document types:

Image

Select to create a new Image association.

Fixed Asset

Select to create a new Fixed Asset association.

Maintenance Order

Select to create a new Maintenance Order association.

Incident

Select to create a new Incident and associate it.

Project

Select to create a new Project and associate it.

Opportunity

Select to create a new Opportunity and associate it.

To Do

Select to create a new To-Do and associate it.

EDIT

Enables you to edit associated documents. The edit screen is the same as that for creating a new document—except that when editing, the fields will contain document information. Double-clicking on a document will also bring you to the editing screen.

VIEW

Highlight a document and then select this button to reach a read-only view of the "Edit" screen

ATTACH

Select to associate already-existing documents. The following document types may be attached: Contact, Account, Customer, Employee, File, Image, Incident, Item, Opportunity, Project, Purchase Order, Sales Order, Vendor, Web Site, Work Order.

DETACH

Highlight a document and then select this button to remove the association.

To associate already-existing documents, select the ATTACH button. The following screen will appear:

Attach a Document

When associating already-existing documents, you are presented with the following options:

Relationship

Indicate how the document is related to the current record. The following relationship options are available: Related to, Parent of, Child of, Duplicate of.

Type

Specify the kind of document you want to associate. The following document types may be attached: Contact, Account, Customer, Employee, File, Image, Incident, Item, Opportunity, Project, Purchase Order, Sales Order, Vendor, Web Site, Work Order. When associating Files, you will also be given the option to save the File to the database.

Tip

There is no file size restriction when saving Files to the database. However, excessively large files could cause storage and performance issues.

Document

Use the lookup field to identify the specific document you want to attach. The data entry options will vary depending on the document type you select.

To create recurring Projects, select the "Advanced" tab. The following screen will appear:

Project Advanced

When creating a recurring event, you are presented with the following options:

Recurring

Check this box if you want the event to repeat itself at regular intervals, using the frequency settings you specify below. Recurring events are generated when you run the recurring items utility, which is described in more detail here: Section 9.2, “Create Recurring Items”.

Every

Enter a number and select a unit of time to describe how frequently you want the event to occur. You can choose any regular schedule, ranging from once every 1 minute to once every 99 years.

From

Enter a date and time at which to start the first event. The default value is the time the screen opened. The "From" option only appears on some screens.

Until

Enter a date and time after which the event should no longer occur.

Create no more than

Enter the maximum number of future copies of this event you want the system to maintain. Whenever the Create Recurring Items screen is run, it will create up to the number you enter here.

Warning

If you delete all copies of a recurring event, the event will stop repeating even if the "Until" date has not yet been reached. xTuple recommends setting this to at least 2 to reduce the likelihood of deleting all copies of the event.

To view Email associated with a Project, select the "Email" tab. The following screen will appear:

View Associated Emails

When viewing associated Emails, you are presented with the following options:

Email List

Display lists associated Emails.

Email Body

The content of a highlighted Email will be displayed here.

Limit to

Specify the maximum number of associated Emails you want to be displayed in the Email list. If the list is extremely long, you may experience some slowness when opening the screen.

Load All

Select to load all associated Emails into the list.

Search

Enter a string of letters or complete words to search for matches in the list of associated Emails. The search will scan through subject lines, to addresses, and from addresses.

The following buttons are unique to this screen:

NEW

Select to send a new Email, using the default Email program on your computer.

PRINT

Highlight an Email and then select this button to print a copy of the Email.

REPLY

Highlight an Email and then select this button to reply to the Email's sender, using the default Email program on your computer.

REPLY ALL

Highlight an Email and then select this button to reply to everyone associated with the Email, using the default Email program on your computer.

FORWARD

Highlight an Email and then select this button to forward the Email to another person(s), using the default Email program on your computer.

ATTACH

Highlight an Email and then select this button to attach an Email associated with a Contact in your Contact list.

DETACH

Highlight an Email and then select this button to remove the associated Email from the list.