Microsoft Project 2016 Tutorial for Beginners Part 1: The MS Project 2016 Workspace

Summary

This tutorial offers an in-depth introduction to the Project workspace, guiding users through the Start screen and its features, such as accessing recent projects, browsing files, and switching user accounts. It demonstrates creating a new project from scratch and highlights various project creation options like using templates or existing projects. The video also covers the workspace layout, including the Ribbon, Entry Bar, Timeline, and Gantt Chart, and introduces the Backstage View for project administration. The instructor provides a practical demonstration of entering tasks and adjusting their duration, giving viewers a hands-on understanding of the software's capabilities.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Start screen in Project 2016 is a familiar sight and can be disabled once users are comfortable with the software.
• 📁 The Start screen features links to existing projects, a recent projects section, and options to open other projects from various locations including cloud storage.
• 🔑 The account name displayed on the Start screen is significant as it indicates the user context under which Project 2016 is running, and the 'Switch Account' feature allows for easy account switching.
• 📈 The Start screen offers various project creation options including from a blank project, existing project, Excel workbook, SharePoint Tasks List, and numerous templates.
• 💡 Searching for project templates online is facilitated through the Start screen, with filters for different Office applications like PowerPoint and Word.
• 🛠️ The workspace in Project 2016 includes the Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, Entry Bar, Timeline, and the main project window with a Gantt Chart by default.
• ⏲️ The Entry Bar is a dynamic feature for entering and editing task data directly within the workspace.
• 📊 The Gantt Chart is a central component of the main project window, showing tasks as a combination of a table and a graphical chart.
• 🔍 The Status Bar provides optional information and view controls, including the scheduling mode indicator and zoom controls.
• 📚 The Backstage View is accessed via the File menu and is where project administration tasks such as saving, printing, and sharing are managed.

Q & A

What is the purpose of the Start screen in Project 2016?

The Start screen in Project 2016 serves as a launching point for new or existing projects, providing quick access to recent projects, templates, and the ability to create new projects from various sources such as Excel workbooks or SharePoint task lists.

How can you access your recent projects in Project 2016?

You can access your recent projects through the 'Recent' section on the Start screen, which displays a list of projects you've opened recently.

What is the function of the 'Open other Projects' link on the Start screen?

The 'Open other Projects' link allows users to access a Windows Browse Dialogue to browse their computer, network locations, and cloud storage areas like OneDrive to open existing projects.

Why might someone choose to disable the Start screen in Project 2016?

Experienced users who are familiar with Project 2016 might choose to disable the Start screen to streamline their workflow and access projects more directly without the introductory interface.

What is the significance of the account name displayed on the Start screen?

The account name displayed on the Start screen is significant because it indicates the user account under which Project 2016 is running. This is important for users who may switch between different accounts or share a PC with others, as it allows them to manage project access and settings specific to each account.

How can you create a new project from an existing one in Project 2016?

You can create a new project from an existing one by using the 'New from Existing Project' thumbnail on the Start screen, which allows you to use an existing project as a template for a new project.

What does the 'New from Excel Workbook' option allow you to do in Project 2016?

The 'New from Excel Workbook' option lets you create a new project from a list of tasks in an Excel workbook, using that list as the starting point for your project.

How does the 'New from SharePoint Tasks List' option differ from the 'New from Excel Workbook' option?

The 'New from SharePoint Tasks List' option is similar to 'New from Excel Workbook' but specifically tailored for tasks stored in Microsoft SharePoint, allowing users to use SharePoint task lists as the basis for a new project.

What is the purpose of the Blank Project thumbnail on the Start screen?

The Blank Project thumbnail is used to create a new project from scratch, providing an empty starting point for users to input tasks and details without any pre-existing data.

What does the Ribbon in Project 2016 control?

The Ribbon in Project 2016 is a toolbar that contains commands and options organized into tabs and groups, allowing users to access and perform various tasks and functions within the software.

What is the Entry Bar in Project 2016 and how do you use it?

The Entry Bar is a feature in Project 2016 used for entering and editing data into the project. Users can click on a field in the table and then type information directly into the Entry Bar, confirming the entry with a tick mark or canceling with an X.

What is the difference between manually scheduled and auto-scheduled tasks in Project 2016?

Manually scheduled tasks require the user to set the start and finish dates, while auto-scheduled tasks are automatically scheduled by Project 2016 based on task dependencies and resource allocations.

