Deeanna said:
I create and manage our software development schedule using MS Project. For
obvious reasons, I have the master schedule and do not allow others to make
changes to it. Now, however, there is one person, maybe more, who want to
make changes and has stated that Project has the tracked changes
functionality as in MS Word. This person is under the impression that he can
make changes to the master and send it back to me and merge it with my master
schedule. Has anyone used tracked changes in Project and if so, where is it
located?
Thanks!
Deeanna,
There are different types of "master" schedule. The most common type is
a master with inserted subprojects (created by using Insert/Project).
This is a dynamically consolidated master. However, some people also
call their single large project schedule the master. This is equivalent
to a statically consolidated master although it may not have been built
by consolidating individual projects to make up the master.
I'm not sure where your co-worker got the idea that Project has the same
tracked changes functionality as Word. It does not. However, there are
some utilities than can detect changes between two project files. One of
these utilities is called "Compare Project Versions" and depending on
the version of Project you are using, it may need to be an add-in
(Project 2000) or it may already be its own separate toolbar utility
(Project 2003). However, it neither case will it work with dynamically
consolidated masters.
Regardless, here is a little piece of advice. If you are the curator of
the master file (i.e. the master scheduler) you, in conjunction with
company policy, determine who can make changes to the master file, not
individual users. If a compare utility will get what you need, then it
MIGHT be ok for users to edit the master (it could make your work a
little easier). But more likely, your company needs to do some training
that sets up rules of engagement for maintaining project files. Project
is not a "slam dunk" application. It requires a lot of training and
experience to properly create, update, and report on plans captured in
Project. Look at it this way, if Project were such a user-friendly
simple application, why do you think there are tons of questions and
issues posted in this newsgroup every day?
John
Project MVP
