Project in a Box - Community Edition - Help

Contents

• What is Project in a Box?
• About the Community Edition
• Setting up a new project
• Using template documents
• How your documents are organised
• Working with documents
• Working with stages
• Working with specialist products
• Using the index to find a document
• Using the export tool to share
• Creating a back up or archive
• Checking for updates
• An Example - The Office Move
• PRINCE2™ Glossary
• Contact us

What is Project in a Box?

Project in a Box is your practical support tool for running projects with the PRINCE2™ method. Project in a Box combines simple but powerful document management with the familiar names and diagrams of PRINCE2™ to make it practical and easy to work with this exciting method.

Working with Project in a Box is easy:

1. Choose the project you want to work on (or create a new one)...
2. Choose the PRINCE2™ process you want to perform...
3. Start working with the documents you need for that process.

Choose your own office programs...

Project in a Box does not dictate what tools you have to use to create your management documents - Word, Excel, Project, StarOffice - they all work seamlessly.

Choose your own workflow...

Project in a Box does not dictate which processes you have to do when. In the true spirit of PRINCE2™, you can perform each process when the project demands it.

Choose your own document templates...

Project in a Box comes with document templates, but you can use your own, or adapt ours. The PRINCE2™ method doesn't dictate details of documents, neither do we.

About the Community Edition

Project in a Box - Community Edition is a desktop version intended for single users working with smaller projects. The Community Edition has many of the features of the Professional Edition, but without the ability to have multiple users. Further details are available on the Professional edition from our website at www.projectinabox.org.uk.

Setting up a project

You can set up and run as many projects as you want using this license.

To set up a new project go to the 'project' page where you enter PROJECT in a box and use the control on the lower right hand side to create your new project structure. Simply type over the text in the window with the name you want to use for your project and press the create button.

managing your projects

The system will pause while it creates your new project structure and populates it with template documents.

Enter your new project name

When this process is complete your new project will appear in the 'open a new project list'.

New project created

Using template documents

PROJECT in a box comes pre-populated with a set of 42 PRINCE2™ template documents. The majority of these documents come from The OGC and are made available for free public distribution and use under the conditions of our Core Licence with HMSO. Templates have been provided for most documents you would produce and are likely to manage multiple versions of. Where documents are going to be project and task specific such as notification to proceed which is likely to be an email, memo or letter, templates have not been provided.

Typical template documents

You can identify documents which have originated from a template in your system as their origin is shown in the version history and V1 will always say "original version".

Each time you add a new stage this will automatically be populated with the main documents required for managing a stage.

Stage template documents

If you would rather not use our template documents you can simply delete them from the project and add your own, for further details see Working with documents.

How Your Documents are Organised

A PRINCE2™ project can generate a lot of information. The key to PROJECT in a Box is that it organises your documents so that you can get to just the information you need at any given point in the project.

Processes

A PRINCE2™ project is carried out by performing its Processes, beginning with SU - Starting up a Project and ending with CP - Closing a Project. You will probably be familiar with the processes, and the diagrams that map them out from the manual or your course. Each process has its prescribed input and output documents. PROJECT in a box uses the familiar, standard process diagrams to organise your documents.

Using PROJECT in a box you can easily navigate to the process you want to work on. You then see the only the documents you need to perform that process.

For example, if you are working on SU1 - Appointing a Project Executive and Project Manager you first click on SU...

Process Overview

Then you click on SU1...

Processes in SU

You then see a Tree View of the documents you need for this process, Appointments, Job Descriptions and Project Mandate.

Documents you need for SU1

Documents, Files and Versions

PROJECT in a Box includes a simple but powerful document management system. You can use this to control changes to your documents and to keep a full history of project change.

Documents, Files and File Versions

In PROJECT in a Box a Document is one of the PRINCE2™ management products. For example, the Stage Plan is a Document. A typical Stage Plan isn't made up of just one file however. You might have written a Gantt chart in Microsoft Project, a description in Microsoft Word, a Product Breakdown Structure in another drawing package. In Project in a Box, each document can contain many files.

A Document Can Contain Many Files

Each file may change many times during a project. PROJECT in a Box keeps track of these changes. Once you have added a file to a document, then you must check it out in order to change it. When you have made the changes, you check it back it in, including a comment. You build up a modification history this way.

Project and Stage Documents

Some PRINCE2™ documents refer to the entire project; others are specific to a stage. PROJECT in a Box presents you with the correct project and stage documents for the process you are working on. This ensures that you only use one current version of the document and are shown it where you need it.

Some Processes Require Project and Stage Documents

Working with Documents

Key Concepts

• A Document is a PRINCE2™ management product e.g. a Project Plan.
• A File is part of a document e.g. a Microsoft Project File is part of a Project Plan.
• A Version is one version of a File, e.g. a single Microsoft Project File will go through many changes to arrive at version 10.
• PROJECT in a Box will let you view the current or an old Version of a File without having to check it out.
• If you want to change a File then you must check it out of PROJECT in a Box.

Viewing Files

To view the latest version of a file:

1. Choose your process, e.g. SU > SU1
2. Looking at the Tree View in the left hand pane, expand the tree to show the file you wish to view.
3. Double click on the file name.
4. Alternatively Double click on the latest version description in the history pane.
5. Alternatively click the latest version in the history pane then press the open button below the pane.