How can you view the Timeline in Project 2016?

You can view the Timeline in Project 2016 by clicking on the 'View' tab in the Ribbon and selecting 'Timeline' from the list of views. This will display or hide the Timeline, which shows tasks plotted over a period of time.

What is the Gantt Chart and where is it located in the Project 2016 workspace?

The Gantt Chart is a graphical representation of the project schedule, showing tasks, durations, and dependencies. It is located in the main project window, typically to the right of the task table.

What is the Backstage View in Project 2016 and how do you access it?

The Backstage View is an administrative area in Project 2016 where you can perform tasks like saving, printing, and sharing projects, as well as setting up project information. It is accessed by clicking on the 'File' tab above the Ribbon.

Outlines

00:00

🖥️ Introduction to Project Workspace

The speaker begins by introducing the Project workspace, emphasizing the Start screen's features. They discuss the ability to access existing projects, recent projects, and the option to open other projects through a Windows Browse Dialogue. The Start screen also offers various project creation methods, including from a blank project, an existing project, an Excel workbook, or a SharePoint Tasks List. Additionally, there are numerous project templates available for different types of projects, and a search feature to find specific templates or related Office applications' artifacts. The speaker also highlights the Start screen's customization options, such as disabling it once familiar with the software, and the importance of the account information displayed, which can be switched if multiple accounts are used.

05:03

🔍 Exploring Project Templates and Search Functionality

In this segment, the speaker demonstrates how to use the search feature on the Start screen to find project templates, using 'wedding' as an example. They explain that the search is an online facility requiring an internet connection and show how it retrieves a Wedding Planner template. The speaker also mentions that search results include artifacts from other Office applications, such as PowerPoint templates related to weddings. They briefly touch on the usefulness of these cross-application links and then guide the audience back to the Start screen, focusing on creating a blank project and noting the message that appears regarding task scheduling modes. The speaker introduces the workspace elements, such as the Quick Access Toolbar, Ribbon, Entry Bar, and the significance of the project's name displayed above the Ribbon.

10:08

📊 Understanding the Project Workspace Layout

The speaker continues the tour of the Project workspace, discussing the Entry Bar's functionality for entering and editing task data. They explain the process of naming tasks and how to use the tick mark and cross to confirm or cancel entries. Moving on, they introduce the Timeline feature, which can be toggled on and off via the Ribbon, and how it visualizes tasks over a set period. The default project start date is set to the current date, and the Timeline's end date adjusts based on task durations. The main project window, which displays a Gantt Chart by default, is also explained, consisting of a task list table and a chart for visual representation. The speaker mentions that the Gantt Bar's appearance, such as color and shape, carries meaning, which will be elaborated later. Lastly, they describe the Status Bar at the bottom of the window, which shows optional information and view controls, and the Backstage View, accessed by clicking 'File,' where project administration tasks like saving, printing, and sharing are managed.

Keywords

💡Project Workspace

The Project Workspace refers to the environment or interface within Microsoft Project where users can create, manage, and view their projects. It includes various tools and features that facilitate project planning and management. In the video, the workspace is introduced as the primary area where users interact with the software, with the Start screen being the initial view that users encounter when launching Microsoft Project 2016.

💡Start Screen

The Start Screen in Microsoft Project 2016 is the initial interface that appears when the software is opened. It provides users with options to create new projects, open existing ones, or connect to online resources. The script mentions the Start Screen as a feature that users may choose to disable once they are familiar with the software, indicating its role in guiding new users through their initial interactions with the program.

💡Recent Projects

Recent Projects is a section on the Start Screen that displays a list of projects that the user has recently opened. This feature is designed to provide quick access to frequently used projects. The script notes that this section will be empty for new users but will populate as they begin to work on projects, demonstrating a feature that enhances user productivity by reducing the time spent locating and opening files.

💡Manual Scheduling

Manual scheduling is a mode in Microsoft Project where tasks are scheduled based on the dates and durations entered by the user, without the software automatically calculating the task's start and finish dates. The script introduces this concept when discussing the creation of a new blank project, highlighting that new tasks are created in manually scheduled mode by default, which is a fundamental concept for users to understand when planning their projects.

💡Auto-Scheduling

Auto-scheduling is an alternative mode to manual scheduling, where Microsoft Project automatically calculates the start and finish dates of tasks based on dependencies, resource allocations, and other constraints. The script briefly mentions that the user may prefer auto-scheduled mode after gaining experience with the software, suggesting that it is a more advanced feature that offers greater automation in project planning.

