Configuring Project Templates to capture custom fields

[dan_linton]

There are 2 main scenarios when adding a new field to be captured in a project template. Typically, these newly fields are custom fields for a specific business purpose

1. Fields on the project record (pm_project)
2. Fields on the project task record (pm_project_task)

Note project templates can be manually adjusted to include fields, what we are intending to do here is to capture fields during the automatic generation of these templates. 

Steps to Update Template Definitions

1. Navigate to Template Configuration:
   1. As an administrator or pps_admin, go to Project Administration -> Settings -> Template Config. This will take you to the configuration settings where you can modify template definitions.
   2. The configuration table you need to update is project_template_config. Here, you will find records for various template elements.
   3. You will see projects and tasks (red box) and depending on what is installed you may see customer projects and task (blue box)  

1. To update Project Task Templates locate the records where the table is pm_project_task. Open these record and add your custom field names to the elements. Remember, you need to add the column/field name, not the label.
   1. Note for project task template you will have two records to update. This is for tasks what are directly under the project and the other being sub project tasks of project tasks.
   2. For customer projects do the same but look for table customer_project_task

1. To update Project Template in a similar fashion if you have custom fields on the project itself, locate the record referencing the pm_project table. Update the elements by adding the custom field names.
   1. For customer project tasks do the same but look for table customer_project

Important Considerations

When updating the template configurations, it is crucial to selectively include fields other fields typically should not be captured.

Exclude User References: Avoid adding fields that references the user table (sys_user) to prevent issues with user assignments.

Exclude Date-Based Fields: Date fields can lead to inconsistencies when templates are reused.

Exclude Lifecycle Fields: Fields that are part of the lifecycle of a record (state, phase) should not be included to ensure the integrity of project processes.

One last comment, by updating the definition, the stored templates will need to be recreated to include these new fields. The easiest way to do this is to capture the new template using the “Save as new Template” action on an existing project.