How to Import Microsoft Project Tasks into a SharePoint Tasks List Using the Microsoft Project Add-In for PM Central

If you want to install the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in for Microsoft Project 2010, you can use the PM Central Setup program. In this article, we will walk you through how to install the Add-in from the Setup program as well as how to subsequently import tasks into a SharePoint Tasks list.

Please note: To install the Microsoft Project Add-in for PM Central, you must possess a copy of PM Central.  If you do not currently own PM Central, you can either click here to purchase a copy from our storefront or contact us to request a free, 30-day trial version. 

Installing the Add-in Using the Setup Program

If you want to install the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in for Microsoft Project 2010, you can use the PM Central Setup program. To install the Add-in from the Setup program:

1. Copy the product .exe file to the desktop machine where you want to install the Add-in. Double-click the file to extract its contents.
2. Double-click Setup.bat to launch the PM Central Setup program.
3. Click the correct version of the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in component in the left menu and click Install.
   • If you have the 32-bit version of Microsoft Project 2010, click Microsoft Project Add-in (x32).
   • If you have the 64-bit version of Microsoft Project 2010, click Microsoft Project Add-in (x64).

   To find out which version you have, open Microsoft Project. Under File > Help, the version is listed in the About Microsoft Project section.

4. After clicking Install, follow the prompts in the setup wizard. When the installation is complete, click Close.
5. In the Control Panel, go to Programs and Features. Verify that the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in is displayed in the list of programs. 

    

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Installing the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in Using the Setup.msi 

All current versions of the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in are included in the msi folder of the PM Central installation package.

To install the Add-in using the Setup.msi:

1. Run the product .exe file to extract its contents. Browse to the msi subfolder.
2. Copy the appropriate Setup.msi to the desktop machine where you want to install the Add-in.
   • If you have the 32-bit version of Microsoft Project 2010, copy Bamboo.MSProjectAddInSetup.x32.msi.
   • If you have the 64-bit version of Microsoft Project 2010, copy Bamboo.MSProjectAddInSetup.x64.msi.

   To find out which version you have, open Microsoft Project. Under File > Help, the version is listed in the About Microsoft Project section.

    

3. After you copy the file, double-click it to launch the setup wizard. 
4. Follow the prompts in the wizard to install the Add-in. Click Close after the installation is complete. 
5. In the Control Panel, go to Programs and Features. Verify that the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in is displayed in the list of programs. 

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Allowing Other Users to Use the Add-in

Note: Users must have at least the SharePoint Design permission level in order to import data from Microsoft Project.

When the Add-in is installed, it will only be available in Microsoft Project for the user who performed the installation. To allow other users on the same computer to use the Add-in:

1. Log in using a different user account than the one used to install the Add-in. Open any Microsoft application, such as Microsoft Excel. A pop-up is displayed: 
2. Click Install.

The other user accounts are now able to use the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in without having to perform the full installation.

In R4.0, you can also log in using a form-based authentication account.

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Importing Tasks from Microsoft Project into a SharePoint Tasks List

Note: Users must have at least the SharePoint Design permission level in order to import data from Microsoft Project.

Before you import task items into a PM Central Tasks list, make sure that the Task Master Web Part and your Microsoft Project file (mpp) have similar working hours and workdays, such as Monday-Friday, 8 AM-5 PM, lunch break 12 PM – 1 PM. Remember that the Task Master Web Part R3.5 does exclude lunch hours.

To set working hours in the Task Master Web Part, navigate to your project site and select the Tasks tab. For the All Tasks, Overdue Tasks, and My Tasks tabs, click the arrow on the right to edit the Web Part and open the configuration tool pane. Scroll down to Working Hours Settings and verify that your Workdays and Working Hours match your Microsoft Project workdays and working hours. If you are including holidays in Microsoft Project, you can do the same in the Task Master Web Part. Add your holidays to a SharePoint Calendar list and specify that list in the Holiday List Settings. When you have made all required changes to the Task Master Web Part settings, click Apply and then OK.

For more information about changing Task Master Working Hours Settings and Holiday List Settings, see Configuring SharePoint Task Master in the Task Master online documentation. For more information about changing Microsoft Project working hours, see Set working times, vacations, and holidays for your project on Microsoft.com.

To import tasks into a SharePoint Tasks list:

• In Microsoft Project, open the .mpp file that contains the list of tasks you want to import into SharePoint. In the PM Central Add-In tab in the Ribbon, click the Import to SharePoint Tasks List button.

• Enter the URL of the SharePoint site where the destination Task list is located and enter the login information for a SharePoint account with the Design permission level on the site. Click Connect.

• In the Bamboo Microsoft Project Add-in screen, select Actions > Import Wizard.

