SG Project OnePage User Guide Simple Genius Software November 2012 Document Version 4.0.1
Table of Contents Overview...3 Introduction...3 Data Management...3 Key Concepts...3 12-by-12 Project Management... 3 Projects... 4 Tasks... 4 People and Owners... 4 Device Orientation... 4 Meet SG Project OnePage...5 Projects...6 Creating a Project...6 Editing a Project...6 Deleting a Project...6 Duplicating a Project...6 Importing a Project...6 Organizing Your Projects...7 Tasks...8 Editing the 12-by-12 Task Grid...8 Editing Task Costs...9 Moving Tasks...9 People...9 Creating a Person...9 Editing a Person...9 Deleting a Person...9 Organizing Your People...9 Sharing... 10 Preview...10 Email...11 Specifying the Email List...11 Export...11 Dropbox...11 VGA...12 File Sharing in itunes...12.xml,.sgp, and.pdf Files... 12 Inbox: The Email Inbox Folder... 13 Project.pdf: The Temp Project File... 13 Projects.sqlite: Backing up the SG Project OnePage Database... 13 Project Data Sharing Scenarios... 13 SG Project OnePage to SG Project OnePage...13 SG Project or SG Project Pro to SG Project OnePage...14 SG Project OnePage to Microsoft Project...14 Product Support... 15 Facebook & Twitter...15 Email...15 Page 2 of 15
Overview Introduction This guide describes SG Project OnePage for ipad and provides hints and tips for effective use of the app. Please email any questions, suggestions, and comments to sg@simplegeniussoftware.com. Data Management You may notice that there is no Save button in SG Project OnePage. The app saves all changes as you perform them so that you can exit and re-enter the app at any time without losing work. Also there is no concept of files or documents for saving your projects. This is because SG Project OnePage stores all data in a local database on the device. This also means that SG Project OnePage does not require a network connection to work. Sharing data is supported through creation of PDF and XML files and the ability to email those directly from within the app, save them for access through itunes File Sharing, or upload them to Dropbox. The XML Import/Export capability supports file-based integration with Microsoft Project and other applications that support the Microsoft Project XML format. The integration is limited to the features supported by SG Project OnePage. Key Concepts 12-by-12 Project Management SG Project OnePage uses a novel approach to documenting and managing projects called 12-by-12 Project Management, in which each project is represented on a single page, in a very specific format. The page has 12 horizontal rows that represent 12 tasks that make up the project plan. In the vertical direction there are 12 columns that define time blocks. Each Project has a start date/time, and a time scale. The time scale can be hours, days, weeks, months, quarters, or years. So for example one project may start at 10am on the first day of the year and run for 12 hours, and another project may start on the same date/time and run for 12 months. The 12-by-12 page format also supports planned and forecasted costs for tasks, green/amber/red status indicators, project objectives, and overall project status comments. The text fields in SG Project OnePage such as task names, project objectives, and project status notes are limited to two compact lines of text. This forces you to be very concise and choose each word carefully in order to communicate the full status. The Page 3 of 15
end result is a consistent, high level, and complete picture of the status of any project on one page that can be quickly absorbed by you, your boss, and any other stakeholders. For some projects, the 12-by-12 format will be adequate and a great tool for managing the project. In other cases the format is useful as a top-level reporting tool, where a more detailed plan is maintained in another tool, such as SG Project Pro. Projects SG Project OnePage helps you document and manage projects. You can create any number of projects. Typically the project data is entered directly into SG Project OnePage. It can also be imported from a file in a specific XML format. SG Project OnePage provides a PDF format that can be exported, emailed, or saved to Dropbox directly from within the app. Tasks Projects in SG Project OnePage use tasks to describe the project s time schedule. SG Project OnePage s 12-by-12 approach means that every project has exactly 12 tasks, and fits on one page. The tasks are shown as 12 rows on the page. Each task has a start and end date that specify the period of activity for that task. Each task also has a part that is done and a part that is remaining. The done part is shown in black and the remaining part is shown in blue. People and Owners In SG Project OnePage, the term owner refers to a person, typically a team member on your project team. The term owner is used to emphasize accountability. Each task in SG Project OnePage can have one owner assigned. Device Orientation SG Project OnePage only supports the Landscape orientation for your ipad (and Landscape Upside Down). This is due to the format of the 12-by-12 page layout. Also, the PDF files created by the app are always a single page and Landscape. Page 4 of 15
