Defining the Project Portal Plug-in for a Process Template

By using the portal plug-in, you can define the initial document libraries, library structure, and documents of a team project's portal. You can also include the tasks that create dashboards and Excel reports that are designed to work with the process templates for Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF).

In this topic

• Portal Plug-in Name and Location

• Portal Creation Tasks and Dependencies

• Creating the Site and Specifying the SiteTemplate

• Creating Document Libraries

• Creating the Folder Structure of a Document Library

• Specifying Files to Upload to Document Libraries

• Activating Dashboard Features

Portal Plug-in Name and Location

The following table summarizes the names of the portal plug-in file, the folder, and the plug-in for the MSF process templates.

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Portal Creation Tasks and Dependencies

In the portal plug-in file, specify one or more tasks and their dependencies. You specify the following key tasks:

• Create the site by using a specified site template

• Create document libraries

• Create folders, and upload files to the document libraries

• Activate dashboard features

For an example of a task that specifies a simple project portal, see the WssTasks.xml file in the MSF for Agile Software Development process template.

For more information about site requirements and administration, see SharePoint Products and Team Foundation Server

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Creating the Site and Specifying the Site Template

You must specify a site template on which the project portal is based. The site template also must be available on the Team Foundation Server SharePoint portal. Site templates are not included in the process template.

Specify the site template using the site element.

<site template="" language=""/>

The following table describes the attributes for the site element.

The following example shows how to reference the English version of the current version of the MSF Agile process template, which supports dashboards.

<tasks>
  <task id="SharePointPortal" name="Create Sharepoint Portal" plugin="Microsoft.ProjectCreationWizard.Portal" completionMessage="Project portal site created.">
    <dependencies />
    <taskXml>
        <Portal>
           <site template="TFS2010 Agile Dashboard" language="1033" />  
       . . . 
        </Portal>

Process Template Performance

The files that you specify in WssTasks.xml are included as part of the process template when it is uploaded. The size of the process template affects how long it takes to create a new team project. Larger process templates take longer to create new team projects. Therefore you should consider alternate strategies to provide files when process template performance degrades.

Using the Site Template

You can include files as part of the SharePoint site template. This moves files out of the process template and into the site template and improves performance when creating new team projects.

However, there is a benefit to listing files in WssTasks.xml. You can bind Microsoft Project and Microsoft Excel files to a query using the queryid attribute described previously. This assists team members when they open the files because they will already be connected to the correct Team Foundation Server and query.

Using an Alternate Web Site

If you have a large collection of files that are shared amongst multiple team projects, you can use an alternate Web site to host the files and link to the files from the project portal or Web pages. This strategy also increases performance when creating team projects since the files do not need to be copied to the project portal. For more information, see Share Process Guidance for a Team Project.

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Creating Document Libraries

After the project portal is created, you can specify that additional document libraries be created. Use the documentLibrary element to specify a document library.

<documentLibraries>
   <documentLibrary name="" description="" isProcessGuidance="true | false" />
</documentLibraries>

The following table describes the attributes for the documentLibrary element.

The following example shows how to create a document library named Development that the development team can use to store documents.

<documentLibraries>
. . .
   <documentLibrary name="Process Guidance" description="How to make best use of the Team Foundation Server tools and process" isProcessGuidance="true" />
. . .
</documentLibraries>

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Creating the Folder Structure of a Document Library

After the project portal is created, you can specify additional folders to create. You can also specify files to copy such as template files.

Use the folder element to create a new folder.

<folders>
   <folder documentLibrary="" name=""/>
</folders>

The following table describes the attributes for the folder element.

The following example shows how to create a folder named Trip Reports in the Development document library where developers can store trip reports from conferences or customer visits.

<folders>
   <folder documentLibrary="Development"
           name="Trip Reports"/>
</folders>

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Specifying Files to Upload to Document Libraries

You must also copy files into document libraries and folders. The source files are located under the Windows SharePoint Services folder. You must specify a target on the project portal.

<files>
   <file source="" documentLibrary="" target="" queryId="" /> 
</files>

The following table describes the attributes for the file element.

Attribute	Description
source	A relative path to the local copy of the file. Generally, the source path name always begins with Windows SharePoint Services, which is the name of the folder where the portal plug-in is defined.
documentLibrary	The name of the document library into which the file will be copied.
target	A relative path to the target on the project portal where the file is copied.
queryId	Specifies the name of a work item query that is bound to the file. When the file is opened for the first time, it is populated with the results of running the query. This attribute is optional, and the specified query must exist in the workitems.xml file. Note queryId only applies to .xls files.

The following example shows how to copy a template file named Project Checklist into the Project Management folder. This example also specifies that when the file is first open, it should be populated with the results of the Project Checklist work item query.

<files>
   <file source="Windows SharePoint Services\Templates\Project Checklist.xls" 
      documentLibrary="Project Management" 
      target="Project Checklist.xls" 
      queryId="Project Checklist" />
</files>

Process Guidance Content Files

Process guidance is content that documents the processes to be followed by team members who work on a software project. Work items, reports, and queries can all change during the lifecycle of a team project, and they can be different between team projects. Process guidance content provides details about a team project, such as information about how to complete work item fields, examples of healthy and unhealthy reports, and descriptions of the queries. Process guidance also provides details about the process to follow on a team project, such as roles to assume and activities to complete.

The process guidance that is provided for team projects that you create by using a Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) process template is hosted in the MSDN Library. This includes process guidance for MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0 and MSF for Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Process Improvement v5.0. Both of these templates are included with Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management (ALM).

For the most recent version of the MSF process templates, the files that are uploaded to the Process Guidance document library are .htm files. These files specify URLs to the MSDN content that is opened when a team member clicks within a work item form. The MSF process templates contain links to topics on the Microsoft Web site.

You can customize these files to point to other resources for process guidance. You can also add files to support access to other process guidance that you have created for your team.

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Activating Dashboard Features

Dashboards show project data, support investigation, and help teams quickly perform common tasks. Dashboards display several Excel reports and Team Web Access Web parts.

You use the activateFeatures element to cause the creation of the dashboards and Excel reports. You must include the following code in the portal plug-in file, within the Portal element, to activate the creation of the dashboards and Excel reports for a team project.

To activate dashboard features that are designed for use with the MSF process template for agile software development:

      <Portal>
    . . . 
        <activateFeatures>
          <!-- TfsDashboardAgileMoss -->
          <feature featureId="0D953EE4-B77D-485b-A43C-F5FBB9367207" />
          <!-- TfsDashboardAgileQuickLaunch -->
          <feature featureId="1D363A6D-D9BA-4498-AD1A-9874ACA5F827" />
        </activateFeatures>
    . . . 
      </Portal>

To activate dashboard features that are designed for use with the MSF process template for CMMI:

      <Portal>
    . . . 
<activateFeatures>
          <!-- TfsDashboardCmmiMoss -->
          <feature featureId="3D0BA288-BF8E-47F0-9680-7556EDEF6318" />
          <!-- TfsDashboardCmmiProcessDocLibraries -->
          <feature featureId="8610B95B-063F-4FB5-837C-BCF2FE9423C6" />
        </activateFeatures>
    . . . 
      </Portal>

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See Also

Tasks

Retrieve and Restore Missing Site Templates

Verify Windows SharePoint Services Changes

Concepts

Customizing Process Templates

Step-by-Step Customization Process

Working with Process Template Files

Customizing Functional Areas within a Process Template