Project Wizard
Clicking Home and Create Project in the left navigation starts a wizard which will guide you through initial project elements.
Step 1: Select Project Style
You will be able to select a style which most suits your needs. Each style comes the a preset Overview including different elements of information about the project. For the Project Planner, the selection of Overview can be adjusted as needed, the remaining participants will use the Overview selected by the project planner.
Step 2: Participants
Step 2 in Standard edition: Contacts
In 'Search for an External Contact' box you will be able to search for Act! contacts and add them to your project. Once your project is created, you will be able to go to the Participants tab and generate links which allow your contacts to monitor the progress of the project. In Standard Edition Act! contacts are unable to edit the project but they can view the changes as the project progresses. You can decide to generate an email with a link for them, or you can simply Copy the URL.
Steps 2a and 2b in Team Edition: External and Internal Participants
Team edition allows you to cooperate with both external participants (contacts recorded in your Act! database) and internal participants (other Act! and Link2Project users).
Step 2a
In 2a step of the Wizard in Team Edition you will be able to search for external Act! contacts and add them to your project. Once your project is created, you will be able to go to the Participants tab and click share under each person's name to generate a link which will allow them to access the project. You can decide to generate an email with a link for them, or you can simply Copy the URL.
Step 2b
In 2b step of the Team Edition, you can Include an internal team member (other Act! user or Linktivity workspace member)
These team members will be added to your Participants tab. There you will be able to generate share links for them and deliver them by email or simply copy URL. Unless they are already set up on Linktivity, they will be required to enter their Act! credentials before they can work with the project.
Changes made by Act! contacts are recorded in Link2Project but, if the project is set up to make records in Act!, Act! Contacts' changes are first added to Project Planner's Act! Queue in Link2Project. From there the project planner can commit them to Act! under his name with Act! history showing both Project Planner's name and Act! Contact's name.
Step 3: Project Details
Project Details in Standard Edition
You will name your project and select start, and end date for your project, and Act! Opportunity settings. Act! Opportunity settings will determine if your project is recorded in your Act! database as an Opportunity and what information about the opportunity is synced into Act!. You can decide on:
- Opportunity Name
- Record Manager
- Process You will select from a dropdown which brings in processes available in your Act! database
- Stage is a dropdown cascading based on the selection you made you Process
- Automatically create Opportunity Products from Phases with cost value
- Automatically create Opportunity Notes when adding comments
- Automatically create Opportunity History when completing a Task
- Automatically create Tasks in Act! when adding tasks
Project Details in Team Edition
You will name your project and select start, and end date for your project, and decide whether you wish to receive email notifications when a new comment is entered for a task, or when a task is marked as completed. If selected, email notifications will arrive at the email address of the Project Planner. You will need to set up Act! Opportunity preferences next. Act! Opportunity preferences will determine if your project is recorded in your Act! database as an Opportunity and what information about the opportunity is synced into Act!. You can decide on:
- Opportunity Name
- Record Manager
- Process You will select from a dropdown which brings in processes available in your Act! database
- Stage is a dropdown cascading based on the selection you made you Process
- Automatically create Opportunity Products from Phases with cost value
- Automatically create Opportunity Notes when adding comments
- Automatically create Opportunity History when completing a Task
- Automatically create Tasks in Act! when adding tasks
Step 4: Phases & Tasks
Phases are larger blocks of each project. Smaller tasks and subtasks are grouped under phases (such as 'Planning' or 'Implementation'). In Step 4 you can create a phase by typing in a new name, or you can click Import Phase button to replicate a phase you used in a previous project. You will be offered a dropdown of existing projects, followed by a dropdown of phases. You also have the option of importing one of the predesigned templates. Each method allows you to add tasks to each phase by clicking Add Task icon. Clicking Create Project button will lead you to the Task List of the newly created project.
Last revised : 09.10.2024