💡Entry Bar

The Entry Bar is a feature in the Project Workspace that allows users to input and edit data directly into the project, such as task names, durations, and other attributes. The script describes how to use the Entry Bar to enter the name of a task, illustrating its utility in data entry and task management within the software interface.

💡Gantt Chart

A Gantt Chart is a graphical representation of a project's schedule, showing tasks, their durations, and dependencies in a horizontal bar chart format. The script mentions the Gantt Chart as a default view in the main project window, emphasizing its importance in visualizing project timelines and assisting with scheduling and progress tracking.

💡Backstage View

Backstage View is a term used in Microsoft Office applications, including Project, to refer to a menu that provides access to file management and application settings. In the script, Backstage View is mentioned as the area where users can save, print, and share their projects, as well as access project information setup, indicating its role in project administration and management.

💡Project Templates

Project Templates are pre-designed project outlines that include standard tasks and structures relevant to specific types of projects, such as software development or construction. The script discusses various templates available in Microsoft Project, including online templates like the Wedding Planner, which provide a starting point for new projects, saving time and ensuring that common tasks and phases are included.

💡Timeline

The Timeline in Microsoft Project is a feature that provides a visual representation of tasks over a specified period. The script explains how to display the Timeline and how it will show tasks once they are entered into the project, highlighting its utility in planning and reviewing project schedules.

💡Status Bar

The Status Bar in Microsoft Project is located at the bottom of the project window and displays information about the project's status and provides controls for adjusting the view. The script mentions the Status Bar as having optional pieces of information, such as the scheduling mode, and controls for the view, which are crucial for users to monitor the project's progress and make adjustments as needed.

Highlights

Introduction to the Project workspace and starting a simple project.

Explanation of the Start screen and its various sections.

Details on the Recent section and accessing recent projects.

Demonstration of opening other projects through the Start screen.

Overview of the Windows buttons and their functions.

Importance of the account name and the Switch Account feature.

Description of the Blank Project thumbnail and starting a new project.

Options for creating new projects from existing ones or Excel workbooks.

Introduction to New from SharePoint Tasks List and its use case.

Explanation of project templates and their benefits.

Search functionality for finding project templates online.

Example of searching for a wedding planner template.

Integration with other Office applications through search results.

Process of creating a blank project and the initial message about scheduling modes.

Tour of the workspace including the Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon.

Introduction to the Entry Bar for data entry and editing.

Explanation of the Timeline feature and its customization.

Overview of the main project window and the Gantt Chart.

Details on the Status Bar and its informational and control functions.

Introduction to the Backstage View for project administration.

Transcripts

In this section I’m going to take you on a tour of the Project workspace and we’re

also going to start creating a very simple project.

And I’ll use that very simple project to demonstrate key points concerning the Project

workspace.

You’ve already seen this Start screen and you’ll probably see this quite a few times

during the course.

Although as you’ll see a little bit later on you may want to disable the Start screen

once you really get used to using Project 2016.

You may decide that you can get along perfectly well without it.

Now let me give you a quick tour of the Start screen itself.

Over on the left we have an area which gives us links to existing projects.

We have a Recent section.

Currently this section is empty.

As you can see the note there says you haven’t opened any projects recently.

Once we start working on projects you’ll start to see a list of recent projects appear

there.

And then below that there is a link, Open other Projects, which gives us access to a

Windows Browse Dialogue so you can browse your computer, you can browse any network

locations you have access to and you can browse Cloud areas, such as your OneDrive storage.

Now we’re going to start with a new project so we won’t be using that part of the Start

screen on this occasion.

In the top right we have some standard Windows buttons.

The little question mark is Help.

Note the Screen Tip there.

Help and F1 is the keyboard shortcut for that.

Then we have Minimize and we have Maximize or Restore, depending on whether your screen

is currently maximized or not.

And then we also have a Close button.

Below that we have my name and the account under which I am currently running Project

2016.

This is very important.

If you’re the only person that uses this PC and you’re the only person that uses

Project on this PC and you only have one account that you ever run Project under then this

will always indicate that account.

But if, for example, you sometimes use a work account and sometimes a personal account,

if you share this PC with somebody else you may want to switch between accounts.

Well the facility here, Switch Account, let’s you switch between those accounts.

And I’ll demonstrate that to you a little bit later on.

