In this article, we will review how to configure Project, Program, Portfolio, Resource, Business challenges, and Idea dashboard.
We will take the Project dashboard as an example, but the main set of settings is the same for all PPM Express pages.
All sections on the PPM Express dashboards can be opened in full-screen mode for better view and editing.
As for the changes that users make on the PPM Epxress pages, any State (Filter, View, Sub-view, Sorting, etc.) is saved immediately after a user makes a change. The states are saved and applied when the user leaves and re-opens the page, refreshes the page, logs out, and logs in again.
Configuring Project fields and columns
Most of the sections of the Project dashboard can be configured.
Statuses can be customized by opening the Configure menu from the Statuses section, for more details please refer to the "How to customize status categories for Projects/Programs/Portfolios/Tasks/etc" article.
Use either the Configure Columns button or the ellipsis button in the right part of the section title to configure the appearance of a specific section.
The Configure Fields/Columns menu is presented as a list of small boxes with fields where you can enable/disable the fields, rearrange the fields and create new custom fields. The information for each field (its type, if it is required, custom or system) is available on the field box.
If the field is enabled, it is moved up to the enabled fields automatically, so all enabled fields are displayed at the beginning of the field list.
A search option is available to find the field you need quickly.
As an example, let's configure the Details section on the Project dashboard.
To set up the required Project Fields navigate to the Details project section and open the Configure menu from the ellipsis button.
In the Configure Fields menu, you can select the fields you would like to be displayed in the Details project section.
Also, each project field can be edited if required. To edit the project field, navigate to this field and click on the pencil-like button.
When the field is opened for editing, you can decide if the field is required or not (some system fields are required/not required by default and cannot be changed), populate the description for the field, etc.
You can add your custom fields to the Details project section. To add a custom field, scroll to the bottom of the Configure Fields window and select the New Field option.
Please note: To create new fields on Project, Program Portfolio, and Resource dashboards, a user need to have Manage Configuration rights (for Resources, Manage Resources permission is required). These rights can be granted by the PPM Express Administrator via the People Management menu.
When a new field is created, it is enabled by default and marked as New, making it easy to find.
Custom fields can be deleted by clicking on the corresponding button next to it. The default fields can not be deleted.
Please note: If you delete a custom field, all data related to this custom field will be deleted (values in projects/portfolios, etc., this field will be deleted from the views and filters, etc.).
Users can add colors to the PPM Express system and custom fields of the 'Select' type. For example, the 'Project Stage' filed values can be colored by opening the field for editing and selecting the colors for each value.
When the colors are added, each stage will be colored accordingly.
The colored fields will also appear on the timeline tooltips and table views of items.
Please note: For Risks, Action items, Key decisions, and Key dates sections, the configuration of fields is shared between Projects, Portfolios, and Programs. If the field is added to any of these sections on the Project Dashboard, these changes will also appear in Programs and Portfolios.
Creating and applying layouts
PPM Express provides the ability to create and later apply a layout of the Project dashboard.
Please note: To create a new layout and edit the existing ones it is required to have Manage Configuration permission. To apply a layout, a user should be the Project Manager.
When creating a new layout or editing existing ones, it is possible to show or hide a specific section from the Project dashboard, and change its position by dragging and dropping.
You can also edit the name of each section, and populate the description by clicking on the pencil-like button next to it.
The sections can be expanded or hidden on the Portfolio dashboard. This setting is also available if you open the section for editing and can be saved to the layout and applied to other Projects. For more details please refer to the 'How to create and save layouts' article.
As you add the required sections to the project dashboard, they will appear in the left corner at once. You can switch between the sections using the section menu on the left to make the navigation faster.
When you are ready to configure Project dashboard sections by hiding existing sections or adding new ones, you can add the required fields (columns) to these sections. These changes will be saved automatically for the opened layout.
The default layout will be later applied to the Project dashboard of all newly created projects on your PPM Express tenant. Other layouts can be applied per project as required or can be applied to a number of projects at one go using the 'Bulk Edit' option that is available from the Projects page => table view.
Please note: Default layouts can not be deleted.
For more details, please refer to the 'How to create and save layouts' article.