Require Users to only create new Projects from a template | Community
Skip to main content
New Participant
September 19, 2017
Delivered

Require Users to only create new Projects from a template

  • September 19, 2017
  • 22 replies
  • 2918 views

We use templates to provide our security & project standards (including milestone, approval paths, etc...). We even have a blank template (no tasks) so that if current templates don't apply, a new project still has our basic standards.

But, a user with the rights to create a project still can create a project without a template - which then does not follow our standards.

We'd like the ability to prohibit users from creating a project without using a template.

22 replies

jon_chen
Community Manager
January 23, 2024

Thanks for the note @kelliegardner, I'll mark this as Delivered for now and will leave it up to our PM team for final confirmation.

KellieGardner
New Participant
January 22, 2024

@jon_chen - this has been delivered. Can we close this out? 

New Participant
March 7, 2022

Hello, Fidelity International would highly appreciate if this is catered to soon. Our Planners end up creating incorrect data because of this feature being available.


New Participant
March 7, 2022

Hello, Fidelity International would highly appreciate if this is catered to soon. Our Planners end up creating incorrect data because of this feature being available.


RandyRoberts
New Participant
July 6, 2021

I'm wondering what it takes to make this happen. The last status update was April 2019. I'm thinking of maybe doing some kind of automation that checks for the templateID field to be not null before allowing the creation of a project. This may get around workfront's shortcoming in this area.

New Participant
December 11, 2020

Agree, no 'compromise' needed on this one -- we just need to be able to have the option to set this as a requirement. It's a critical Governance gap right now. We should be able to set 'Require projects to be created from a template' at the System and Group level (nice to have would be to be able to specify a default template at the Portfolio and Program levels as well.)

New Participant
December 11, 2020

@William English


I'm not sure why we need the compromise…if process dictates a template be chosen, it should be chosen. If there are multiple templates, there is no "default" because the templates are very specific to a project type. No, we need the option as-stated—a template must be chosen, and the ability to go around that disabled (optionally, of course, as an admin setting).


(There is no "discouraging users from opening" a project in WF in our environment…it's the mandatory tool of record and required for work and expense tracking. Granted, many don't like it as well as our previous tool…)


Though your idea is a good one, I suggest it would be an additional nuance to the feature for some deployments where "without template" still sets up some minimalistic template without the user realizing it.


I also like the idea that any of this could be further nuanced by user/group/team: based on any of these, can certain users/groups/teams have different options of the behavior (or lack of) New Project (without template).

William--
New Participant
December 11, 2020

This seems like a popular request among Workfront customers. I understand that from Workfront's perspective, they don't want the product to limit user's ability to open projects, if their license allows it. By forcing a user to select a template, that could potentially discourage users from opening projects (because no appropriate template exists for their project).


I would propose a compromise: allow system admins to set a "default project template" at either the system (or for bonus points, Home Group) level. When a user clicks the + New Project button and does not select a template, the system will attach the default template that's been designated in the Setup console.


This should satisfy customer's valid need to ensure key forms / sharing / project settings etc. are set on every project in their instance, even when the user has circumvented the template selection step. For customers that don't have that requirement, they can choose not to have a default project template.

If you like my content, please take a moment to view and vote on my Idea Requests: https://tinyurl.com/4rbpr7hf
New Participant
November 30, 2020

This feature seems like a must with a tool as flexible and customizable as Workfront.


We NEED to be able to discourage (restrict) bad practices through the design of the system.


Seconding another user's note: For simplifying the training and again, restricting users from bad practices, we should be able to filter templates that are used to Create Projects and templates that are used by attaching to existing projects. We currently have a naming convention to try to guide our users, but that still requires them to follow the recommendation.


This would be extremely useful for our Workflow - would solve a lot of our issues with the implementation process.

New Participant
October 7, 2020

@marie (or anyone from Workfront) -- is there any update on planning status for this idea? Huge need and seems so basic!