Now let me talk about the rest of the Start screen.

And I’m going to say this once more.

I won’t keep saying it.

You may not see exactly the same as me.

It will depend on a number of things.

But almost certainly the first thing you will see here is a Blank Project thumbnail.

I’m going to click on that in a little while and we’re going to create a blank project.

So that’s an empty starting point for a project.

But I’m going to run through some of these others first.

If you run projects that have an element of similarity, maybe you do building projects,

marketing projects, then you may already have a project that you’d like to base a new

one on.

And the second thumbnail here, New from Existing Project, enables you to use an existing project

as a starting point for a new one.

The third thumbnail, New from Excel Workbook, let’s you create a project from an Excel

workbook.

And what this basically means is that you have perhaps a list of tasks on a worksheet

in an Excel workbook and you want to make that list of tasks the starting point for

a project.

The fourth thumbnail, New from SharePoint Tasks List, is a pretty similar kind of thing

but in relation to SharePoint.

So if you have a list of tasks in Microsoft SharePoint and you want to use those as the

basis for a project you can use that option.

Now the other thumbnails all correspond to different standard project templates.

So if I were working on a software development project I could use the first template there,

Software Development Plan, and it would get me started on a typical set of tasks as a

starting point for a software development project.

Now you’ll see a whole list of these templates.

These templates you may think of in the old terminology as boiler plates but nowadays

we generally call them templates.

And there are many there.

So Residential Construction is there, for example.

New Business Plan is another one.

But there are available online many, many templates that you can base new projects on.

And there is a Search facility at the top here.

So if you wanted a project plan for a particular thing you could do a search here.

In fact there are some standard searches, suggested searches as they called underneath.

So Project Management, Project Plan, Project Themes, etcetera.

Let’s suppose and this is definitely potentially going to be very useful, I wanted to look

for a project plan for a wedding.

Let me do a Search on wedding.

This is of course an online facility so I need to be connected to the internet.

Let’s try Wedding.

And it comes up with a Wedding Planner.

If I were to click on that wedding planner then it would let me see a little bit more

detail about what this wedding planner is.

So it shows me the first few tasks.

It gives me a description.

Wedding Planner provided by Microsoft Corporation.

It tells me how big it is.

It gives me a bit of a description about the wedding planner.

And then I could use that to create a wedding plan.

And in fact that’s not very far removed from what I’m going to do a little bit later

on.

But let me just close that for the moment and go back to this screen because apart from

giving me potential Project Templates for a wedding there are search results from other

Office applications.

So it shows me potentially other useful artifacts related to other Office applications.

Let’s look at PowerPoint for instance.

There are seven found items related to PowerPoint.

Now each of these is a template for a PowerPoint presentation.

So there’s a wedding photo album, a wedding reception seating chart and a stylish photo

cards template.

Now there are other suitable wedding related artifacts that can be used in Word, Publisher,

and Excel.

So we’re not really going to cover that on this course but they can be very useful

links to other artifacts that you can use with the other components of Office.

Having taken a look at that let’s go back to the Start screen.

We just use the Back button there, the Browse Back button.

It takes us back to the Start screen.

And we’re going to create a blank project.

Now as soon as I do this I want you to look in the bottom left hand corner of the screen

because a little message will pop up for a few seconds that you’ll get used to seeing

and after a while you’ll probably just ignore, but I need to explain it to you briefly now

and then in a little bit more detail later on.

So click on Blank Project, look down in the corner, New tasks are created in manually

scheduled mode.

As you’ll see later on there are two modes of scheduling.

There’s manually scheduled and there’s auto-scheduled.

Most of the time I tend to work in auto-scheduled mode.

And after you’ve been using Project for a while you will choose which mode you prefer.

The fact that I currently have this in manually scheduled mode and you may or may not have

it in manually scheduled mode really doesn’t matter at the moment.

Don’t worry about that.

We’ll come back to that a little bit later on.

What we need to concentrate on here is the workspace overall.

So first of all in the top left hand corner you have the Quick Access Toolbar that I mentioned

earlier on in the course.

You may not see quite the same buttons as me there but we’ll come back to that in

a couple of sections time.

And in the top right hand corner you have some standard Windows buttons.

Let me just hover over those.

So you have Minimize, Restore/Down and Close.

The main Ribbon is this.

So it’s a big block right across the screen, very near the top.

