M
Matt Kennedy
Ever wonder whether it might be possible to change the default Issue Entry
form, Risk Entry Form, or other aspects of the standard Project Workspace
that gets created by default with new projects? For example our company
wanted to have all new projects use an issue entry form that was much
different than the default form that comes with Project Server/WSS.
You many know how to do this but for me after posting a couple of questions
that wnt unanswered on these community forums, scouring the internet for
answers, spending much time on the phone with Microsoft support all to no
avail I am happy to report that much to the credit of our local Microsoft WSS
specialist we finally nailed it.
I thought I'd post the steps here in the event it will help others down the
road. I just tested it and we now get our companies custom issue form
automatically with the creation of each new project that is created in
Project Server (and associated project workspace).
The steps are as follows and could be used to customize other aspects of the
default site template including the default issues form, risk form, and any
other documents you might want included, etc.
*** WSS Project Template Customization ***
General - The customization of the WSS Project template is possible by
accessing the template itself. It is located in the file system folder PWA
and the template name is “Project Workspaceâ€. It is also possible to create a
new version of the template and use it as the default template with the
following steps:
1. Create a project WSS site as you normally would by creating a new project
with Project Server (this will use the existing Project Workspace template)
2. Customized the Site: Connect to this new project site and customize it to
meet your needs such as customizing the columns and settings on Issues and
Risks, add columns, create custom views, dd best practices documents, etc.
This can be done via Project Web Access> Admin> Manage Windows Sharepoint
Services> Manage Sharepoint Sites> Go to Site Administration (after
selecting/highlighting your site) > Modify Site Content. There may be other
more straightforward methods of doing this as well.
3. Save Your Customized Site as a Template:
3.1 Via Project Web Access> Admin> Manage Windows Sharepoint Services>
Manage Sharepoint Sites> Go to Site Administration (after
selecting/highlighting your site) >Go to Site Administration> Save Site As
Template and save your template using a name you'll remember such as
"test_template". Be sure to check the include content checkbox.
3.2 Click on "Manage site template gallery", and right click on your
template "test_template" and save it as .stp file somewhere on your C:\ or
shared drive using "Save Target as" with a name you'll remember such as
"test_template"
4. Go to a cmd line prompt of the WSS server box
5. navigate to %programfiles%\common files\microsoft shared\web server
extensions\60\bin
6. type stsadm.exe -o addtemplate -filename “\\your path
here\test_template.stp†-title “my custom templateâ€
Note: the path above is the location of the template file was saved in step
3.2. The title can be anything you want. Your may look like this:
Stsadm.exe –o addtemplate –filename c:\mycompany.stp –title Mycompany
7. You need to do an IIS reset after this process
8. Go back to Project Web Access> Admin> Manage Windows Sharepoint Services>
Manage Sharepoint Sites>Site Provisioning Settings – Using the dropdown box
next to Site Template select your custom template and click on “Save Changesâ€
(see screen capture)
From this point on, all Project Workspaces will be created using the new
custom site template with the custom issues form, risks form, documents, etc.
that you may have customized.
Good Luck!
form, Risk Entry Form, or other aspects of the standard Project Workspace
that gets created by default with new projects? For example our company
wanted to have all new projects use an issue entry form that was much
different than the default form that comes with Project Server/WSS.
You many know how to do this but for me after posting a couple of questions
that wnt unanswered on these community forums, scouring the internet for
answers, spending much time on the phone with Microsoft support all to no
avail I am happy to report that much to the credit of our local Microsoft WSS
specialist we finally nailed it.
I thought I'd post the steps here in the event it will help others down the
road. I just tested it and we now get our companies custom issue form
automatically with the creation of each new project that is created in
Project Server (and associated project workspace).
The steps are as follows and could be used to customize other aspects of the
default site template including the default issues form, risk form, and any
other documents you might want included, etc.
*** WSS Project Template Customization ***
General - The customization of the WSS Project template is possible by
accessing the template itself. It is located in the file system folder PWA
and the template name is “Project Workspaceâ€. It is also possible to create a
new version of the template and use it as the default template with the
following steps:
1. Create a project WSS site as you normally would by creating a new project
with Project Server (this will use the existing Project Workspace template)
2. Customized the Site: Connect to this new project site and customize it to
meet your needs such as customizing the columns and settings on Issues and
Risks, add columns, create custom views, dd best practices documents, etc.
This can be done via Project Web Access> Admin> Manage Windows Sharepoint
Services> Manage Sharepoint Sites> Go to Site Administration (after
selecting/highlighting your site) > Modify Site Content. There may be other
more straightforward methods of doing this as well.
3. Save Your Customized Site as a Template:
3.1 Via Project Web Access> Admin> Manage Windows Sharepoint Services>
Manage Sharepoint Sites> Go to Site Administration (after
selecting/highlighting your site) >Go to Site Administration> Save Site As
Template and save your template using a name you'll remember such as
"test_template". Be sure to check the include content checkbox.
3.2 Click on "Manage site template gallery", and right click on your
template "test_template" and save it as .stp file somewhere on your C:\ or
shared drive using "Save Target as" with a name you'll remember such as
"test_template"
4. Go to a cmd line prompt of the WSS server box
5. navigate to %programfiles%\common files\microsoft shared\web server
extensions\60\bin
6. type stsadm.exe -o addtemplate -filename “\\your path
here\test_template.stp†-title “my custom templateâ€
Note: the path above is the location of the template file was saved in step
3.2. The title can be anything you want. Your may look like this:
Stsadm.exe –o addtemplate –filename c:\mycompany.stp –title Mycompany
7. You need to do an IIS reset after this process
8. Go back to Project Web Access> Admin> Manage Windows Sharepoint Services>
Manage Sharepoint Sites>Site Provisioning Settings – Using the dropdown box
next to Site Template select your custom template and click on “Save Changesâ€
(see screen capture)
From this point on, all Project Workspaces will be created using the new
custom site template with the custom issues form, risks form, documents, etc.
that you may have customized.
Good Luck!