A Template Project is a complete description of a project less the actual dates and resource allocation.

The purpose of the Template Project is twofold:

• Predefinition of a project type, from which new projects that can be instantiated multiple times.
• Initially defining a project on its own terms, without having to worry about resource clashes and actual dates. The later problems are handled when the template project is dragged onto the plan.

A Template Project is created in a view of its own, using the same technic as when creating a project directly in the plan.

 

The resource requirements of a template project

The resource requirements of an activity is initially the resources supplied by the work team upon which the activity is booked. These requirements may be changed according to the actual needs.

 

Creating project from a template project.

Booking a template project on the actual activity schedule is done using drag and drop.

While you drag a template project along the actual activity schedule, each template activity's resource requirements are matched to the resources offered by the work teams. Only if a match is obtained the activity can be booked.

You can control the matching algorithm by specifying an acceptance percentage in the capacity matching options.

If Multi-Project-Planner prohibits you from booking the template, you can force booking by pressing the Ctrl key before releasing the mouse. Activities which will result in resource conflicts will be turned into hot potatoes.

 

Below the template project used in the demo.

The red arrows represents the critical path.

 

Below a fairly complex template project.

 

See here how to create a template project.

See here how to create projects using a template project.