Import a plan from MS Project

Teamhood imports a plan from the XML file that MS Project saves. It cannot read an .mpp file, so save the plan as XML first.

Save the plan as XML

1. Open the plan in MS Project desktop.
2. Choose File → Save As.
3. Set Save as type to XML Format (*.xml).
4. Save the file.

Import the XML file

1. Select + at the top of the sidebar, then Import.
2. Drop the .xml file, or select the drop area to pick the file. The file can be up to 10 MB.

Place and import the tasks

1. On Placement, Create an item for the project puts the tasks under one item, the project item. The option is on by default while Place under is No parent. Check each type, and pick one where none is set.
   • With No parent, the project item starts as the first type you can create whose Default open action is Children.
   • The tasks start as the Default child type of their parent’s type.
2. If you create the project item, check its name.
3. Go through Map fields and Review, then select the import button, such as Import 18 items.
4. Select Open imported items. With a project item, the button opens a Gantt of that item’s tasks at the start of the plan. Otherwise, the button opens the view the import made.

What the import keeps

• Every task becomes an item, nested as in the plan’s outline.
• Start and Finish dates. A summary task takes its dates from the tasks under it.
• Completion. A task at 100% complete is imported as completed. A task at any other percentage is imported as not completed. A summary task and the item for the project are completed when MS Project shows them at 100%.
• Predecessor links of all four types. Lag is rounded to whole working days.
• Task notes, as the item’s description.
• Assigned resources, matched to people and teams by name. A name that matches nobody is left off the item and listed under Unmatched person values.
• Duration, work, % complete, priority, milestone, WBS and deadline, as columns you can map to fields.

What the import leaves out

• Constraints such as Start No Earlier Than.
• Calendars, working time and holidays.
• Baselines, costs and custom fields.
• Material and cost resources.

Importing the plan a second time adds its tasks again. A top-level task with tasks under it can reuse an item of the same title and type in the same place, and its tasks are then added under that item. Review lists each match under Already there, where you choose. With exactly one match, reusing it is the default.

Next

• How dependency scheduling works