Please give this feature a try and let us know what you think!
Monday, February 15, 2010
New Projec.to Version: Sharing Individual Files
Today we’ve released a new Projec.to version, with a new feature we've been requested many times. Now you can share individual files even from a private workspace using secret links. Just click 'share link' when viewing a file, copy the secret link shown, and send it out. The recipients will not have to sign up for Projec.to to view the file.
Please give this feature a try and let us know what you think!
Please give this feature a try and let us know what you think!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Using Microsoft Project in Agile Environment
Several times I discussed with guys who are doing Scrum development how Microsoft Project helps track and manage projects. Some of the ideas were that using MS Project gives people wrong expectations about sprints and projects timeline.
But I still do believe MS Project should be used in Agile world! Even in a very short sprint you may face a lot of activities with complex interdependencies and performers. Sometimes these dependences are fixed in time and not dependent on team velocity (e.g. delivery of an external library, database deployment by a third party, etc). In such cases Microsoft Project allows you to see this on one page and plan your iteration.
Moreover – Gantt schedule in MS Project is traditionally used as a fixed artifact, but it should not. It should be dynamic and changeable almost in real time. Unfortunately this is not done because this task is too time consuming. The problem of MS Project in Agile is not the nature of the tool, but the absence of technical mechanisms, which should control the velocity and update the timelines, while keeping the dependencies unchanged and simply traceable.
Even for agile stories, Project could show estimates of the durations per story, basing on the history and automated calculation of velocity. In this assumption of a "live plan", the schedule is not able to give the expectations, but provide the team with a simple and usable tool to do the "what if" analysis and track changes in relation with their impacts.
The problem seems to may be solved by developing several macros for MS Project and using right templates... or in a separate implementation of Gantt planner in Projec.to.
But I still do believe MS Project should be used in Agile world! Even in a very short sprint you may face a lot of activities with complex interdependencies and performers. Sometimes these dependences are fixed in time and not dependent on team velocity (e.g. delivery of an external library, database deployment by a third party, etc). In such cases Microsoft Project allows you to see this on one page and plan your iteration.
Moreover – Gantt schedule in MS Project is traditionally used as a fixed artifact, but it should not. It should be dynamic and changeable almost in real time. Unfortunately this is not done because this task is too time consuming. The problem of MS Project in Agile is not the nature of the tool, but the absence of technical mechanisms, which should control the velocity and update the timelines, while keeping the dependencies unchanged and simply traceable.
Even for agile stories, Project could show estimates of the durations per story, basing on the history and automated calculation of velocity. In this assumption of a "live plan", the schedule is not able to give the expectations, but provide the team with a simple and usable tool to do the "what if" analysis and track changes in relation with their impacts.
The problem seems to may be solved by developing several macros for MS Project and using right templates... or in a separate implementation of Gantt planner in Projec.to.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
How to Embed Microsoft Project Gantt Chart to Your Blog or Website
- Sign up for a free Projec.to account
- Upload an MS Project (.mpp) file to the 'public plans' section
- Open the plan, click ‘embed’, and copy HTML code shown
- Paste the code to your blog or website, it will look like the following:
<div style="text-align: center;"> <object id="chart" name="chart" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="100%" height="100%" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab"> </embed> </object> <a href="http://www.onlineprojectviewer.com/plan.html?code=ea2c25cefb0867549af5f75d2f48409b" target="_blank">View full screen</a> | powered by <a href="http://www.onlineprojectviewer.com/" target="_blank">Projec.to online Microsoft Project viewer</a> </div>
- The result:
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Projec.to is Out of Beta
We’re excited to announce that Projec.to is out of beta!
The new version features ‘shared workspaces’ that allow teams to collaborate on Microsoft Project plans online. Now you can securely share MS Project files with your customers and colleagues online, without having them to install Microsoft Project:
http://projec.to/
We’d love to hear you feedback!
Simultaneously with this release we reveal Projec.to pricing scheme:
- Uploading and viewing MS Project plans online remains free
- 'Private sharing' pricing starts from $49/month for one workspace and 10 team members, with 15-day free trial:
http://www.projec.to/trial.jsp
The new version features ‘shared workspaces’ that allow teams to collaborate on Microsoft Project plans online. Now you can securely share MS Project files with your customers and colleagues online, without having them to install Microsoft Project:
http://projec.to/
We’d love to hear you feedback!
Simultaneously with this release we reveal Projec.to pricing scheme:
- Uploading and viewing MS Project plans online remains free
- 'Private sharing' pricing starts from $49/month for one workspace and 10 team members, with 15-day free trial:
http://www.projec.to/trial.jsp
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