MS Project import – User defined fields
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 12. March 2010
If you have MS Projects containing user defined columns and need to edit them in Merlin, simply save those files in the MS Project XML exchange format. Open the XML file later on in Merlin, click any activity in your project and check the ‘User Defined Fields’ tab. You will find them all listed there displaying their contents.
Please note:
MS Project will not save the custom titles into the XML file, so Merlin displays their column identifier.
Tip:
- If you have only one user defined field simply edit its title in the ‘User Defined Fields’ tab
- If you have imported various user defined fields at once, you may want to display first the columns on the outline to know which column title fits which content.
Isn’t great? Not only seamless import of MS Project files but also to such a deep extent. Merlin never ceases to amaze me 
Tags: MS Project, User defined fields, XML
Merlin Projects on iPhone
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 11. March 2010
We have submitted the next update for Merlin on the iPhone to the App Store and wait for its approval.
It will carry the version number 1.0.4 and includes the following issue fixes:
- The iPhone app has now a new icon and a new title. Its former title “Merlin” is now part of the icon and the application itself is called “Projects”; so it reads “Merlin Projects”.
- The navigation view is now properly positioned even after cancelling the image picker in the file elements view.
- Under some circumstances it was not possible to enter the completion percentage.
- Added a workaround for a bug in the 3.2 beta version of the iPhone SDK.
- The Gantt view wasn’t refreshed after a sync operation.
- Under some circumstances Merlin iPhone did crash on start.
- The stability in general is improved.
We hope Apple approves the new update of Merlin iPhone quickly, and it is soon available in the App Store for download.
Update: The update 1.0.4 is now available in the App Store and recommended for all Merlin iPhone 1.0.3 users.
Performance, Productivity and Efficiency
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 10. March 2010
How one can manage to accomplish in a project best possible performance, productivity and efficiency at once? Is it a realistic goal in a real world, on real life conditions? Is it better to transit as times change from efficiency to productivity? Which PM methods help the most while trying to do so? Is it Agile? Questions over questions…
We would love to read your answers in the comments.
Tags: Efficiency, Performance, Productivity
Ch-cha-changes; News in our blog
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 9. March 2010
Ch-cha-changes… This is to inform you that the name of our blog ‘MacPM.net‘ as shown in the navigation menus of our website http://www.projectwizards.net/en is now ‘News’. Please note that only the name changes, the URL remains the same. The contents of our MacPM.net blog for Project Management with Merlin on Mac OS X remain. We will keep you posted in the usual frequency.
How to access Merlin projects from dynamic-IP driven locations
John Kranz on 9. March 2010
If you are publishing Merlin projects from a computer that has a dynamically generated IP address, this can cause problems for your users already having received the project URLs and use in the meanwhile obsolete IPs to access the projects. This situation easily occurs, as the IP address of your router changes upon re-connecting to your internet provider.
In this case the actual project URLs will fall out of sync with the URL and IP address that Merlin has originally published. Fortunately, there is a solution readily at hand thanks to the free service provided by DynDNS.org that allows you to create a static host name that can be used instead.
Tags: DynDNS, Merlin 101, Merlin Web
Merlin at the CeBit: An interview with Frank Blome, ProjectWizards’ CEO
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 9. March 2010
Frank Blome, our CEO, was interviewed by Richard Joerges at the CeBit, on the second day of the trade show.
He was asked for a resumé to the CeBIT so far and whether he sees any current trends in the Project Management.
Frank talks about Windows based PMs thinking about switching to the Mac platform, traditional project management, Agile and Scrum. Enjoy the interview
Tags: Agile, CeBit, Scrum, Traditional Project Management
Merlin: resources utilization dynamically adjusted
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 8. March 2010
This is a tip of our CEO, Frank Blome, as discussed at the CeBIT 2010 and published on our German MacPM blog:
Supposedly you plan an activity of 5 days work to be accomplished in the duration of 10 days. As an experienced PM and Merlin user you create the activity in your project as follows:
This results to a 50% utilization for the assigned resource
Tags: Actuals, Documenting actual work, Merlin, Merlin 101, Utilization
Merlin on a web browser
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 5. March 2010
The other day we received the following question in support:
We are testing Merlin for project management on the Mac and are very interested to use your solution but there is one functionality which seems to be not covered in the web access; we are not able to add elements (risk, issue, or files)
That’s correct. Merlin in the web module allows users working on other platforms to collaborate on Merlin files using a web browser*. It is not just another implementation of the Merlin Mac OS X application for the web.
While behaving similarly to the native Merlin application, its functionality and graphical user interface is deliberately minimalized** to insure better usability from web users not having deeper Merlin knowledge.
_
*) Supported web browser: IE7, IE8 in compatibility mode, Safari 4, Firefox 3
**) All differences between Merlin on Mac OS X and in the Web module: here
Tags: Elements, Merlin, Merlin Web
Quote of the day
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 4. March 2010
Under a quality system, if it wasn’t documented (according to your own rules), IT NEVER HAPPENED!
Found in a post about Managing Projects in the Medical Device Marketplace
My thoughts in random order:
- It pays to document things as you do them, it’s a horror to catch up later on
- There is no such thing as over-documentation
- Next team meeting ToDo: Suggest to develop dietary supplements additionally to our Mac OS X project management software; Merlin
- When documenting don’t forget localisation aspects
Quote of the day
Vicky Stamatopoulou on 3. March 2010
Why is it that we seek a silver bullet to magically solve all of our problems?
Found here
PMOT, AGILE Tweets
- Great series by @rayposch on the common barriers to project success. Many apply to #agile projects too! http://bit.ly/awoEyQ #pmot AgileForAll (Bob Hartman)
- RT @albertcmz: @LaetyDeCo Presentación del PMI de Barcelona "La alternativa ágil" http://ow.ly/1kbIo Es abierto, gratuito y online. #pmi #pmp #pmot #agile LaetyDeCo (Laety De Coene)
- RT @albertcmz: Jueves con el PMI de Barcelona "La alternativa ágil" (18/3 -19h) http://ow.ly/1knUu Es abierto, gratuito y online. #pmi #pmp #pmot #agile fredyfl (Alfredo Fernández)
- RT @albertcmz: Jueves con el PMI de Barcelona "La alternativa ágil" (18/3 -19h) http://ow.ly/1knUu Es abierto, gratuito y online. #pmi #pmp #pmot #agile vcarazo (Victor Carazo)
- Jueves con el PMI de Barcelona "La alternativa ágil" (18/3 -19h) http://ow.ly/1knUu Es abierto, gratuito y online. #pmi #pmp #pmot #agile albertcmz (Albert Cubeles)