Display masterproject tasks and subprojects tasks in SharePoint

[ThomasPM]

Hi,

I use a setup with a masterproject and several subprojects. The masterproject is linked to a SharePoint task list. When I/we make changes to tasks in the SharePoint list, it is replicated with the masterproject (vica versa). My problem is that subproject tasks do not appear in the SharePoint task lists. It only shows tasks from the masterproject. Currently I have to use "Open with Project" to see and change tasks that are under subprojects. Hopefully someone in the project community can help me with this issue 🙂 Where is the "Show subproject tasks" button/option?

[#2]

ThomasPM,
Simple answer but not one you will like. SharePoint does not support linked structures like a master and subrprojects.

John

[#3]

Hi @John-project,

thanks for your quick reply. Do you know why SharePoint does not support linked structures? Technical difficulties, not yet an implemented alternative, a "powerfull feature" that affects the pricing model and/or are there other reasons?

Do you have a recommendation on how to structure the setup to be able to manage a portofolie (masterproject + subprojects)? The goal is to display a common roadmap and progress bar for many stakeholders in a partnership. Not just people in our organisation, but also with partners. Our information portal is SharePoint. I do not want to divide the task lists into seperate tasks list, which gives a fragmented overview. I do not want to merge all subprojects in the masterproject because the subprojects are mainted by different projectmanagers. PDF is not an option because we want complete automation of the prosess. No manual steps at portofolie level. A MS Project license to every stakeholder is also not an option.

Cry me a river, but "view subproject tasks" will solve my setup. Do you, @John-project, or anyone else have a better setup/solution?

[#4]

ThomasPM,
I don't use SharePoint myself so I can't help with the whys and wherefores with regard to linked structures. I do know SharePoint does not support master/subprojects from input I've read from Project MVPs who are familiar with SharePoint.

Unfortunately linked structures (i.e. master/subproject and resource pool/sharer) in Project are fragile and prone to corruption if they are not meticulously administered and maintained. That's one reason I recommend they not be used in an environment with multiple users.

I strongly suggest you consider Project Online as it is focused on an enterprise environment, which is the environment you describe for your organization. I do not use Project Online but I will contact a colleague who can give you more input.

John

[#5 · Accepted solution]

ThomasPM --

The previous reply from John and his most recent reply give you sage advice. Saving a master project in SharePoint simply is not going to work for you, and there is no way to force it to work. You need to get your master project OUT OF SharePoint and save it on a network share or your computer's hard drive. And you will need to convert any SharePoint Tasks List projects into MPP files in Microsoft Project.

Why can't you have a master project in SharePoint, you ask? I believe it is because links to the subprojects need to be a file path rather than a URL.

And if you need to report on the master project, you would be much better off using the Project Online enterprise tool, along with Power BI for reporting. Just a thought. Hope this helps.

[#6]

Hi @Dale_HowardMVP, Thank you for your feedback.

We are now in progress of migrating to project online and we will look further into the Power BI integration.

- Thomas

[#7]

ThomasPM --

Awesome. I think you will be happy with the results!