Please tell me there's an easy way to do this

[slippymississippi]

I have a project server installed. All I want to do is add my eight
employees as users, then add them into the resource list, allocate them
from the resource list to tasks in my one project, then have them log
in to the project server over the internet and record time in the
timesheet view.

I have been staring at this thing all day. What am I missing? So far,
I have added them all as users ... then I attempted to add them into
the resource list. I was hoping that using the same name as the user
name (first.last) would do the trick, and indeed it seemed to work
because it said something to the effect "user will become an enterprise
resource."

But now what? I fumbled around and managed to assign myself to a task.
I can get on the project server and go to the timesheet view... but I
can't seem to enter any data in any of the fields except the "remaining
work" column.

My overall impression is that this entire process has been surprisingly
kludgy. Am I missing something?

 

[slippymississippi]

Okay, I realized that I can also alter the % completed in the timesheet
view. That seems a bit odd, because I have never seen "% completed" or
"remaining work" on any of my timesheets.



Is this how it's supposed to work? And do I really have to jump
through hoops like I'm doing to keep my project server clients
synchronized with the project server? This is a major pain in the
neck, to put it nicely.

 

[Marc Soester]

hi (e-mail address removed),

By the sounds of it you just installed Project Server and now by "try and
error" you actually try to discover Project Server functionality. This
approach seems odd to me, and you should expect that it takes some time to
discover functionality, but hey its your time. I will try to help you getting
onto the right path as much as I can.

first of all, within Project Profesisonal you will need to create what we
refer to as global resources. Only these resources can enter time. You seem
to have mastered this path ( eventhough there is an easier way to do so ).

In order for you to enter time against tasks, you will need to assign global
resources to your tasks ( Try to connect to Project Server using Project
Professional, go to Tools > Build Team from Enterprise). This will allow you
chosse your global resources. Then assign the resource to the tasks.

After this you will need to save the Project and then Publsih the Project to
Project Server.
To save simply go to (file > Save as) and give your project a name
To publish go to (Collaborate > Publsih > All Information) this will publish
the project to Project Server and make it accessable to Project Web Access.

Then you can see the tasks that are assigned to you in Project Web Access
(under the Task tab).

What my personal advice would be, buy yourself a project server book and /
or involve someone who has had experience with Project Server. There is much
more to it than it may seem

I hope that this helped a little,
Enjoy

 

[slippymississippi]

In order for you to enter time against tasks, you will need to assign global

resources to your tasks ( Try to connect to Project Server using Project
Professional, go to Tools > Build Team from Enterprise). This will allow you
chosse your global resources. Then assign the resource to the tasks.

I did this through Microsoft Project. However, this really seems like
it should be a function of the server. In fact, 90% of what I'm trying
to do seems like the function of the server, which is why I'm confused
that I'm paging back and forth from the client to the server over and
over again, then saving/publishing, etc. Then some things that I enter
into the server don't show up on the client, and vice versa. Given
that Microsoft Project is so easy to use, I'm frankly amazed that
server is so not.

I get the feeling that server was a sloppy back end that they slapped
onto an otherwise beautiful software product.

 

[Marc Soester]

Interesting point, but I dont see it this way at all. With MS Project you
have the ability to create great schedules and track these.
With Project Server you can actually manage Enterprise requiremetns like,
collaboration, risk and issue management, Timeentry, document managment and
many more.
As I mentioned in my last mail, I would suggest that you buy a Project
Server book. Try this Web Site, which has great references and these are the
guys that are famous when it comes to Project Server books
http://www.msprojectexperts.com

Have fun reading

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Marc --

Thanks for the kind recommendation, my friend!