Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint User & Installation Guide

Transcription

1 Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint User & Installation Guide

2 1 Overview What is Task Connector? Task Connector is a comprehensive add-in suite for Microsoft Office integration, which allows you to connect data from leading web-based project collaboration tools (OpenProject, Jira, Fogbugz) with PowerPoint in just a few clicks. Task Connector thus combines collaborative online project management with the benefits of the Microsoft Office Suite, most notably its wide acceptance across industries. Updating and sharing project information both within and outside your team has never been so easy. Why Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint? Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint automatically produces sophisticated charts and graphs to visualize your project s progress in Microsoft PowerPoint. Creating and updating project reports and sharing project information with stakeholders is now only a matter of seconds. Simplify your work! 2 Supported Systems Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint supports three of the most popular collaborative project management tools: OpenProject, JIRA and FogBugz. 3 Requirements 3.1 System Requirements The Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint add-in is designed to work with PowerPoint versions from 2007 onward on Windows 7 or newer operating system versions. As there are different Office SKUs 32 bit and 64 bit there are two separate installer packages, one for 32 bit and one for 64 bit. Please choose the installer package which matches the bitness of your PowerPoint/Office installation this may not necessarily be the same as the bitness of your Windows installation. The following table lists all supported PowerPoint/Windows versions: Windows 7 (32 bit) Windows 7 (64 bit) Windows 8.1 (32 bit) Windows 8.1 (64 bit) PowerPoint 2007 (32 bit) 1 1 PowerPoint 2010 (32 bit) PowerPoint 2010 (64 bit) n/a n/a PowerPoint 2013 (32 bit) PowerPoint 2013 (64 bit) n/a n/a Table 1: System requirements 1 Microsoft.Net Framework 3.5 required as additional dependency, available at

3 3.2 Installation Prerequisites The add-in requires two Microsoft-provided software packages to be installed first: Microsoft.NET Framework 4.0 or 4.5 A manual installation may be required on Windows 7 machines, Windows 8 and 8.1 ship with this version of the.net Framework included. The installation of this package requires administrative privileges. The download is available on the Microsoft Download Center 2. Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Tools for Office Runtime The installation of this package requires administrative privileges. The download is available on the Microsoft Download Center 3. The add-in installer checks for these prerequisites and will provide an appropriate error message if one of these dependencies is not satisfied. 3.3 Installation The Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint add-in is installed on a per-user basis. This means that no administrative privileges are required to install or update the add-in. all files and settings are stored in the user s roaming profile. in a domain environment using roaming profiles, the add-in and its settings are roamed to all domain machines the user logs on to. If multiple users on the same machine need to use the add-in, the installation has to be performed by each user individually

4 4 Getting started Installation and First Use When PowerPoint is launched for the first time after the installation, the following message will appear: Figure 1: Installation After having clicked Install, PowerPoint will start and the ribbon Task Connector appears at the top right of the window. Importing data from a web-based collaboration tool into PowerPoint Within this ribbon click on Settings to configure at least one account. Once an account has been added, the remaining buttons on the Task Connector ribbon are enabled and can be used to create or customize widgets. Figure 2: Choose settings in Task Connector ribbon Clicking on Settings will open a new window. On the tab Accounts, click on Add.

5 Figure 3: Add account Now you can add details from your accounts at OpenProject, JIRA or FogBugz. Choose a clear name for your accounts so you can recognize them later on, then add your credentials and the link. By clicking on Test you can make sure that the connection can be established. Once you have done this, click on Save. Now your account is added to the list. By clicking on Edit or Delete, you can change your account details later on. Finally, close the window with OK. Configure the default account Figure 4: Configure the default account In the window Settings, select the account you would like to define as your default, then click on Set default, and finish with Close.

6 5 Displaying project information It is possible to create OpenProject project information in PowerPoint, by selecting Project from the Task Connector tab and selecting one of the following options: Project Title Project Description or Project Responsible Select the project for which the selected information should be displayed and confirm the selection to add the widget to the slide. After adding the widget, you can re-position it to your liking.

7 6 Creating reports In addition to displaying project information, it is possible to show status reports in PowerPoint via the TaskConnector. There are three different options to display status reports: Traffic Light Project Status Status Comment Project Status and Status Comment create text widgets which include the status and comment reported between projects. Select the origin project and the target project in OpenProject to display the respective project status and comment. In addition to displaying the project status in text-form, it is possible to show a traffic light widget which displays the project status graphically. Select the option from the Task Connector ribbon and assign a status to each of the possible colors.

