Easy Projects Custom Fields Infinite Possibilities

Transcription

1 Easy Projects Custom Fields Infinite Possibilities Custom Fields are the Swiss Army Knife of Easy Projects! They greatly extend the capabilities of Easy Projects enabling you to capture and report on any kind of mission critical information. Over the years, our creative customers have used Custom Fields in ways that we never thought of, simply and quickly, to solve a variety of business requirements. We also use them extensively to save time and integrate as much of our business directly into Easy Projects as possible. We ve collected some of our favorites to share with you! 1. Creating Custom Fields 2. Using Custom Fields a. For Projects and all Activity types b. For Customers c. For Users d. For Portfolios 3. Custom Fields in Reports 4. Custom Field Use Cases Table of Contents

2 Creating custom fields could not be easier: 1. Select Custom fields from your User menu* Creating Custom Fields * If you can t see this menu, ask your Administrator to turn on Manage System Settings in your Role Profile. 2. You can create custom fields for the following things: a. Project b. All Activity Types (Task, Issue, Request) c. Customer d. User e. Portfolio 3. Select the type of object you want to create the custom field for, e.g. Project 4. Click on the +Create new field button. 5. Fill out the new custom field form: a. Give it a meaningful name. E.g. Product ID b. Select the data type. You can choose from: i. Text ii. Number iii. Date iv. Yes/No v. List vi. Text Area or Text Area with Rich Formatting vii. Text Area with Rich Formatting viii. Hyperlink c. You can make it mandatory or limit it by Portfolio if desired 6. Click the Save button. Your brand new custom field is now listed in the appropriate section by type, e.g. Project section, and will now be accessible for use in the Activity Center and Report Generator.

3 For Projects and All Activity Types Using Custom Fields Using custom fields in the Activity Center is simple and intuitive! 1. For the purposes of this section we ll assume we are working with a Project custom field called Product ID. All of the other types applicable to this section (Tasks, Issues and Requests) are used in the same manner. 2. Navigate to the Activity Center 3. Choose your Views or Filters: At this point you can optionally select a pre-saved View or apply any other Filters you desire to only show the Project(s) that this field might be applicable to. We use Views extensively on the Easy Projects team to quickly access a set of related Projects or Tasks super helpful. 4. Once you have the Project(s) that you are interested in, click on gear icon in the menu bar to access the Field Selector. 5. In the Field Selector, on the far right, click on the Add a block of custom fields box. 6. In the drop down menu, click on the appropriate custom field e.g. Product ID 7. Note that you can add up to 2 custom fields per block to save space in your Activity Center. 8. Click on the gear icon again, or in the whitespace above the Field Selector to close the menu 9. In the Activity Center you will see your custom field has been added to the Project list. 10. Simple click into it to add or change the data. E.g. enter the Product ID that corresponds to this Project. 11. And that s it! It s also worth noting that you can filter the items displayed in the Activity Center by custom fields as well: 1. Click on the Funnel icon (right next to the gear icon). 2. Click on Custom Fields in the resulting menu. 3. Find the custom field that you want to filter by. 4. Depending on the type of custom field (text, date, list) you can now set some parameters to filter the results by, e.g. a date range to show. 5. Click on the Funnel icon to hide the Filter menu. You can also access the custom fields for Projects and Activities in their respective details pages where you can toggle between having them visible or hidden very convenient and clean.

4 For Customers Using custom fields with Customers is as simple as 1-2-3: 1. Click on Tools > Manage Customers in the Easy Projects menu bar. 2. Click on the Customer you are interested in. 3. At the bottom of the Customer form, find the custom field you are interested in and input the information. That s it! For Users Using custom fields with Users is essentially the same as for using them with Customers: 1. Select Users on User menu Settings (top right-hand corner) 2. Click on the User you are interested in. 3. At the bottom of the User form, find the custom field you are interested in and input the information. Success! For Portfolios Using custom fields with Portfolios is very much the same as with Customers and Users: 1. Click on Projects & Tasks > Portfolios 2. Click on the Portfolio you are interested in. 3. In the Custom Field section of the form, find the custom field you are interested in and input the information. Now take a break you ve been entirely too productive.

5 Reporting with Custom Fields So you created your custom fields and added some data to them it s time to gather some critical insights from all that information using the Report Generator. The Report Generator is an intuitive and powerful way of creating custom reports in just about any fashion imaginable all while being easy to use. We ve listed some great resources below to help you get up-to-speed but ultimately, we d recommend that you think of a report you d like to have and try and build it after watching the video tutorial. A full tutorial on the Report Generator is outside the scope of this document so for the fundamentals of using this excellent tool please check out the following: Report Generator Video Tutorial Report Generator Overview Documentation Report Generator: Data Sources Or shoot us an at success@easyprojects.net With respect to Custom Fields specifically the key is that they are all available in the Report Generator the world is your oyster. The screenshot below shows that my Product ID field is available along with all of the other fields that I might want to report on:

6 Custom Field Use Cases Support/Ticketing Custom fields can help support teams or departments that take in a high volume of small, one-off tasks. With a little effort, you ll be able to track individual ticket numbers and request types in addition to the standard EP features of due dates and assignees. Leverage creating issues via custom forms for maximum efficiency. Ticket Number Issue/Request Number Auto-increment ON Start From (Pick a starting value for your ticket numbers, e.g. 1000) Limit by Portfolio (If tracking will only apply to one project/department) Every time a new Issue or Task is created within the project, the Ticket Number will automatically be applied and increase by one. (e.g. Issue A has Ticket Number 1001, Issue B has Ticket Number 1002) Issue/Request Type Issue/Request List Include all major types of one-off requests your team handles to get visibility on where your team is spending the most resources.

7 Asset Management Use Custom Fields to keep track of files being stored in a separate location like Dropbox or Google Drive and their status. For best results, use Advanced Filters to search for the latest versions. Link to File Task/All Activity Types Hyperlink Hyperlink field type lets you click on an active link. No copy-pasting required. Last Updated Task/All Activity Types Date

8 Baselining Projects rarely go according to plan, which is why it s a good idea to record your original milestone dates separately using Custom Fields. This will allow you to compare your actual project timing versus your baseline. Original Start/End Date; Launch Date; Final Release Project Date Combine this with the Risk Management View (see Views document) for best visibility into upcoming risks. Product Management If you work with a variety of different products, then you re probably a good candidate for Custom Fields. Break products down into different sub-categories to get visibility into how many of each you re doing and easily find specialized projects. Make use of the Limit by Portfolio option to keep the sub-types appearing in other projects Product Type Project List Limit by Portfolio

9 Events Management Running events all over the country? Keep better track of your commitments by using location-based custom fields. Track individual venues or regions and track event types. Event Type Project List Limit by Portfolio This field works just as well in portfolios Event Location Project List Limit by Portfolio Track either individual venues or general operational areas. If you have a long list, just copy paste them into the List Options area for simpler setup