Forum Discussion
It should be so simple…
Hello
i have to show 100 projects, on one sheet, with just start date and stop date for each project. So showing start stop dates of a portfolio of projects.
i have project names, work order numbers, start stop dates in my excel, for all of them!
how can i show all of these projects, one per row with start stop dates out on the gantt?
Do i really need to make 100 project files and sub-project off a master??!
it should be so simple! Help!
RJP
9 Replies
As both John and Dale have mentioned, you need to share both what you are trying to accomplish and what data and tools you have. Depending on your licenses even the new Portfolio feature of Planner might give you what you need. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/plannerblog/manage-multiple-plans-effortlessly-with-the-new-portfolios-feature-in-microsoft-/4342145 - but it depends where the data currently is. Power BI may also be able to give you the visualization you are looking for, if the base data is in somethat Power BI can get at. If you search for Power BI and Gantt and maybe Ben Howard, you should find something.
Best regards,
Brian
RJP,
Let me ask a couple basic questions.
Is the portfolio a specific directory on your hard drive or a server?
You mention wanting a summary Gantt Chart of all 100 projects and you also mention Excel. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?
Dale's suggestion of creating a master should work but dynamic master files are prone to corruption. Depending on the answers to the above questions, it may be possible to create the summary report you want with VBA, in Project or Excel, your choice.
John
Hi John
i mention excel as thats where i have job title, start and stop dates… ie copy paste easily.
what i am trying to do is still the same!
have a gantt line for all 100 jobs (i actually have 330) on one page showing job, start, stop, gantt line to the dates.
i have tried doing it in excel and it just doesn’t cone out any good… not something you would want to present.
now making 330 project files would take a loooong time ehRJP,
From everything you said in your replies to Dale and to myself, I'm still trying to wrap my head around exactly what you have.
- In what application is your "portfolio of projects" (i.e. Excel, Project, or something else)?
- Do your "projects" consist of only a name (job), start, and stop or is there more to each "project"?
- You said you tried doing it in Excel. What exactly did you do in Excel?
I'm sorry but I;m more confused now about what you have then I was when I read your original post. A screen shot of what you have would likely help clear up some of my confusion.
John
RJP --
I have some bad news for you, my friend. Yes, you will need to create a master project containing all 100 projects. You will need to collapse every subproject so that only the Project Name is shown. On the other hand, if you were using an enterprise tool such as Project Online or Project Server, you would simply print the Project Center page which displays a single line for each published project. So, you are experiencing one drawback from managing desktop-only projects using Microsoft Project. Hope this helps.
I just need to show 100 start stop dates for 100 projects on a gantt chart. I am struggling to achieve it on excel as well. Any suggestions friend?
RJP --
Creating a master project to accomplish this reporting need would be way simpler than trying to create this in Excel. What you are asking is not as simple as you think it should be, which is that you want to report on high-level information about every project in your portfolio. This is not simple in Microsoft Project desktop, which is the tool you are using; but is a built-in feature of both Project Online and Project Server.
So, I think you should create the master project in Microsoft Project with the columns you want to see, and then save the master project. Whenever you update any of the 100 projects, the updates will flow into the master project automatically. Hope this helps.