8 After confirming the selection, a traffic light widget is added which graphically displays the current status. 7 Creating lists and tables In order to add a filtered list or table, click on the respective buttons in the Task Connector ribbon. Figure 5: Create filtered lists or tables Again, the configuration window opens, allowing you to customize your list or table by setting filters according to your needs. Work packages in filtered lists have a predefined format, while the columns displayed in the table can be configured by adding or removing columns. In order to define the work packages which should be displayed, select the account and project and apply the necessary filter criteria. Afterwards, the columns can be configured to match the proper layout.

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10 8 Creating timelines / Gantt-Charts To create a timeline, select Gantt Chart in the Task Connector ribbon. Figure 6: Create a GANTT chart In a new window, you will be asked to choose the account and project you want to access. You can also set different filters such as status, type or due date. To finish, click on OK. Figure 7: Customize GANTT chart

11 In this window, you can also choose which columns should be displayed in order to provide the basis for your selection. Figure 8: Choose columns

12 Make changes to an existing timeline Figure 9: Timeline/GANTT chart If you click on an existing timeline, a new ribbon named Drawing Tools opens in the navigation bar under Format you can make changes to the table s formatting. You can also easily adapt the style of the timeline to your preferred template, by selecting the respective template. Updating timelines Figure 10: Change GANTT chart design There are two easy ways for changing or updating the work packages displayed in the timeline: First select the table, and then choose Select work packages on the ribbon Drawing Tools Selection. You can also choose Select work packages by right-clicking directly in the table. Either way, the original selection window will open and allow you to change the settings. If you do not want to change but merely update your work package data for example for presenting the same information on a weekly basis simply click on Update Selected Widgets or Update All Widgets.

13 9 Creating bar charts To create a bar chart, select Bar Chart from the Task Connector ribbon. Filter the selection accordingly and select values for the X-Axis and Y-Axis.

14 Optionally, add a legend to the bar chart (via context menu). 10 Creating Cumulative Flow Diagrams In order to create cumulative flow diagrams, click on Cumulative Flow Diagram. The same window as for the Gantt chart will open, allowing you to filter and select the work packages. After you have done your selection, click OK. Figure 11: Create cumulative flow diagram

15 You can also create a legend for your CFD using the respective option in the drop-down menu below. Figure 12: Cumulative Flow diagram and legend To change the colors, click on Customize colors and select the desired colors. Figure 13: Legend and customize colors

16 11 Creating Cycle Time Diagrams Cycle time diagrams display how long work packages remain in selected status(es). To create a cycle time diagram, select Cycle time diagram from the Task Connector ribbon. Filter the work packages which should be displayed, select a timeframe to analyze and select which statuses should be calculated with the cycle time diagram. Optionally group by an attribute. Confirm the selection to display the cycle time diagram. Optionally, add a legend to the cycle time diagram.

17 12 Frequently Asked Questions What happens when I send a presentation containing widgets to a colleague who does not have the Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint add-in installed? The colleague can use and see all parts of the presentation. However, he will not be able to modify or update any widgets widgets will show up as regular drawing elements for him. Why does clicking on a work package link sometimes cause an error message? This is a known limitation of Microsoft Office that has been described in KB It can be resolved by applying Fixit Note that applying this Fixit package requires administrative privileges. Do I need to be connected to the network in order to use the Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint add-in? The add-in only requires network access for adding, modifying, or refreshing widgets. Is it possible to use the add-in when my OpenProject installation requires two factor authentication? No, the add-in currently only supports one factor authentication using username/password or an access key. Can I use the add-in when I am logged on to a different computer than my own? If you log on to Windows using a domain account configured to use roaming profiles, you can use the add-in on any machine you log on. Note, however, that the installation prerequisites (see section 0) apply to these machines as well. I accidently hit Don t Install when I launched PowerPoint after the installation of the add-in and now the add-in is deactivated how can I reactivate the add-in? Click on the Office jewel button (Office 2007, top left) or File (Office 2010/2013) and choose Options. On the left pane, select add-ins. At the lower right, choose COM-add-ins and click on the Go To-button. A dialog box will pop up which lists all installed add-ins. Make sure that the checkbox next to the Task Connector for Microsoft PowerPoint entry is checked and click on OK