I’m going to explain the Ribbon to you in quite a bit of detail again in a couple of

sections from now.

Above the Ribbon in the middle is the name of the current project.

We’ve just created a project.

By default it’s called Project 1.

If we created another one by default it would be called Project 2 and so on.

Now below the Ribbon we have something called the Entry Bar.

And the Entry Bar is something that we can use to enter and edit data into our project.

You may or may not have that entry bar shown.

If you don’t see that don’t worry.

I’m going to show you in a while how to show that if it isn’t shown already.

Basically the kind of thing we use the entry bar for is this.

If I want to enter the name of the first task in my project I click in the Task Name Field

there, first task name in the first row of my project.

And then if I click in the Entry Bar I could call it Task 1.

Having typed that I click on the tick mark to the left of task 1 and that is the name

of my first task.

If I click down to the next row and I intended to type Task 2, I could type Task 2, change

my mind, click on the X to the left, the cross there, and that cancels what I’m typing.

That’s the Entry Bar.

More later.

Below the Entry Bar we have the Timeline.

I mentioned the Timeline much earlier on when I was talking about what’s new and the fact

that you can have several timelines now in Project 2016.

You may or may not see the Timeline.

If you don’t see it you can show it by, if you go up to the Ribbon, above the Ribbon

there’s the word View.

Click on View.

Even if you don’t understand the Ribbon just click on View.

And roughly in the middle, just to the right of the middle of the commands immediately

under there there’s one that says Timeline.

And as you can see it’s checked.

Mine is ticked.

That means the Timeline is shown.

If I uncheck it the Timeline disappears.

Check it again, the Timeline is now shown.

So that’s the Timeline.

When I’ve got some tasks it will show those tasks on the Timeline.

Now in fact I’ve just entered one task there.

It hasn’t got any work in it.

And the timeline can be set to run over a period of time.

Now by default my new project is starting today, so that’s December the 14th.

And because I haven’t got any tasks or work that involve anything in them the end date,

the finish date, at the right hand end of the timeline is also December the 14th.

So it’s not the most exciting project in the world at the moment.

I’m not really doing much and therefore it’s one of those situations where I can

safely say that my project is on time.

Below the Timeline is the main project window.

And by default on my installation I show a Gantt Chart.

And a Gantt Chart actually comprises two parts.

It comprises the list of tasks.

It’s actually a table and we refer to this as the table.

And on the right we have the chart itself which is normally a pictorial representation

of the tasks in my project.

Now you may or may not have a Gantt Chart shown.

If you don’t have a Gantt Chart shown you will soon find out how to show a Gantt Chart

there.

And there will be situations when you’ll want to see one of the many other types of

chart that you can show in the main body of the display there, the main window.

Now just to give you a little bit more of an idea of how that’s going to look let’s

go back to that first task, Task 1.

I’m going to click in the duration column there in line with Task 1.

And I’m going to say that this is a two day task.

Click elsewhere and there is my Gantt Bar for a two day task.

Now there are various things about that bar in terms of its color, its ends and so on

that each have significance and we’re going to talk about those later on.

But basically as we start to build up a schedule we’ll build up entries in the table on the

left and each of those will be represented by a Gantt Bar or other appropriate symbol

in the chart on the right.

The next aspect of the workspace to look at is the Status Bar across the bottom of the

project window.

At the left hand end there are optional pieces of information.

One of the ones that’s shown there now is New tasks are manually scheduled, which I

mentioned earlier on in this section.

And at the right hand end there are controls for the view.

So we can do things like choose the view of the project we currently have and we can also

use the Zoom controls, more on those later.

And the last part of the workspace that I want to look at is what’s called the Backstage

or Backstage View.

Now what we’re looking at here is effectively a project.

It’s a very simple project with one ask in it at the moment but this is where we work

on the contents of our project.

Administration of projects, doing everything from saving them to printing them to sharing

them, this is all done in what’s called Backstage View or just Backstage.

And to get to Backstage View you click on File which is above the left hand end of the

Ribbon.

So if I click on File it takes me into Backstage View.

Backstage View has a load of options, Info, New, Open, Save, etcetera, and we’ll be

covering those as we go through the course.

It’s also, for example, in Backstage View where we set up project information.

When I’ve used Backstage View I get back to my project again using that Back button

and that take me back into my project again.

So there we are.

That’s all the basics of the workspace for now.

In the next section I want to take a quick look at Help.

So please join me for that.