Review of the “Project management” site template

Progress Tracker List

After applying the SharePoint “Project management” site template to a new or existing team site, you should correct the display name of the navigation link to the progress tracker list. The navigation link "Project tracker list" leads to "Progress tracker list". To do this, click on “Edit” below the navigation menu on the left side.

Tip: Open the progress tracker list at the top right by clicking Open in immersive mode

The progress tracker (“Work tracker” list template from Microsoft) list includes the following columns:

These settings enable team members to add new values in the Category, Status, and Priority columns, while adding work items. I recommend disabling manual value entries for the Status and Priority columns to maintain consistency.

The folks who developed this site template enabled profile photos for the “Assigned to” and “Key project stakeholders” columns—it looks fantastic when project members upload good profile pictures to their M365 profiles. Maybe you should bring that up at a kick-off meeting.

Views of the progress tracker list:

It is convenient that the people at Microsoft have enabled grid view for all items—it makes it much faster to enter new work tasks. I can even paste a list of tasks from the clipboard!

Two notification rules are enabled for the progress tracker list:

1. When the status is changed to “Completed,” the person in the “Key project stakeholders” column receives an email.
2. When the “Priority” column is changed, the person in the “Assigned to” column receives an email.

In addition, a flow is configured for the progress tracker list. If you canceled out of the Power Automate dialog, you can complete setup by clicking Complete setup at the top right of the progress tracker list.

The “Due date reminder” flow sends a reminder three days before the date in the “Due date” column to the person listed in the “Assigned to” column. In Power Automate under “My flows,” you’ll see the flow for the progress tracker list from the “Project Management” site template by Microsoft with the name “8d60c9f4-0836-4d5b-9a6e-7d3bccc04ee9 - Due date reminder.”

Issue Tracker List

The issue tracker list from the “Project management” site template by Microsoft includes 6 columns. Bye the way, you can add this list by using the “Issue tracker” list template from Microsoft to every SharePoint website.

I suggest disabling manual input for the Status column, as with the progress tracker list.

I am not sure how the “Attached files” column was created, but it is unfortunate that the list only shows a paperclip to indicate there is an attachment. It would be great if the column included a link to instantly preview the file.

If users do not read the description for the “Related issue” column, they might not realize how it is intended to be used. This column lets you link two or more issues that are related to each other in the list, so connections between them become visible.

Views for the issue tracker list:

Two notification rules are enabled for the issue tracker list:

1. When a new issue is created, the person in the “Assigned to” column receives an email.
2. When the person in the “Assigned to” column is changed, that person receives an email.

Navigation link to the group calendar

With the “Project Management” site template from Microsoft, you add a navigation link to the group calendar of the Microsoft 365 group for your team site. Do not confuse the group calendar with the SharePoint event list for project milestones! Events from the group calendar appear for members in their personal Outlook calendar.

SharePoint event list for milestones

The “Project Management” site template from Microsoft contains a SharePoint event list, created for the events web part showing as milestones on the new homepage.

A milestone includes the following:

• Title and image
• Time period “from” and “to” (“All day” is available as an option)
• Location (“where,” search via Bing)
• Link (optional for an online meeting), address (URL), and a display name for the link
• One line of text for categories (suggestions can be added)
• Multiple formatted lines in the “About this event” field
• Event participants are selected as people

Do not confuse the SharePoint event list for project milestones with the group calendar of the Microsoft 365 group! The project milestones appear in the right column of the homepage and are also visible to site visitors.

Homepage of the Project Management site

With the “Project management” site template from Microsoft, you add a new homepage (“ProjectHome.aspx”) (you can delete the previous homepage “Home.aspx”). The new homepage features a Hero web part at the top left two-thirds. The left tile shows a woman checking a wall diagram and links to the Progress tracker list. For accessibility, you should mark the image as decorative. The right tile shows a close-up of random pins on a pinboard connected by a wire , linked to the Issue tracker list. This should also be marked as decorative. Neither tile includes a call-to-action link —you can also disable the call-to-action with the slider.