Meet SG Project OnePage The SG Project OnePage screen implements the single page, 12-by-12 design. About Button reveals the current version, a link to the OnePage User Guide & a way to submit comments. Project Button for creating, importing, selecting, & editing Projects. Indicate the green, amber, or red status of each task and project objective by tapping. Dates/Done toggle button sets the mode for tapping on the 12- by-12 grid, for setting the span or % done. Share Button for saving or emailing the current project in PDF, XML, or SGP format. Define success for the project with up to 3 compact phrases. Assign an owner to each task to ensure clear accountability. Document the current most important status points of the project using up to 3 compact phrases. The 12-by-12 grid provides a visual map of the start, end, and doneness of each task in the plan. Base Plan costs and Current Forecast are entered for each task, and OnePage sums them into a variance. Page 5 of 15
Projects Tapping the Project Button opens the project popover which supports creating, editing, organizing, and deleting projects. Creating a Project Tap New Project to begin creating a new project. This slides the Create New Project view into the popover, where you can enter a Name and other information for the project to be created. The Project Start Date defaults to Today but you should change that to the actual start date of the project by tapping the Set Date and/or Set Time buttons. You should also set the Time Scale for the project to Hours, Days, etc. Finally, tap Done to create the new project, which instantly becomes the current project and the popover disappears. Tip: carefully setting a start date/time and time scale for the project right when it is created will save work later on. Editing a Project To edit the information for a project, tap the arrow icon next to the project name. This slides the Edit Project view into the popover. Tip: changing the Scale for a project after it contains task data will cause the task start/end/done dates to be erased and you will need to re-build the 12-by-12 grid. The app will prompt you before doing this. Deleting a Project To delete a project, use a swipe gesture over the project name to reveal the Delete button, and tap it. Since deleting a project is a big step, SG Project OnePage then asks one more time if you are sure you want to delete the project and all its tasks. Duplicating a Project SG Project OnePage supports duplicating an entire project. If you need to manage a series of similar projects, creating a template project and duplicating it for each instance can save time. To duplicate an existing project, tap Project, then tap the blue arrow to the right of the name to edit the project. Tap the Duplicate Project button to create the duplicate, which will have (copy) appended to the end of its name. Importing a Project SG Project OnePage can import project data in specific XML file format or SGP format. Generally the file must have been created by exporting from SG Project OnePage in XML or SGP format or by exporting data from Microsoft Project in XML format. The file must be located in the SG Project OnePage Documents folder on your ipad. Files can be Page 6 of 15
moved in and out of this folder using itunes File Sharing. See File Sharing in ITunes for more information on file management. To import a file tap Import on the project popover, tap a file from the list to select it, and then tap Import. If a project with the same project name already exists, SG Project OnePage will ask whether you want to replace the existing project or make a copy. After importing, the newly imported project will automatically become the current project. To import a file from Dropbox, tap the Share button and select the Dropbox tab. Select the desired XML or SGP file and a Download button will appear. Tap the Download button and when prompted, select the option to import the project. Organizing Your Projects Group your projects using Categories for additional organization. This is a little tricky but worth the effort if you have more than a few projects. Open the Project Category Manager by first editing a project, tapping on the Grouping tab, and then tapping Configure Categories. Categories are shown on the left and you can select one at a time. The list on the right shows the Values for the currently-selected Category. The app is seeded with some sample Categories and Values to help you get started. Tap twice on a Category or Value name to edit it. Add, Delete, and change the Categories and Values to your liking. Most commonly you will only need one Category to organize your project list, but you can use multiple Categories if you want to view your project list in multiple ways. Tap Done when you are happy with your lists. Now that your Categories and Values are set up, you must set those values for each project. While editing a project, on the Grouping tab, tap a Category to select it, then tap the appropriate value for that project. If you have multiple Categories, select each Category in turn, setting the appropriate Value for each Category. Tap Done and then repeat for each Project. Now that your values are set, you can display your projects in a grouped list. Tap the Project button to show the list, then tap the arrow in the upper left corner of the popover. You will see some options for organizing the list. Tap on Group By and then tap to select a Category. Tap that arrow in the upper left again to exit. You will now see your list organized by Value within the selected Category. Note that you can also enter tags for each project on the Grouping tab, and use those tags to exclude projects from the Project List. Tags are single words and can be any words you want. For example you can type "pointless" into the tags field for some of your projects and then use the options to filter out "pointless" projects. Page 7 of 15
