Project charter templates

A project charter template defines what a charter looks like: the sections, columns and fields it consists of. Any number of charters in projects can be created from one template (see Creating a project charter). Templates are in the main menu, under Project charters, provided the Project charters module is switched on for your organization (System settings, Project charters tab).

The template list has the Name column and, when the organization uses workspaces, the Workspaces column. Click a name to open the template builder. The menu item and the list are visible to users with the charters permission in a workspace (see Workspaces and charter templates).

Managing templates

Adding a template

1. Open Project charters in the main menu.
2. Click Add. The Add project charter template window opens.
3. Enter the Name and choose the Workspaces (the field is shown when the organization uses workspaces).
4. Click Add. An empty template opens, ready to build (see Charter template builder).

The name is required. When there is no template yet, the list shows the message No items. Click Add to create project charter template.

Renaming and changing workspaces

In the builder, the template menu (the gear icon next to the name) has the Edit option. It opens the Edit project charter template window, where you change the name and workspaces and save with Save.

Cloning

1. Choose Clone in the template menu.
2. In the Add project charter template window, check the name (a copy suffix is added to it) and the workspaces, and click Add.

The copy has the same field layout as the original and opens for further work.

Deleting

The Delete option in the template menu deletes the template after confirmation. Charters created from it earlier stay in their projects with all their content, but a new version can no longer be created from them.

Workspaces and charter templates

Every charter template is assigned to one or more workspaces. The assignment decides:

• who can use the template — when a charter is created in a project, the template list shows only templates that share a workspace with the project,
• who manages the template — users with the Charters permission in a workspace can add, edit, clone and delete that workspace’s templates. The list shows them only the templates of their workspaces,
• which project attributes can be chosen — in the Project attributes group of elements, the builder offers the attributes assigned to the template’s workspaces (see Project attributes).

The permission is granted in the workspace permissions of a user or a user group: the Configuration group, Charters column. It has a single level and gives full management of the workspace’s charter templates. A new template can be assigned only to workspaces where the user has this permission; if the user has it in one workspace only, the Workspaces field is not shown.

To grant workspace permissions, see Users and permissions. For what workspaces are, see Workspaces.

Charter template builder

The builder shows the charter sheet on the left, with the template name and the organization logo, and on the right the list of elements to insert, grouped in an accordion. Insert an element by dragging it to a place on the sheet. While the sheet is empty, the hint Drag an item on the right to add a field is shown.

Element groups

• Basic — Section, Columns, Short text, Long text, Single-choice list, Multiple-selection list, Date, Number, Table, Attachments, Link,
• Project information — Project name, Project description, Workspaces, Project status, Project health, Project portfolio, Creation date,
• Project attributes — project attributes assigned to the template’s workspaces, and Project roles — Project manager and the organization’s project roles,
• Schedule — project dates, duration, progress, allocation and time tracking, the Tasks and Milestones lists, Selected elements of the schedule, baseline values (current and initial baseline) with differences, and schedule fields,
• Budget — project costs and revenue, actual and forecasted, the project budget, baseline values (current and initial baseline) with differences, lists of costs and revenue, Selected elements of the budget and budget attributes,
• Risks — Risks (list), Selected risks, Risk matrix, and Products — Products (list) and Selected products,
• Chart — Scoring, and the Costs and Revenue charts.

The Allocation and Time tracking elements are in the list only when the Resources and Time tracking modules are on. An element of a module that was switched off after the template was created shows the Inactive module message in the charter.

Charter layout

• A Section is a header with a name and a color that divides the charter into parts.
• Columns split a row into two columns, to which you drag elements. An empty column is removed with the trash icon.
• Change the order by dragging elements and rows.

Editing and removing an element

Hover over an element to see the pencil and trash icons. The pencil opens the Edit field window; the trash icon removes the element from the template. The window depends on the element type:

• texts, date, attachments, link — Name and Description (the description is shown next to the field in the charter),
• Number — as above, with the Use thousand separator option,
• choice lists — name, description and the list of options,
• Table — name, description and the table Columns (up to 4), each with a type: text, list, number or date; Add column adds another one,
• Section — name and Color,
• lists of tasks, milestones, risks, products and budget, and the risk matrix — name, Filter (for example Delayed, All done, Active) and the choice of columns,
• Selected elements of the schedule and Selected elements of the budget — name, description and the choice of columns; the elements themselves are chosen in the charter in the project.

Changes in the builder are saved at once. Charters created earlier from the template do not change: they have their own copy of the fields from the moment of creation. Template changes reach a charter only in its new version (see New version of a charter).