Deactivating, Activating, Closing, Copying and Deleting Projects

This how-to article will help users to activate, deactivate, close, copy, or delete projects using the Work Management or TDAdmin interface. The user must be the Project Manager or have Analysis app access to perform the other actions.

Overview

A project may need to be deactivated (rather than closed entirely) if its efforts need to pause temporarily, but it does not yet need to be closed out since it isn’t finished. You would activate the project again once work was ready to resume.

If a project is created in error, it may need to be deleted entirely. This article will list the steps needed to accomplish all of these actions.

Deactivating a Project

When a project is complete, the project manager deactivates it, and it no longer appears in the projects list. Deactivating does not remove a project from the system, but it does remove it from the projects list of every member of that project. Deactivation of a project also removes it from the Active section of the management console. This effectively archives the project for historical use.

Project managers can activate and deactivate the projects they manage.

The project manager may activate the project at any time to refer to its contents.

Deactivating Projects as a Project Manager

  1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications > and select the Project application.
  2. Click the project name in the left navigation.
  3. Click the Actions button and select Deactivate.

Deactivating Projects as an Administrator

  1. Open the Project app admin interface:
    1. Project Application Admins: In Work Management, click View Applications, select the Project application, click the gear icon in the top-right corner, then select Admin from the menu
    2. Global Admins: In TDAdmin, go to Applications, then select the Project application
  2. Click Projects in the left navigation.
  3. Click the name of the project you want to activate or deactivate. This will open a Project Details window.
  4. At the top of the Project Details tab, click the Deactivate button.

Locating Inactive Projects That You Manage

Project managers often want to find closed or inactive projects and review the associated artifacts, including documents, time, expenses, and plans, using a custom project report.

A project manager can find their closed project following these steps:

  1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Project application.
  2. Click Projects in the left navigation.
  3. Click the Inactive filter option by the search box.
  4. Click the Search button at the top.

A project member can find closed projects they were assigned to by following these steps:

  1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Analysis application
  2. Under Project Searches, click Active Projects Search.
  3. Click the Filter button at top-right.
  4. Enter the project search criteria in the Search field
  5. Under Options, select the Inactive Projects or Closed Projects.
  6. Click the Apply button.

See the Use Reports to Find Closed Project Information article to view a video showing closed projects being located in Work Management.

Activating a Project

Activating the project will restore it to the Projects list in the app, and give other project members access to the project and its assets again.

Activating Projects as a Project Manager

  1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Project application.
  2. Click Projects in the left navigation.
  3. Select the appropriate project.
  4. In the Project Details window, click the Actions button.
  5. From the Actions dropdown menu, choose the Activate option. 

Activating Projects as an Administrator

  1. Open the Project app admin interface:
    1. Project Application Admins: In Work Management, click View Applications, select the Project application, click the gear icon in the top-right corner, then select Admin from the menu
    2. Global Admins: In TDAdmin, go to Applications, then select the Project application
  2. Click Projects in the left navigation.
  3. Click the name of the project you want to activate or deactivate. This will open a Project Details window.
  4. At the top of the Project Details tab, click the Activate button.

Closing Projects

Project managers may close completed or canceled projects. Once a project is closed, users will no longer be able to access documents, issues, plans, tasks, or any other items associated with it.

To close a project:

  1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Project application.
  2. Click the project Name in the left navigation under Projects.
  3. On the  Details page, click the Actions button, then select Close.
  4. Once a project is closed, only the project manager will have access to the files in the Briefcase. If there are files in the project Briefcase that users still need access to, a global admin can add them to a File Cabinet:
    1. On the Close Project page, click Go To Briefcase
    2. Select a Folder to view its files
    3. Right-click on a file and select Details
    4. Click Actions > Add to File Cabinet
    5. Repeat steps 2 – 4 for all files/folders in the project that you wish to preserve in the File Cabinet
  5. Under Close unfinished items, choose whether to close any incomplete tasks, issues, or risks. If you choose not to close issues, tasks, and risks, they will remain open even after the project is closed. 
  6.  Select a Closure Survey.
  7. Choose whether to leave the project active.
  8. Select a new project status. Statuses are customizable, but the defaults are:
    • Canceled
    • Completed: Met Expectations
    • Completed: Exceeded Expectations
    • Completed: Did Not Meet Expectations
  9. Enter the final Percent Complete.
  10. Enter a comment on the project status.
  11. Click Save.

The project's end date will be changed to the day you close that project. If the end date needs to be changed for reporting purposes, please contact the system administrator.

Re-Opening a Closed Project

Projects that are closed in error can be reopened by global admins in the TDAdmin application.

To re-open a project:

  1. In TDAdmin, go to Applications, then select the Project application​​​​​​.
  2. Click Projects in the left navigation.
  3. In the list of projects, click the project Name.
  4. In the project detail window, click the Open Project button.

This will also make the project active if it was previously deactivated. 

Copying a Project

Project Managers can copy a project, which is especially useful if they frequently handle similar projects. When a project is copied, the resources remain assigned, the project plans stay with the project and reset to 0%, and the duration in working days remains the same. Only the Start Date is updated to match the copy date. Note: Copying a project sets the new project as inactive, so you must activate it manually. 

To copy a project:

  1. In Work Management, navigate to View Applications, and select the Project application.
  2. Click the project Name in the left navigation under Projects.
  3. On the project Details page, select Actions > Copy
  4. Revise the Title, Date Range, Status, and Health
  5. Click Copy

Deleting a Project

Projects can only be deleted by users who have access to TDAdmin and the Delete Projects administrator permission.

To delete a project:

  1. In TDAdmin, go to Applications, select the Project Application.
  2. Click Projects in the left navigation.
  3. In the list of projects, click the project Name.
  4. In the project detail window, click the Delete button and confirm the deletion.

Deleted projects cannot be recovered, so Administrators must be careful when taking this action, ensuring it is intended and that any useful files or data have been extracted from the project prior to completing the deletion.

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