Project dashboard¶
The project dashboard allows you to get a comprehensive overview of your project’s status. It displays information such as the total number of tasks, timesheets, and planned hours linked to the project, as well as detailed information about project milestones and its costs and revenues. Within the project dashboard, you can create Project updates, which allow you to take a snapshot of the project’s status at a certain point in time. As such, it is a crucial tool for effective project management and ensuring that your project stays on track.
Using the project dashboard¶
To access the project dashboard, open the Project app and hover over the desired project’s card. Then, click the (vertical ellipsis) icon and select Dashboard.
The left side of the dashboard displays a list of existing project updates, and the right side provides detailed information about records linked to the project, as well as milestones, profitability, and budgets.
Note
The information displayed on the project dashboard varies depending on the applications installed on your database. For example, you will not see information about Timesheets, Planning, or Purchase Orders if the corresponding applications are not installed.
Milestones¶
This section is only visible if milestones have been created for this project. Click Add Milestone to create a new milestone. Click a milestone in the checklist to edit it, enable its checkbox to mark it as completed, or click the (trash) icon to remove it.
Profitability¶
This section only applies to billable projects and provides a breakdown of project costs and revenues.
Budgets¶
If a budget has been set for the project, its status and related details are displayed in this section. Click Add Budget to create a new budget for the project.
Note
Analytic accounting must be enabled in your database’s Accounting application in order for this section to be displayed.
Project updates¶
Project updates allow you to take a snapshot of the project’s overall status at a given point in time, for example, during a periodic (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) review. This allows you to compare specific data points, note any aspects of the project that need improvement, and estimate if the project is on or off track.
To create a new project update, go to the project dashboard, click New, and fill in the following fields:
Status: Choose between On Track, At Risk, Off Track, On Hold, and Done. Once the status is set, a color-coded dot is displayed on the project’s Kanban card, allowing the project manager to easily identify which projects need attention.
Progress: Manually input the completion percentage based on the project’s progress.
Date and Author: These fields are automatically filled in with appropriate information based on the user who created the update and the current date.
Description: Use this rich-text field to gather notes. Depending on the project configuration (e.g., if the project is billable), this field may be pre-filled with current information on aspects such as profitability, budget, milestones, etc.