Key Highlights

• When creating a project, always verify that you have the correct layout selected before filling in any fields. Different layouts may show different custom fields, and changes to a layout affect all projects associated with it.
• The Strict Project setting enforces that all tasks, milestones, and issues within the project cannot start or end outside the project's scheduled dates. Once enabled, this setting cannot be disabled for that project.
• Rollup functionality, when enabled, causes work hours, time logs, and completion percentages from subtasks and tasks to roll up to the project level for reporting. Like strict mode, rollup cannot be disabled after the project is created.
• Budgeted hours and cost budget fields cannot be edited after a project is created, so enter these carefully during setup. Other budget fields like billing method and cost per hour can be adjusted later.
• The email alias feature on a project allows inbound emails to automatically create issue records inside that project, which is useful for logging client-reported problems without logging into the portal.

Key Terms

• Strict Project — A project setting that prevents any task, milestone, or issue from having start or end dates outside the project's scheduled timeframe.
• Rollup — A project setting that causes metrics from lower-level records (tasks, subtasks) to aggregate upward to the project and milestone level.
• Project Layout — A configurable template that controls which fields appear when creating or editing a project record.
• Task Layout — A layout that controls which fields appear on task records within a specific project.
• Email Alias — A unique email address generated per project that, when emailed, automatically creates an issue record inside that project.
• Tags — Labels that can be applied to projects, tasks, and other records to facilitate searching, filtering, and organization.
• Budget Type — A setting that determines how budget and cost calculations are structured: by project, milestone, task, or user.
• Billing Method — The basis on which costs are calculated: project hours, staff hours, or task and issue hours.

Common Gotchas

• Rollup and Strict Project are both irreversible once enabled. Think carefully about whether your project workflow requires these before turning them on.
• The budgeted hours and cost budget fields are locked after creation. If you are unsure of those figures at creation time, set them conservatively and revisit the other editable budget fields later.
• If the Gantt view appears blank, it is because no start or end dates have been set on the project or its tasks. Dates are required for the Gantt view to populate.

Reflection Question

For the types of projects your team manages most frequently, would the Strict Project setting be helpful or would it cause frustration? What would need to be true about your workflows for it to be a good fit?