Project Server Permissions: Project Team Read/Write Own Project and Read-Only Other Projects

Copper Contributor

Hello,

We are in the process of configuring our Project Server PWA permissions. We currently have the Project Server permissions enabled. There have been many references on Technet referring to the website below, but it returns a "403 Forbidden"

We would like to be able to assign a project team to a project (project manager, team members, etc) and this project team would be able to edit projects assigned to them. This project team would also be able to view (read-only) all other projects. I have seen references to editing "Categories" and "My Organization", but I am not sure where to start.

Is there a comprehensive set of instructions we can follow? Below is the website returning 403 forbidden:
http://www.projectserverexperts.com/ProjectServerFAQKnowledgeBase/OpenOtherProjectsReadOnly.aspx

We are using Project Server 2016, and hoping to move over to Project Online within 6 months.

Thanks for the help!

5 Replies

@Mike_ProjNewb -- The URL references a web site for a company that is no longer in business, which is why you are getting the error.

 

Before I can give you some kind of guidance on your security requirements, please tell me more about the people whom you describe as team members.  You state that you want team members to be able to edit the projects to which they are assigned.  Do you mean that you want those team members to be able to report progress on the tasks to which they are assigned, to be able to propose new tasks for their projects, to transfer a task to another team member, and even to reject a task assigned to them?  Or do you mean that they function more like a project manager, and could do anything a project manager could do to plan and manage a project?  I am hoping that you want the former rather than the latter.

 

Do know that through the use of the built-in security Groups and Categories, I think that you can get the permissions set up to address your security needs.  So, please give us some feedback on your team member expectations and we will try to help you.

Hi Dale,
Thank you for your quickly rely. Yes, we would like the former: team members can function like the project manager by updating the schedule, new tasks, updating enterprise customs fields, etc.

@Mike_ProjNewb -- Wow, asking team members to perform the duties of project managers is definitely NOT a good idea, but if that is what you need, so be it.  I would begin the security process by simply adding your team members to the built-in Project Managers security group in PWA.  Also, I would STRONGLY recommend that you get a Project Plan 3 license for each of your team members so that they can download and use Microsoft Project with Project Online.  The built-in PWA functionality for managing a project is very limited compared to the power and flexibility in Microsoft Project.  Hope this helps.

@Dale Howard 
Hi Dale,
Yes, the "team members" are basically supervisors that can fill-in in the event of a sick project manager, pregnancy, etc.  All of the project managers and team members have Project Pro desktop software installed and able to connect to the PWA - so I know we have the correct license (sorry I don't know the license name, my IT department takes care of it).

When adding users to the Project Managers security group within PWA, do I accomplish this by simply browsing Settings -> Manage Groups -> Project Managers -> Add Users?  If so, how does PWA differentiate some users being able to access some projects, while other users are able to access different projects?

Or do I adjust security groups (or sharepoint site permissions?) at the project level?  If so, how do I accomplish this?

Thanks again for your help!

@Mike_ProjNewb -- Yes, you have the right steps to add the team members to the Project managers security group.  The system "figures out" which projects belong to which team member by using the My Projects category that is included in the Project Managers group.  No, you should not need to change any other permissions to get this to work.  Hope this helps.