SharePoint (and Project Server) Shenanigans

I am a Project Server and SharePoint consultant but my main focus currently is around Project Server. I have been working with Project Server for nearly five years since 2007 for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the UK, I have also been awared with the Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011. I am also a certified Prince2 Practitioner. This article has been cross posted from pwmather.wordpress.com (original article)

This is a supporting blog post for a new JavaScript file I have published to the Microsoft Gallery, it can be downloaded here:

http://bit.ly/2cGoqxP

Microsoft recently removed the Last Logon details from the Manage Users page in PWA settings for Project Online – Microsoft’s PPM tool. This simple script is an alternative solution that will capture the last logon for the Project Web App users. It wont capture the last logon from Project Professional or if a user accesses the API’s etc., it will only capture the last logon from the page the script is added to. In this example I have added the script to the homepage, so if a user has the Project Center saved as a favourite link and bypasses the PWA homepage then their logon would not be captured. You could add the script to multiple PWA pages if required.

When a user accesses the PWA homepage for the first time that day, an item is created on the SharePoint list in the PWA site, it only captures the logon once per day. See an example on my demo instance:

It captures the user name, the logon data and the browser that was used. This list will need to be created manually with the following details:

List Name: PWAUsageList

Columns:

The LogonDate column setting defaults to Today:

Once the list is set up, upload the JavaScript file to a library on the PWA site then the script can be added to the PWA homepage using a content editor web part:

Reference the location of the PWAUsage.js file – in this example I added the JavaScript file to the Shared Document library in the PWA site, also notice the Chrome Type is set to None so nothing is visible on the PWA homepage.

That is it, it will now capture the users who access the PWA homepage. Once you have the data on the list you can then create a report for that data. I will publish a blog post in the next week or so that details this but for now here is an example report screen shot in Power BI:

Fully test this on a non-production PWA instance before rolling out to Production, the script is provided As Is with no warranties etc. Try it out and let me know what you think.

I am a Project Server and SharePoint consultant but my main focus currently is around Project Server. I have been working with Project Server for nearly five years since 2007 for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the UK, I have also been awared with the Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011. I am also a certified Prince2 Practitioner. This article has been cross posted from pwmather.wordpress.com (original article)

Yesterday saw the release of the Office 365 Project Time Reporter mobile app for Apple’s iOS, see the announcement here: http://bit.ly/2diXELX

This post gives a walkthrough on getting started and using the app on your iOS device. Firstly download the app for your iOS device from the Apple store:

Once completed locate the Project Time Reporter app:

On first launch you will be required to enter the Project Online PWA URL:

You will then see the login screen:

Enter your Office 365 credentials and click Sign In and you will see the loading screen briefly whilst the data is loaded:

Once completed you will see the Timesheet for this period:

From here you can enter the actuals as needed. Using the green control menu at the bottom of the app you can scroll between timesheet periods using the previous and next buttons, add a row, save the timesheet, send the timesheet or filter the projects. Using the ellipsis in the top right hand corner you can access other timesheet options such as refresh, go to current period, summary, send progress for all tasks or manage timesheets. The app menu in the top left corner enables you to access the app settings, here you can switch to the tasks view or see the app settings. Below you will see screen shots of some of these features.

Firstly the app menu screen, here you can view Timesheet, Tasks or Settings:

On Settings you can view the PWA URL and username and turn on two options:

I turned on the planned time in my app:

To enter time just click in the box for the day you want to add time to:

You can use the Save button on the green menu at the bottom of the app to save the timesheet or send the timesheet using the send button. If you have many projects on the current timesheet you can using the filter option:

If you want to send progress, click the ellipsis in the top right corner:

Here you will also see other options such as Summary:

Manage Timesheets:

On the timesheet view you can add rows using the Add button on the green menu:

We have focused on the Timesheet view here but there is also a Tasks view that is accessible from the app menu > Tasks:

You can change the view by clicking the Current Tasks heading:

You can access the task options to filter and sort the tasks using the ellipsis in the top right hand corner:

Selecting a task will take you to the task details screen:

To edit a task click Edit in the top right hand corner:

Make any changes as needed and click Save or Send.

Download it today and see what you think – it will make the timesheet / task update process so easy when you are on the move!

I am a Project Server and SharePoint consultant but my main focus currently is around Project Server. I have been working with Project Server for nearly five years since 2007 for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the UK, I have also been awared with the Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011. I am also a certified Prince2 Practitioner. This article has been cross posted from pwmather.wordpress.com (original article)

The Office 2016 September 2016 updates and cumulative updates are now available, please see the links below:

http://bit.ly/2cmIvEV

Project 2016 September 2016 update:
http://bit.ly/2cURd2F

SharePoint Server 2016 September 2016 update – Project Server 2016 fixes:
http://bit.ly/2cmImS1 & http://bit.ly/2cURbYB

The Office 2013 September 2016 updates and cumulative updates are now available, please see the links below:

http://bit.ly/2cmIvEV

Project Server 2013 September 2016 CU Server Roll up package:
http://bit.ly/2cmJsgD

Project Server 2013 September 2016 update:
http://bit.ly/2cUQoH9

Project 2013 September 2016 update:
http://bit.ly/2cmIBMO

Also worth noting, if you haven’t done so already, install Service Pack 1 http://bit.ly/1uorn2C first if installing the September 2016 CU.