Viewing current file versions

To view an older version of a file:

1. Choose your process, e.g. SU > SU1
2. Looking at the Tree View in the left hand pane, expand the tree to show the file you wish to view.
history pane.
3. Select the version you want from the history pane with a single click, then click on the open button below the pane

Viewing older versions of a file

Adding Files and Checking Files In and Out

To add a file to a document:

1. Choose your process, e.g. SU > SU1
2. Looking at the Tree View in the left hand pane, expand the tree to show the document you wish to add a file to.
3. Click the Add File button in the Document pane.
4. Alternatively right click on the document in the tree and then select Add file from the hover menu.
5. Then Use the file dialog box to choose the file you want to add. You can also add a comment if required

Selecting where to add your file

Using the file dialogue box and adding comments

Completed file addition process

To check out a file:

If you know you are going to make some changes to a document or are going to circulate it for such purpose you should 'check it out' this will let your colleagues know that they can view the latest version of the file but should not make changes.

1. Choose your process, e.g. SU > SU1
2. Looking at the Tree View in the left hand pane, expand the tree to show the file you wish to checkout.
3. Click the Check Out button in the File pane.
4. Use the standard file dialog box to save the file in a convenient location.
5. PROJECT in a box will open the document using the relevant application (requires you to have the application installed).
6. PROJECT in a box will mark the checked out document with a red cross in the document tree and show its status as checked out in the file pane.

Checking out a document

A completed checking out process

To check in a file:

If you have made changes to a document you checked out you will want to check it back in so your colleagues can see the changes and to keep the audit trail in tact.

1. Choose your process, e.g. SU > SU1
2. Looking at the Tree View in the left hand pane, expand the tree to select the file you wish to check back in.
3. Click on the Check in button in the file pane.
4. Use the file add dialogue box to browse to the file for upload, then type a comment to go with the new version of the file.

A completed checking out process

A completed checking out process

To overwrite a file:

From time to time you might view a document and then decide to make changes to it. If you then go back to PROJECT in a box and find that nobody else has checked out the latest version of the file you can use the overwrite or 'update' feature to impose your version as the latest, even though you didn't check it out.

1. Choose your process, e.g. SU > SU1
2. Looking at the Tree View in the left hand pane, expand the tree to select the file you wish to update.
3. Click on the update button in the file pane.
4. Use the file add dialogue box to browse to the file for upload, then type a comment to go with the new version of the file.

Using update when a file is not checked out

A completed update process

Working with stages

With PROJECT in a box you can add as many stages as you want for each project and each stage will automatically be populated with the required template files.

To add a new stage:

1. Using the file explorer tree, right click on the stages folder.
2. A hover menu will present the option 'add stage', click on this.
3. The system will pause to add the structure to your project and to populate the new stage with the template documents.
4. Your stage will be auto named new stage.

Adding a new stage

Renaming a stage:

1. Using the file explorer tree, right click on the stage folder you want to rename.
2. A hover menu will present two options, click on 'rename'.
3. A dialogue box will open in the explorer allowing you to type in the name you wish. Press return to complete the action.
4. You may change your stage names as often as you wish.

Selecting the renaming option

Renaming in the dialogue box

Deleting a stage:

1. Using the file explorer tree, right click on the stage folder you want to delete.
2. A hover menu will present two options, click on 'delete'.
3. A confirmation window will open, if you are sure you want to delete the stage click yes, else click no.
4. Deleting a stage will also delete all documents that exist within it.

Selecting the renaming option

Delete confirmation window

Working with specialist products

The PRINCE2 methodology is a very good structured approach to project management but because it can't extend into the detail of how everyone runs their own individual projects it won't provide you with all the 'documents' you will need for day to day management.

With PROJECT in a box you can add as many specialist products as you want. In essence these are general purpose folders which always appear at the end of the file explorer irrespective of which stage or process you are working with. You can use name these folders to reflect what you are using them for e.g. 'finance', 'procurement' etc. and you can put what ever files in these you want to.

The process of Adding, renaming and deleting specialist folders is exactly the same as for stages. Although no template documents are provided when new specialist products are added.

Once a new Specialist product has been created documents and files can be added to it by right clicking on the chosen specialist product and then using the add file dialogue box.

Using the index to find a document

Because PROJECT in a box only shows you the documents you need to consider at each stage and for each process you might need help finding a particular document or file within your project. The most likely occurrence of this is when you have checked a file out; you then come to put it back and can't remember which sub process uses that document.

Not to worry that's what we have included the index page for. This page shows you every document in the project, including stages and specialist products so that you can explore or search through and find the document or file you need.

Showing part of the index view

Using the export to share

Even though PROJECT in a box Community Edition is a tool designed for use on an individual PC we recognise that you will still need to share your project documentation with your colleagues and possibly external partners. The export tool allows you to do this very powerfully at the press of a button.

Export your project documents

This tool takes the latest checked in version of every file in the project (including stages and specialist products) and exports them to a folder you can define. PROJECT in a box also provides a browser based index of all the files exported to enable the recipients to find the material they are interested in.

1. From the main menu bar click on export.
2. Select your preferred destination from the browse window or create a new folder (recommended).
3. The system will then pack up your documents into the desired folder and produce the browser index page.
4. You can now take the created folder and send to a colleague or post on your intranet as required.

setting an export destination

The export browser view

The export browser view will default to a dynamic index which allows you to open and close the explorer tree for convenient operation. If required the user can switch the index to static, this may be required if the client PC does not have javascript enabled on the browser.

Creating a backup or archive

With PROJECT in a box Community Edition you can use your export tool to create an archive of your project. Follow the instructions for exporting then zip the created folder and save it on a network drive or back up to a CD.

Checking for updates

Each time you log on PROJECT in a box Community Edition will automatically call home to see if any updates are available.
If required you can change this setting using the main menu Help and then selecting or deselecting your preferred option .

An Example - The Office Move

Project in a Box comes with an example project to show how the system can be used in practice. The example is about a small company that needs to move to a larger office because they are expanding their operation. We follow the project from Starting up a Project, through Initiating a Project, through to the point where the project is given approval to start.

Click here for some background and more detail about the example.

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