When you first complete a project schedule in Microsoft Project Standard 2003, you quickly realize that you have made a lot of predictions related to other people's time.

In order to quickly and easily get feedback from the various people who will be delivering on the construction schedule, you can post it to the Web. People can then take a look at the tasks they are scheduled to complete and the timeframes they have to complete them within. With their input you can then fine tune the schedule so it is as realistic as possible. Finally, when all adjustments have been made, you can post the schedule to the Web for all to refer to as the project moves forward.

When changes are made to the construction schedule, the revision can be quickly posted so everyone stays up to date. Another advantage of posting the schedule to the Web is that people can view it online without being concerned about file formats and other technical issues that sometimes inhibit the sharing of files.

This article shows you how to share the construction schedules that you create using Microsoft Project. Part 1 covers the basics of sharing. Part 2 shows you how to modify your Microsoft Project schedules so that the versions on the Web are different that those within MS Project itself. Finally, Part 3 discusses how you can modify some of MS Project's existing templates to make them better suited for Web viewing.

Getting started

Putting your Microsoft Project schedule on the Web begins at the File menu. Under the Save As option, you will find the opportunity to Save HTML files. There is also a separate Save As option named Save As Web Page. You can access the Web publishing feature from either menu item.

First you will receive a standard Save As dialog box where you choose where to save the file and input the file name. (If you arrived at this point by choosing Save > Save As, instead of choosing Save As Web Page, then you will also select Web Page from the “Save As Type” drop down list.)

When you choose OK, you will then be shown a new dialog box called the Project Export Wizard; here you begin the process of specifying just what you want included in the page you are about to create. This might initially appear challenging, but don't be intimidated by the options you will see. It is an opportunity to really fine-tune the information you want to display on a Web page.

After you select the Next button, you will be given the chance to choose whether you want to use an existing Map to build your Microsoft Project schedule or to create a new Map. Select the checkbox next to "Use Existing Map."

Using what you're given

Microsoft Project makes it easy to quickly publish some basic information without having to go through mapping procedures. On the next page of the Export Wizard, you will be offered a list of pre-configured maps that you can choose from. For those items that are specifically about "tasks," here is what you will get for each one:

• Who Does What Report will show each Resource and list its Assignments in order of accomplishment, Start, Finish and Work (hours).
• Default Task Information will give you an HTML file that includes ID, Task Name, Duration, Start Date, Finish Date, Predecessors and Resource Names.
• Task Export Table map will give you all exportable columns, creating one very wide page. Besides the headers mentioned above, there will be Outline Level, Baseline Duration, Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, Late Finish, Percent Complete, etc. This is not a template to use until the project is underway since many of the columns depend upon the input of information you will only have once you are in the tracking stage.
• Task and Resource PivotTable would be most useful for cost analysis, as it includes a table entitled Tasks that has a blank column for Resource Group, followed by Resource Name, Task Name, Duration, Start, Finish and Cost. Below that there is a separate table entitled Resources that has a blank column with the header Resource Group followed by a column named Resource name, Work (hours) and Cost.
• Task list with Embedded Assignment Rows includes columns labeled ID, Task Name, Work (hours), Duration, Start, Finish and % Work Complete. Again, this would be most useful once the project is underway to show people how work is progressing.
• Top Level Tasks List map would make a good ongoing project summary as it includes only level one tasks with their IDs, Duration, Start, Finish, Percent Complete, Cost and Work (hours).

At this point you can select any one of these, click Finish and your document will be ready. Navigate to the place where you saved the file and double click to open it in a browser. (If you want to access the HTML code to use for creating a Web page, then start a text editor like Notepad and choose File, Open, select the HTML file and Click open.) If you can't see the file you want to open, then make sure the drop down box at the bottom of dialog box is set to All Files. 

*** Part 2 of this article, Sharing Microsoft Project schedules: Modifying templates, demonstrates how to modify the maps that you use to create construction schedules using MS Project, allowing you to display on the Web only the most relevant information.