Project Tracking Error Message Prevention Question

[mdquizon]

The following message displays on occasion when we open a project: Your

Project Server's tracking setting was changed since you last saved this

project. To prevent the potential loss of actuals in you project, you
should avoid saving this project to Project Server. Contact your server

administrator to update Project Server with the actuals recorded in
your project.

I was told that this error message is caused by changing the
organization's default method of tracking progress and that all
assignments would have to be republished to prevent the error. I spoke
with the Project Server administrator and was told they change the
method of tracking for varying reasons on a frequent basis. Can
someone explain to me why some plans are impacted when the tracking
progress is changed and why some are not? And also, is there any other
way to prevent the above error message without having to repulish
assignments? We have several hundred plans in the database and
republishing them will be very time consuming if it must be done
whenever the tracking progress is changed.

Thanks!

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

mdquizon --

Your Project Server administrator and his/her bosses are nuts! Changing the
default method of tracking in Project Server on a regular basis is just
plain crazy. It results in confusion on the part of your project managers,
and will cause them to need to republish assignments in potentially hundreds
of projects. Beyond this, it creates even more confusion on the part of
team members, who must now master how to enter actuals using each of three
possible methods of tracking. I seriously disagree with your organization's
approach, and would strongly recommend that you pick a method of tracking
AND STICK WITH IT!

To answer your question, your Project Server administrator may not have
"locked down" the default method of tracking, which would allow every
project to use the same method of tracking, or a different one. If this is
the case, and a project uses the same method of tracking as the default
method of tracking, then the PM will not see the warning message. To
determine whether your administrator has locked down the default method of
tracking, open a project and click Tools - Customize - Published Fields.
Examine the top of the dialog and you can determine your organization's
environment. Hope this helps.