The Office 2010 September 2016 updates and cumulative updates are now available, please see the links below:

http://bit.ly/2cmIvEV

Project 2010 September 2016 update:
http://bit.ly/2cmIe5b

As always, fully test these updates on a replica test environment before deploying to production.

I am a Project Server and SharePoint consultant but my main focus currently is around Project Server. I have been working with Project Server for nearly five years since 2007 for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the UK, I have also been awared with the Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011. I am also a certified Prince2 Practitioner. This article has been cross posted from pwmather.wordpress.com (original article)

A quick post, if you are finding that all of a sudden your project sites are failing to create with the error below:

CreateWssSiteContent: Creating project site failed! Project Uid= <site details> Microsoft.SharePoint.SPException: The site template requires that the Feature {e995e28b-9ba8-4668-9933-cf5c146d7a9f} be activated in the site collection. at Microsoft.SharePoint.Utilities.SPUtility.ThrowSPExceptionWithTraceTag

Chances are you using a custom site template and this stopped working within the last week or so. The feature ID SharePoint is complaining about is a “MobileExcelWebAccess” feature. This can’t just be enabled.

The fix is straightforward, locate the site which you used to create the site template and save that site as a template again with a different name / version then link this to the Enterprise Project Type/s. Repeat this for all custom site templates.

I am a Project Server and SharePoint consultant but my main focus currently is around Project Server. I have been working with Project Server for nearly five years since 2007 for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the UK, I have also been awared with the Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011. I am also a certified Prince2 Practitioner. This article has been cross posted from pwmather.wordpress.com (original article)

This blog post will show an option to capture Microsoft’s PPM Project Online data into a SharePoint list on a schedule to enable time driven data capture for snapshot / trend reporting capability. This example makes use of a PowerShell script I created to get the data and write this to a SharePoint list. The PowerShell script will use the Project Reporting OData API to get all of the specified project data in the PWA Site Collection then create a list item on the specified SharePoint list. The user setting up the script will need to update the source PWA instance URL, username, password and list name. The account specified will need access to the OData API in PWA and contribute access to the target SharePoint list. The SharePoint list will also need to be created beforehand with the required columns. The OData query will need to be updated to include the correct project level fields required and the part of the script that creates the list items will need to be updated too. This is covered below.

This script example can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/2bvkCvZ

To get the script to work you will need to reference the DLL as seen in the image below:

This can be installed from the SharePoint Online Client components / management shell. I used the dll from the SharePoint Online Management Shell in this example.

Please note, this has only been tested in PowerShell 3.0 and might not work in other versions. If you have any issues try this in PowerShell 3.0.

Firstly decide what project level fields you want to capture, this will determine the list column requirements. Then create the SharePoint list in the PWA site collection with the required columns, for this example I created a list called ProjectSnapShots with the columns below:

The SnapshotDate column was set to have today as the default value so that when the items are created the date is set automatically.

Update the Project OData query to include the correct fields that you want to capture, in this simple example I have included the following:

$url = $PWAInstanceURL + "/_api/ProjectData/Projects()?`$Filter=ProjectType ne 7&`$Select=ProjectId,ProjectName,ProjectPercentCompleted,ProjectHealth,ROI,RiskRating&`$orderby=ProjectName"

As you can see I have a list column for each project level field. The next part of the script that needs to be updated is the item creation:

This is where you map the project level fields to the correct SharePoint list columns based on the data you are capturing.

Also ensure the variables have been updated correctly, placeholder values seen below:

Save and run the PowerShell script (fully test on a non-production PWA site collection before Production) to ensure the data is captured correctly in the target SharePoint list. You could then set this up to run as a scheduled task on a local server or a scheduled WebJob in Azure to capture the data weekly or monthly etc. For details on a scheduled WebJob see: http://bit.ly/2c26tcj

Once the script is run you will see the data in the SharePoint list, below I have run this 3 times:

You could then create a snapshot / trend report as required from the list data and even join to the live Project OData API if you capture the Project ID as I have in the example script / list.

A simple time driven data capture to enable snapshot / trending reports for Project Online. This script could easily be modified to capture the data into a SQL database, either on-prem or in Azure SQL if required. Also if this was to be run in production the script should be updated for error handling with try / catch blocks etc.

The script is provided "As is" with no warranties etc.

I am a Project Server and SharePoint consultant but my main focus currently is around Project Server. I have been working with Project Server for nearly five years since 2007 for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the UK, I have also been awared with the Microsoft Community Contributor Award 2011. I am also a certified Prince2 Practitioner. This article has been cross posted from pwmather.wordpress.com (original article)

The Office 2016 August 2016 updates and cumulative updates are now available, please see the links below:

http://bit.ly/2aDN4JS

Project 2016 August 2016 update:
http://bit.ly/2aPUSvh

SharePoint Server 2016 August 2016 update – Project Server 2016 fixes:  
http://bit.ly/2aDNi3y & http://bit.ly/2aPUWLB

The Office 2013 August 2016 updates and cumulative updates are now available, please see the links below:

http://bit.ly/2aDN4JS

Project Server 2013 August 2016 CU Server Roll up package:
http://bit.ly/2aDNdx1

Project Server 2013 August 2016 update:
http://bit.ly/2aPULQv – link not live at time of writing

Project 2013 August 2016 update:
http://bit.ly/2aDMGv3 – link not live at time of writing

Also worth noting, if you haven’t done so already, install Service Pack 1 http://bit.ly/1uorn2C first if installing the August 2016 CU.

As always, fully test these updates on a replica test environment before deploying to production.