Also note the option to Include Archived Projects. This is the way to view your archived projects, as they are typically filtered out of the Project List. Tasks Each Project in SG Project OnePage has exactly 12 tasks that are created at the time the project is created. There is no option to add or delete tasks there are always 12. To edit the name of a task tap the name and the keyboard will appear. Each task name can be no more than 2 lines long. Dismiss the keyboard with the button on the lower right. To assign an Owner to a task tap the Owner cell and the Assign People popover will appear. Select the appropriate owner or add a New Person. Tap outside the popover to dismiss it. Tasks may only have one single owner the team member who is accountable for the task being completed. For more on creating, editing and deleting People, see the People section. Tap in the S (status) cell for a task to set its green, amber, red, or blank status. Repeatedly tapping the cell will cycle through those values. Editing the 12-by-12 Task Grid To indicate the time span of a task in the 12x12 grid, first make sure that the Dates/Done button on the toolbar reads Dates. Tap on one cell to indicate the start of the task, then tap a second time to indicate the end of the task. The span of the task will be shown as a blue bar. To lengthen or shorten a task, tap on the cells to add or remove. Note: the task span for a given task is always contiguous. Tip: to edit the task duration grid, the Lock button on the toolbar must first be set to the Unlocked position. The Lock button protects the grid from inadvertent changes, for example if you bump the grid with your hand or finger when you did not intend to. To indicate how much of a task has been completed at this point in the project, tap the Dates/Done button so that it is black and reads Done. Tap on the blue bar at the point up to which the task is complete. The bar will turn black up to that point. Tap to the right of the whole bar to set it to 100% Done, and tap to the left of the whole bar to set it to 0% Done. Tip: Use the Undo button to undo changes, but note that the app supports a limited number of undo levels, currently 24. Page 8 of 15
Editing Task Costs SG Project OnePage User Guide You may enter a cost for each task in the project. First enter a Planned cost by tapping in the field and entering whole numbers. The Planned cost will automatically be copied over to the Forecast cost. If you want to track Planned-versus-Forecast costs then you can later update the Forecast costs and SG Project OnePage will calculate the variance for the overall project. Planned: Forecast: Variance: Cost expected before the project started, often the approved budget Expected cost at this point in time, evolves over time as changes happen Planned minus Forecast. Shows in (red) if project is tracking over budget Moving Tasks Tasks in the plan may be moved up or down. To move a task, first select the task by tapping on the Task ID number (1 12), then use the buttons on the toolbar to move the task up or down. Tap the Task ID number again to de-select the task. People Tasks in SG Project OnePage may only have one owner designated the person accountable for the task being completed. Tapping the People field of a task row opens the Assign People popover which supports creating, editing, and deleting people. When first opened the popover presents a list of all current people. Creating a Person In the Assign People popover, tap New Person to begin creating a new person. This slides the Create New Person view into the popover where you can enter a Name, Email, and Notes for the person to be created. Tap Done to create the new person. Editing a Person To edit the Name, Email, or Notes of a Person, tap the blue arrow icon next to the owner name. This slides the Edit Person view into the popover. Edit the text as desired and tap Done to dismiss the popover. Deleting a Person When a person is deleted it is also removed from all tasks it may be assigned to. To delete a person, use a swipe gesture over the person s name to reveal the Delete button, and tap it. Organizing Your People Group your people using Categories for additional organization. This is a little tricky but worth the effort if you have more than a few people. Page 9 of 15
Open the Person Category Manager by tapping the Owner field of any Task, editing a person by tapping the blue arrow, tapping on the Grouping tab, and tapping Configure Categories. Categories are shown on the left and you can select one at a time. The list on the right shows the Values for the currently-selected Category. The app is seeded with some sample Categories and Values to help you get started. Tap twice on a Category or Value name to edit it. Add, Delete, and change the Categories and Values to your liking. Most commonly you will only need one Category to organize your people list, but you can use multiple Categories if you want to view your people list in multiple ways. Tap Done when you are happy with your lists. Now that your Categories and Values are set up, you must set those values for each person. While editing a person, on the Grouping tab, tap a Category to select it, then tap the appropriate value for that person. If you have multiple Categories, select each Category in turn, setting the appropriate Value for each Category. Tap Done and then repeat