Add a custom field to a project detail page

Summary: Learn how to add a custom field to a project detail page.
Applies to: Project Server Subscription Edition, Project Server 2019, Project Server 2016, Project Server 2013

By adding a custom field to a project detail page, you can collect customized project information as part of a Project Web App workflow. In this article, we'll look at an example of collecting a cost estimate in the first stage of the workflow.

Before you begin

Before starting, make sure:

Create the custom field

In this example, we'll create a custom field called Project Cost that we'll use in the workflow to gather preliminary cost information about the project.

To create a custom field

  1. In Project Web App, click Settings > PWA Settings.

  2. Under Enterprise Data, click Enterprise Custom Fields and Lookup Tables.

  3. Under Enterprise Custom Fields, click New Field.

  4. For Name, type Project Cost.

  5. Under Entity and Type, choose Cost from the Type dropdown list.

  6. Under Behavior, select the Behavior controlled by workflow check box.

  7. Click Save.

Add the custom field to a project detail page

Once the field has been created in Project Web App, we need to add it to the project detail page. In this example, we'll use the ProjectInformation page that comes with Project Web App.

To add a custom field to a project detail page

  1. In Project Web App, click Settings > PWA Settings.

  2. Under Workflow and Project Detail Pages, click Project Detail Pages.

  3. On the Project Detail Pages page, click the ProjectInformation page.

  4. On the ribbon, on the Page tab, click Edit Page.

  5. In the upper right corner of the Basic Info area, open the dropdown menu and choose Edit Web Part.

  6. Under Displayed Project Fields, click Modify.

  7. In the Project Fields list, find the Project Cost field that you created, and then click the add ( >) button to add it to the Selected Project Fields list.

  8. Click OK.

  9. Scroll down until you see the OK button and click OK.

  10. On the ribbon, click Stop Editing.

Build a workflow

We've added the custom field to the project detail page, but by default it's not a required field on that page. Required fields are configured as part of the workflow stage in which the project detail page appears. Because we want to use the field in a workflow calculation, we need to make sure it's a required field by modifying the stage.

To modify a stage

  1. In Project Web App, click Settings > PWA Settings.

  2. Under Workflow and Project Detail Pages, click Workflow Stages.

  3. Click the 1 - Propose idea stage.

  4. Scroll down to the Required Custom Fields area.

  5. Select Project Cost in the Choose Custom Fields list and click the add ( >) button.

  6. At the bottom of the page, click Save.

Building the workflow itself is the next step. We'll be using the Sample Workflow that you created in Create a sample Project Web App workflow to build a workflow that looks like this:

Screenshot of workflow in SharePoint Designer.

If you've completed the procedures in other articles in this series, you may already have part of this workflow in place. The complete steps for creating this workflow are in the following procedure.

To create a workflow

  1. Start SharePoint Designer.

  2. Connect to your Project Web App site.

  3. On the left, click Workflows.

  4. Click Sample Workflow.

  5. Click Edit workflow.

  6. On the ribbon, click Stage, and then click 1 - Propose idea.

  7. Place the orange cursor in the top section of Stage 1 and, on the ribbon, click Action, and then, under Project Web App Actions, click Wait for Project Event.

  8. Click this project event, and choose Event: When a project is submitted from the dropdown menu.

  9. Place the orange cursor below Stage 1, click Stage, and then click 3 - Execute.

  10. Place the orange cursor below Stage 3, click Stage, and then click 4 - Cancelled.

  11. Place the orange cursor in the Transition to stage area of Stage 1, and then, on the ribbon, click Condition, and then click If any value equals value.

  12. Click the first value link, and then click fx.

  13. Leave the Data source set to Project Data and choose Project Cost from the Field from source dropdown list.

  14. Click OK.

  15. Click the equals link, and then choose is greater than from the dropdown list.

  16. Click the second value link, and type10000 in the text box.

  17. Place the orange cursor in the If branch of the If / Else statement.

  18. On the ribbon, click Action, and then choose Go to a stage.

  19. Click the a stage link, and then choose 4 - Cancelled.

  20. Place the orange cursor in the Else branch of the If / Else statement.

  21. On the ribbon, click Action, and then choose Go to a stage.

  22. Click the a stage link, and then choose 3 - Execute.

  23. Click a stage, and then choose 3 - Execute from the dropdown menu.

  24. Place the orange cursor in the Transition to stage area of Stage 3, and then, on the ribbon, click Action, and then click Go to a stage.

  25. Click a stage, and then choose End of Workflow from the dropdown menu.

  26. Place the orange cursor in the Transition to stage area of Stage 4, and then, on the ribbon, click Action, and then click Go to a stage.

  27. Click a stage, and then choose End of Workflow from the dropdown menu.

  28. On the ribbon, click Publish.

Test it out

Now that the workflow has been published, let's create a test project and see how our custom field for project cost works.

To create a project

  1. In Project Web App, in the left navigation, click Projects.

  2. On the ribbon, click the Projects tab.

  3. Click New, and then click Sample Project Type.

  4. Name the project Custom Field, and then type 5000 in the Project Cost field.

  5. Click Save.

Note that the Current Workflow Stage is 1 - Propose idea. Click Submit on the ribbon to move the project to the next stage. Because the project cost is below the $10,000 limit that we set in the workflow, the Current Workflow Stage moves to 3 - Execute.

Create another project, this time using 15000 for the Project Cost field. Note that the Current Workflow Stage moves to 4 - Cancelled when you submit the project because the cost exceeds the $10,000 limit.

In the next article, we'll take a look at assigning an approval task in a workflow.

See also

Create a sample Project Web App workflow

Have a workflow wait for a Project Web App event

Set the stage status in a Project Web App workflow

Assign an approval task in a workflow

Customize approval options for Project Web App workflows