Kavi Help CenterKavi® Status Tracker Help
| Chapter 7. Project Type Configuration and Use | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Part I. Kavi Status Tracker Concepts and How-To Documents | 
|
Table of Contents
A Project Type provides every Project State, Activity Type, data field and submission form needed for a specific kind of project. Your organization can have a Project Type for every kind of document development project, ranging from full-fledged standards development projects to simple white papers.
A Project Type is a template that packages all the elements used to track a certain kind of project, including Project States, project data fields, Activity Types, activity data fields and submission forms. When a project is added to Kavi Status Tracker, the administrator selects the Project Type on which the project will be based, and the new project is installed along with all these components.
Figure 7.1. Project Type Components
A Project Type acts as a container for other components: Project Data Fields, Submissions, Project States and Activity Types. Some of these components are also containers, for example, Activity Types contain Activity Data fields and other elements, such as instructions. Elements contained within Submissions are not shown in this diagram because the Submissions module isn't enabled on every site, but Submissions do contain forms and data fields.
Defining the Project Types your organization needs is one of the first steps in the setup process, as described in Kavi Status Tracker Setup. Once you have an initial set of Project Types, you'll identify which Project States, project data fields, Activity Types and activity data fields are needed for each Project Type. Once these components have been added to Kavi Status Tracker, you can assemble your Project Types.
Identify all the different kinds of projects your organization wants to track online through Kavi Status Tracker. Kavi Status Tracker is designed to support projects where the deliverable is a document. Besides standards projects, this can include white papers, bylaws, etc. Projects where different kinds of data is tracked usually need their own Project Types. Once you have a list of Project Types, decompose them into their constituent parts, as described in the Requirements and Initial Preparation section of the Concepts document Kavi Status Tracker Setup. Here is a quick reiteration of the process described there, and in documents that describe how to prepare each of these components.
Steps
Beginning with the most complex Project Type (usually a standards development project), identify all the components, beginning with Project State. This can be worked out on a whiteboard or scratch paper first, then transferred to a spreadsheet. List all Project States from project inception through the end of the project lifecycle. This is described in more detail in Determine What Project States You Need. Put the Project States in the order that the project might typically pass through during its lifecycle.
Identify all the project data you'll want to track in addition to the default project data fields for this type of project, including data that is needed by those who are performing status tracking tasks, data needed while the project is in development, data that should be included in public or other displays, and data that is needed when the project is complete and ready to be submitted to ANSI or a publisher.
Working through each of the Project States in order, identify all the activities that might take place while the project is in that state. These Activity Types also need to be in order. If completion of this activity means that the Project State should change, make a note of this for inclusion in the Activity Type instructions.
Identify any activity data you'll want to track in addition to the default activity data fields for each type of activity. These additional activity data fields should be added before Activity Types are created, since Activity Types are used to package activity data fields.
If the Submissions Module is enabled in the Kavi Status Tracker, a Project Type can contain one or more forms for automated submission of project deliverables to ANSI, a different standards organization or a publisher. Identify any Submissions that should be available in projects of this type.
When you've identified and added all the project and activity data fields, Project States and Activity Types you need, you can begin to add Project Types. Click the Project Types link in the Super Admin menu. From there you can use Add a Project Type to add a new Project Type or click the Manage link next to a default Project Type that you want to edit, delete or clone. Default Project Types use all the default Project States, Activity Types and project data fields. New Project Types can be added by cloning and editing existing types. Use whatever approach seems fastest to you.
You'll see a list of additional project data fields so you can select any that you want to be available in projects based on the Project Type you're creating. Global, ordered lists of Project States and Activity Types are displayed so you can select those that belong in your Project Type.
If Submissions are available, the Submissions option will appear when adding a Project Type. Just click to select whichever submissions you want to be available in projects of this type.
Once initial setup is complete, it is easy to add a new Project Type. As with the initial setup process, if you need any new project or activity data fields, Project States, Activity Types or Submission forms, it's easiest to add these components first.
If the Project Type you are adding is similar to an existing type, you might find it easiest to clone the existing type, then edit the components as needed. To do this, click the Manage link next to existing Project Type, then click Clone. When you return to the Project Types list, you'll see the cloned Project Type in the list. Click the Manage link, then Edit to revise the settings as needed.
Once you've performed basic Project Type configuration, use the Edit Associated Activity Types tool to finish the configuration process.
Any edits made to a Project Type that is already in use will affect all projects based on this Project Type. If you add a new project data field, that field becomes instantly available in all projects based on this Project Type. If you select a new Project State or associate the Activity Type, these also become instantly available in projects.
If you delete a field, Project State or Activity Type, it is removed from all projects in which it is not currently in use. If it is in use, then it will remain part of the project record.
This same principal applies to the set of associated Activity Types, which is edited through the Edit Associated Activity Types tool. If an associated Activity Type itself is edited — by adding or removing an activity data field for instance — the data field becomes available or unavailable in all Project Types that use that Activity Type, but this doesn't affect data that is part of any project record.
If you want to delete a Project Type and the Delete button is not displayed on the Manage a Project Type page, the Project Type is in use. You can't delete a Project Type that is currently in use by any project. Older projects might be archived, but current projects need to be changed to a new Project Type before the Project Type can be deleted. If the Delete button is displayed, you can delete the Project Type and it will have no effect on any projects or Project Type components.
Selection of a Project Type is the first step in adding a new project to Kavi Status Tracker. If you are unsure which project to select, you may examine Project Types through the Project Type tool if you are a Status Tracker Super Admin. If you are a Status Tracker Admin, look at related projects to see which Project Type is in use.
Once you select the Project Type, all the Project States, Activity Types, project and activity data fields are installed for the new project. If Submissions are available, the submission forms are installed as well.
If you find you have selected the wrong type, you can switch to the correct Project Type later.
If a project needs to be switched to a different Project Type for any reason, use the Change Project Type tool. Any Project States, Activity Types, Submission forms or data fields that were not present in the prior Project Type will become instantly available. Any that were present in the prior type but do not exist in the new Project Type will go away, but if the data field was populated or the Activity Type was used in the project schedule, this data remains intact as part of the project record.
|
|
 |
|
| Chapter 6. Configuring and Using Activity Types |  |
Chapter 8. Kavi Status Tracker Setup |