for each person. Now that your values are set, you can display your people in a grouped list. Tap the Owner button on any Task to show the list, then tap the arrow in the upper left corner of the popover. You will see some options for organizing the list. Tap on Group By and then tap to select a Category. Tap that arrow in the upper left again to exit. You will now see your list organized by Value within the selected Category. Note that you can also enter tags for each person on the Grouping tab, and use those tags to exclude people from the list. Tags are single words and can be any words you want. For example you can type "lazy" into the tags field for some of your people and then use the options to filter out "lazy" people. Sharing SG Project OnePage supports sharing project data in PDF, XML, or SGP format with the project team or anyone else by emailing, saving via itunes File Sharing, and Dropbox. Tapping the Share button reveals the Share Popover which supports Previewing, Emailing, Exporting, Dropbox integration, and VGA projector output. Preview Tap the Preview button of the Share Popover to preview a PDF version of the project. SG Project OnePage uses a fixed format for the PDF that is identical to the screen. Page 10 of 15
Email Tap the Email button of the Share Popover for email options. You must specify a file name for the email attachment and select either PDF, XML, or SGP format. PDF is a read-only format that most computers can display. XML is a data format and the XML files created by SG Project OnePage, SG Project, SG Project Pro, and SG Project Go can be viewed on another ipad, Mac, or iphone that has one of those apps installed, or another computer that has Microsoft Project installed. SGP is an extended data format that includes not just the project tasks and owners, but also action items and risks created by SG Project Pro. That format can only be imported by SG apps but is the best way to share or back up the full contents of a project. Specifying the Email List Enter a list of email addresses separated by commas into the Email To: field. SG Project OnePage will pre-populate the draft email with these addresses and also remember them for future use. To more quickly build an email list, tap the List button to reveal a list of Owners and check the ones you would like to include. Tap the Send Email button to open a draft email message with the PDF, XML, or SGP file attached. Edit the Subject and Body as desired then tap Send. Tip: Emailing from SG Project OnePage is disabled if there is no default email account set up on the ipad. If the Send button is not responding this is the most likely cause. Export Tap the Export button of the Share Popover for export options. You must specify a file name for the file and select either PDF, XML, or SGP format. Tap the Save Project button to save the file. The file will be saved to the SG Project OnePage Documents folder on the ipad and accessed via itunes File Sharing, or by Project/Import. Dropbox The Dropbox tab of the Share popover supports integration with Dropbox. To learn more about the Dropbox service please visit www.dropbox.com. Using Dropbox in SG Project OnePage requires that you first establish an account with Dropbox. Using Dropbox requires that your device have network access, so if you don t at the moment, the Dropbox tab in the Share popover will indicate this. Page 11 of 15
When you first access the Dropbox tab you will need to perform a one-time function to link SG to your Dropbox account. Click the Link Account button and enter your Dropbox account information to establish the link. Once your Dropbox account is linked, whenever you access the Dropbox tab SG Project OnePage will download the contents of your Dropbox. The SG interface to Dropbox allows you to upload a version of your current project in PDF, XML, or SGP, download and open an XML or SGP file, or perform a Full Backup of your SG Project OnePage data. You can also create new folders and navigate into and out of them. If you need to perform additional organization of your files on Dropbox you can use the Dropbox service directly through interfaces and apps available from Dropbox. SG Project OnePage will not automatically sync your data to Dropbox. You must upload and download each file as needed. You may share a Dropbox account with others on your team and use that as a way to share the latest versions of projects. VGA The VGA tab of the Share popover allows you to turn on and off the connection to a VGA projector connected to the ipad using the Apple VGA Connector. The projector must be turned on and active, and must support a 768x1024 resolution in order to function with SG Project OnePage. If an appropriate projector is found to be connected, an On/Off switch will display on the VGA tab to turn on/off the external display. The display on the projector is tuned for that display so there are some elements that don t display, but the projected display will track your view changes, scrolling, and data changes. VGA display is a great way to share a view of the project with a project team at a team meeting. With an ipad 2 or later, you may also use HDMI output to share your screen using a projector, but you still must turn the VGA on/off switch to the On position. File Sharing in itunes SG Project OnePage supports File Sharing through itunes. Here is how it works. Connect your ipad to a computer running itunes. Select your ipad under Devices and click on the Apps tab. Below the first section you will find a section called File Sharing. Select SG Project OnePage from the Apps list. A list of documents appears to the right. The next sections explain those files..xml,.sgp, and.pdf Files Files that have been Exported from SG Project OnePage in XML, SGP, or PDF format will show in File Sharing. You can drag these files from the File Sharing view out to your desktop for use on your computer. Saving a periodic copy of your project in SGP format is a handy way to back up a single project or take snapshots for later reference. SGP is Page 12 of 15
