If you have many projects, the list of Project Options in your Timesheet or Expense Table might get very long.
Here we outline the setup of the display options - see also Project Mode
Field Selection (Project Mode)
The Project Mode determines which fields are displayed for selection.
You set the Project Mode
Setup > Develop > Custom Settings
- select Manage Accorto Settings
You can overwrite the Project Mode for the Timesheet or Case (capture time).
Single Drop-Down List
The single Drop-Down list shows only active and not closed projects, phases, lines.
- "ProjectOnly" (default) - list projects only
- "ProjectAndLine" - list projects and their lines
- "ProjectLine" - list project lines
- "ProjectAndPhase" - list projects and their phases
What is displayed
In Tab Financial Organization - edit your Default Organization
Field: Display First Project options
- Code
- Name
- Code Only
- Name Only
(This allows to have quite descriptive Project names and an internal Code).
Dynamic Dropdown Fields
Auto-reduction drop-down fields (i.e. enter name parts to reduce the options) or click on the arrow to see all options.
- Dynamic - shows auto-reduction dropdowns for Project, Phase, and Line
- DProjectOnly - shows auto-reduction dropdown for Project
- DProjectAndLine - shows auto-reduction dropdowns for Project and Line
The Dynamic Dropdown shows projects and lines only when they are shared and the user is allocated/assigned to the project line.
You can give access to all lines
- for Resources (e.g. support) - select Access all Project Lines
- for Projects (e.g. general/overhead) - select Share all Lines
- or give all users access to all lines - in Accorto Settings - select Access all Project Lines
Individual Fields (Lookups)
Individual field options use the standard Salesforce Lookup fields. One of the disadvantages is that you cannot show all projects, you need to know at least 2 characters or have used the entry before. This is often an issue for new users and projects. It also ignores Project Line Sharing.
- "Individual" - show standard selection lookups for Project, Phase, and Line
- "IProject" - show standard selection lookup for Project
- "IProjectAndPhase" - show standard selection lookup for Project and Phase
- "IProjectAndLine" - show standard selection lookups for Project and Line
Using Individual Selection Fields
When selecting individual field options, the standard Salesforce search is used. Note that there are a few restrictions:
- Salesforce search boxes only look for the Name of the object
- You need to enter the first few characters to search - does not give you a list of all records
- (after you entered/selected/searched an item once, it will be displayed in the search)
Another restriction is that if you use Phases and Lines that you need to enter the Phase before selecting the Line - otherwise only lines without a phase will be available in the search.
Security + Visibility
By default, the Project Sharing Settings are Public Read Only.
> Setup > Security Controls > Sharing Settings
To reduce the number of options for individuals, and to reduce data entry errors, it might be sensible to change the Sharing Settings for Project to Private - and explicitly give people access to only the projects / lines they are working on.
In the Project Tab, the Sharing button allows you to share the entire project with Users, Groups, Roles, etc. If you share a Project, automatically all Phases and Lines are shared too.
You can get finer control on Project Line level. Automatically, the Project Line is shared with the Resource selected for the Line. To have multiple people working on a Project Line or give them access, click on the Allocation button and add Users for all or the specific Project Line.
Note that User is the Security Sharing entity and Resource is the work dimension. For details see Project Line Allocation.
In addition to the sharing setting, you can also control the visibility and use of projects and project lines. If you set the Status of Project Lines to Complete, these lines are no longer available for selection in Timesheet and Expenses. If you set the Status of the Project to Complete and also de=select the Active flag in Project level, the status of the Project lines are set to Complete too.