Tip: Add the Progress tracker list and the Issue tracker list as apps to your browser rather than opening them in a new tab

For the documents web part—as on the Hero web part tiles and for project contacts on the right—you should remove the text “[Sample content]”.

At the top right of the page is a Countdown timer web part. Set the project end time as a date and for “Show time as,” choose “days”—that’s enough for most projects. Choose a suitable background image. Replace the title above and the description below the timer directly in the web part. You can also add a call-to-action link and title to the countdown timer web part if that makes sense to your project.

Below the countdown timer is the “Events” web part with the title “Milestones in projects.” As long as there are no events in the SharePoint event list, the web part will show placeholders.

The Quick Links web part below that, titled “Team tools,” should be revised with resources for your project or deleted. I recommend opening the external resources in a new browser tab.

For project contacts at the bottom right, remove “[Sample content]” from the title and delete the listed people (the people are fictional characters in Microsoft’s sample company “Contoso”). Add the project manager and her deputy.

As already mentioned, the “Events” web part is different from the M365 group calendar. You can add events from the group calendar to the homepage of the project management website using the “Group calendar” web part. In any case, you should clearly communicate the difference between project team events and project milestones!

Page template for the project status report

On the homepage, click “+New” and “Page.” On the left, under “Page templates,” click the “Saved on this site” tab. The “Status report template” is somewhat hidden here. Click “Create page” at the bottom right.

The page template contains web parts for text, images, documents, and links. You can customize the page as needed. After publishing, you can share the page with project stakeholders via a link or email.

First, of course, delete or replace the text above the title “THIS PAGE CONTAINS SAMPLE CONTENT” (“Edit properties”).

The status report template content consists of text web parts, which you can customize as needed. For example, if you add the “List” web part to display current issues, note that the issues in the list may change after you publish your status report. Here are a few tips for the status report:

• Export lists to Excel and insert the list as text in the status report
• Add a compact summary of upcoming milestones with the “Events” web part
• Add news added this month with the “News” web part (filter)

When you “Publish” the status report (top right), you’ll be shown how you can notify others about the report.

If you add the status report page to the navigation, make sure the title is less than 25 characters, so it displays completely. If you want to send the status report to an email address, you can send yourself a test email first.

Conclusion

Using the “Project management” site template you should think about three things.

1. Rename navigation link “Project tracker list” to “Progress tracker list”
2. Delete the “Home.aspx” page from the Site Pages library, because this page is no longer in use. ProjectHome.aspx is the home page of the website, and new pages will come up in the Site Pages library with every status report you publish.
3. Do not confuse the group calendar with the SharePoint event list for project milestones!

If you are working in quality management, find out more about Bluesite Consulting 'Quality management' template for SharePoint Online

FAQ

How do I apply the “Project management” site template to an existing SharePoint team site?

Click “Settings” (top right) and “Apply a site template.” On the “From Microsoft” tab, click “Project Management.” At the bottom right, click “Use template.” Tip: In the “Recently used template” section in the “Site information,” you will find detailed information about the site template used.

How can I use the progress tracker list on my own team site?

You can add the progress tracker list by using the “Work tracker” list template on your team site. On your team site's homepage, click + New, List, and select “Work tracker” from Microsoft’s templates.

How can I use the issue tracker list on my own team site?

You can add the issue tracker list by using the “Issue tracker” list template on your team site. On your team site's homepage, click + New, List, and select “Issue tracker” from Microsoft’s templates.

References

• 1: Project management template (SharePoint Look Book) – Microsoft Adoption
• 2: Use the SharePoint Project management site template - Microsoft Support
• 3: Use the Countdown timer web part - Microsoft Support
• 4: Use a Group calendar in Outlook to schedule and edit events - Microsoft Support
• 5: Set-SPOBuiltInSiteTemplateSettings (Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell) | Microsoft Learn