the most complete data format and contains all tasks, actions, risks, owners, and projects, but can only be opened with SG Project OnePage, SG Project Pro, SG Project, or SG Project Go. Inbox: The Email Inbox Folder This folder appears after you have received an email on your ipad with an XML attachment and tapped it to launch SG Project OnePage. The folder contains copies of all XML attachments you have opened. Project.pdf: The Temp Project File When you tap the Share button SG Project OnePage creates a temporary PDF file of the current project to support Preview. The PDF file is stored as Project.pdf. It is stored on your ipad in the SG Project OnePage Documents folder and visible in itunes File Sharing. The file always contains the most recent project that was Shared. Typically you can ignore this file. Projects.sqlite: Backing up the SG Project OnePage Database SG Project OnePage stores the data for all projects, tasks, and owners in a local database on the ipad. That database is a single file called Projects.sqlite, which is also visible in itunes File Sharing. You can use itunes to save a copy of that file to another location on your computer. The file is not readable by any other app or tool besides SG Project OnePage but it is exposed so you can make backup copies of your data. Making periodic backups is encouraged. The more important your project data is, the more important it is to maintain backups. Project Data Sharing Scenarios SG Project OnePage s ability to import and export data in XML supports project data sharing scenarios. The following sections outline each scenario and any limitations. SG Project OnePage to SG Project OnePage Sharing project data with someone who also has an ipad, Mac, or iphone with SG Project OnePage, SG Project, or SG Project Pro, or SG Project Go installed is most easily accomplished using Dropbox. Assuming you have a Dropbox account and have linked SG Project OnePage to use it, the interface is self-explanatory within the Share popover on the Dropbox tab. A second way to share data is by using email. Simply tap Share and email the current project in SGP format. When your friend receives the email, the SGP attachment will have an SG icon. Tapping and holding on the attachment and then tapping Open in SG Project OnePage will automatically launch SG Project OnePage and import the project data. If your friend already has a project with the same project name an option will be offered to overwrite the existing project or save the imported project as a copy. Page 13 of 15
This approach to project file sharing is quick and easy and shares the full breadth of project data, right down to the task bar colors. This is a great way for teams to communicate or for you to share the status of a project with your manager, customer, or other stakeholders. Tip: SG Project OnePage will not merge changes that have been made in parallel on two different ipads. For this reason one ipad should be considered to hold the authority copy at any given time. SG Project or SG Project Pro to SG Project OnePage Project files from SG Project (or SG Project Pro) in XML or SGP format can be imported into SG Project OnePage. Upon import SG Project OnePage will ensure that the imported project meets the constraints of the OnePage format. If the imported project has more than 12 tasks, OnePage will prompt you to select up to 12 tasks to be imported and the remaining tasks will be dropped. And in that case OnePage will also determine an appropriate start date/time and scale for the project. This integration with the other SG Project apps means that you can maintain a detailed project plan in SG Project or SG Project Pro, and periodically import the high level tasks from that plan into SG Project OnePage for stakeholder reporting in the OnePage format. SG Project OnePage to Microsoft Project The XML files exported by SG Project OnePage are stored in a format that can be opened by Microsoft Project. Use email, itunes File Sharing, or Dropbox to move the exported XML file to the computer where you need it, then launch Microsoft Project. Click File/Open and select XML Format from the Files of type: dropdown. Select the XML file then click Open. Page 14 of 15
Product Support If you need help using SG Project OnePage here are some sources: Facebook & Twitter SG Project OnePage User Guide Simple Genius Apps has a Facebook page. Sign up as a fan to get notified when new information is posted or post your own feedback or questions. http://www.facebook.com/simplegeniusapps Simple Genius Apps is on Twitter: follow simplegeniusapp. Email We always welcome questions or comments sent to sg@simplegeniussoftware.com. Simple Genius Apps, SG Project, SG Project Pro, SG Project Go, SG Project OnePage, SG Action Log, and SG Risk Log are Copyright 2012 Simple Genius Software, LLC. Apple, itunes, and ipad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Page 15 of 15