• In the Mapping Fields window, select a mapping option:
  – Automatic Map With PM Central Tasks List will map fields from the PM Central Tasks list to Microsoft Project as shown in the table in step 5. This is the recommended option.
  – Manual Map lets you select the fields to map. If you choose this option, select the Tasks list in the Map Source Fields to SharePoint List Columns drop-down menu.
  – Create New List and Automatic Map creates a new Tasks list using the field map shown in the table in step 5. This option is not recommended for importing tasks to PM Central. 
• If you elected to map fields manually, use the table below to map SharePoint fields to the Microsoft Project source field. Only the fields in the table can be mapped to import data. Click Next.
  

  SharePoint Field	MS Project Source Field
  Title	Name
  Priority	Priority
  Status	Status
  % Complete	PercentComplete
  Assigned To	ResourceNames
  Resource	ResourceNames
  Assignment Units	Assigments
  Start Date	Start
  Due Date	Finish
  Constraint Type	ConstraintType
  Constraint Date	ConstraintDate
  Work	Work
  Actual Work	ActualWork
  Remaining Work	RemainingWork
  Parent Task	OutlineParent
  Predecessor Task	Predecessor Tasks
  Milestone	Milestone
  Cost (Enter)	Cost
  Actual Cost (Enter)	ActualCost
  Remaining Cost (Enter)	RemainingCost
  Duration	Duration
  Project Name	Project
  WBS	WBS

  Notes:

  • Make sure to map the SharePoint Parent Task and Predecessor Task fields to the MS Project OutlineParent and PredecessorTask fields, as shown in the table above. These fields define the task outline.
  • Tasks with multiple predecessors can be imported, if your SharePoint task list is configured to support them. For more information about configuring your PM Central Tasks list to support multiple predecessors, see Configuring Multiple Predecessors in the SharePoint Task Master online documentation.
  • You can map the Resource Names to Assigned To or Resource Names to Resource. If you are using the Resource Pool, map Resource Names from Microsoft Project to PM Central Tasks List. Make sure the resources from the Enterprise Resource Pool (ERP) from the portfolio are added to the Contacts list at the project first prior to import.
  • You can also map Assignments from Microsoft Project to Assignment Units.
  • The Task Master Web Part does not support lag time. If you import a Microsoft Project task with a constraint that includes lag time (such as “+3days”), the lag time will be ignored.
  • The PM Central Tasks list columns Cost, Actual Cost, and Remaining Cost are Calculated columns. Therefore, map the Microsoft Project columns with these names to the Tasks list columns Cost (Enter), Actual Cost (Enter), and Remaining Cost (Enter), which are Currency columns. After the import, the calculated columns will be updated to reflect the imported cost data.

   

Choose a method for publishing tasks: Assignment Based or Task-Based. In R4.0 for SharePoint 2010, multiple resources can be assigned to the same task. Choose Task-Based.

• Assignment Based should be used when you want to see one assignment per task. This is recommended as the chosen method with PM Central. When importing, the Bamboo MS Project Add-in creates multiple tasks based on how many resources you assign to a particular task. For example, for Task 123 you have Resource A, Resource B, and Resource C assigned. The Bamboo MS Project Add-in creates Task 123 with the same title three times and assigns each resource to each task as follows:In MS Office Project:
  Task 123 < > Resource A, Resource B, Resource C

  In SharePoint List:
  Task 123 < > Resource A
  Task 123 < > Resource B
  Task 123 < > Resource C

  Note: Unlike MS Project, the Start Date, Due Date and Duration are exactly the same for all three tasks.

• Task-Based is now supported by PM Central. When importing, the Bamboo MS Project Add-in creates one task only and assigns multiple resources to that task. For example, for Task 123 you have Resource A, Resource B, and Resource C assigned. The Bamboo MS Project Add-in creates Task 123 and assigns Resource A, Resource B, Resource CIn SharePoint List:
  Task 123 < > Resource A, Resource B, Resource C
• If you’re doing an automatic mapping, you will see this pop-up window. You can choose to map Resource Names to Assigned To:or, you can choose to map Resource Names to Resource:

  Map resources from Microsoft Project to SharePoint users. Select the resource from the Microsoft Project Resources list to map to the SharePoint Users & Groups list and select Add Mapping. Note that this is a one-to-one mapping only. Click Next.

  If you’re doing a manual mapping and map Resource Names to Assigned To, you will see this pop-up window:

  If you doing a manual mapping and map Resource Names to Resource, you will see this pop-up window:

  If you are mapping Resource Names to Assigned To and you forget to add the assignees to the project’s Contacts list, you can still continue. But you will see this pop-up window:

  If you are mapping Resource Names to Resource and you forget to add the resources to the project’s Contacts list, you cannot continue. You will see this pop-up window:

  8. In the Import Data window, click Import. If you want to skip importing items if they already exist in the target SharePoint Tasks list, check the option Don’t create duplicate items if existing. An item exists if its Title is the same as the Name in Microsoft Project.

  If the import is successful, you see the following results screen.

  Below is an example of a results screen where duplicate items were skipped. A duplicate item is one where the ID and Title field match an ID and Title in the SharePoint Tasks list.

  If the import is not successful, the Results window will display an error. Click Back to go back and review the mapping fields. Go through the import steps again. Your mapped fields will be available for reuse for future imports.