Merlin – Create Templates out of existing projects

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I know that I can save a Merlin template over File > Save As Template… But which is the best way to convert an older Merlin project into a template?

You have a Merlin project or maybe created a new project* and want to use as a template. Just consider the following tips before saving as a template:

  1. Clear actual values: Select the top most row of your project’s activity view list and call Edit > Clear Actual Values
  2. Flexible schedules are better than static plans: Link your activities, groups or milestones with dependencies, instead fixing them to specific start and end dates.
  3. When tasks should start some time after the project starts
    • create an ASAP milestone as first item of your project. Do not fix it on any date
    • create the tasks and link them to that milestone.
    • select the linkage line and enter in the inspector the desired lead.
      For working time: use units in hours, days, weeks, months, years
      For calendar time: use units in ehours, edays, eweeks, etc
  4. Organize your activities by phase into first level groups: This way you can disable unwanted phases when creating new projects right from the start in the “New Project From Template” assistant.
  5. Predefine project resources: If your projects will be more or less assigned to the same set of persons, you can add also unassigned resources of your stuff. This saves time, because new projects have the main phases AND available resources pre-defined upon creation.
  6. Save your template in the location suggested by Merlin. It will be: ~/Library/Application Support/Merlin/Project Templates.
  7. To correct small errors on the template: You can edit the template just like any other Merlin project file. Just use the File > Open… dialogue and open the template out of the mentioned project templates location, do your changes, save and close the template. New project based on that template will contain your corrections.

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* ) Created a new project from scratch (File > New Empty Project) , or based the new project on a existing template (File > New Project > New Project From Template Assistant)

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