MPMp_Project-creation-PDF

Project Creation Setup for Milestones PM+

Step 1: Determine Template Creation Needs 1

Step 2: Project Creation Settings 2

Required Fields 2

Optional Fields 3

Conﬁguration Examples 3

Step 3: Setup Button or Flow 5

Method 1 – Button or Link 5

Method 2 – Static Template Flow 6

Method 3 – Variable Template Flow 10

Method 4 – Variable Template Flow with Simple Criteria 13

Method 5 – Apex Trigger 17

Step 1: Determine Template Creation Needs

The ﬁrst step is to determine the speciﬁc requirements for your project creation use case. This will

decide which method to follow in Step 3.

Scenario 1

In this scenario, Projects should be created by manually clicking a button or link. The template that

should be used for each Project should be manually selected. Follow Method 1 – Button or Link.

Scenario 2

In this scenario, Projects should be created automatically using the same template. Follow Method 2 –

Static Template Flow.

Scenario 3

In this scenario, Projects should be created automatically from a template that is indicated by a ﬁeld on

the triggering record. Follow Method 3 – Variable Template Flow.

Scenario 4

In this scenario, Projects should be created automatically from a template that is chosen based on

simple record criteria. Follow Method 4 – Variable Template Flow with Simple Criteria.

Scenario 5

In this scenario, Projects should be created automatically from a template that is chosen based on

complex record criteria. Follow Method 5 – Apex Trigger.

Step 2: Project Creation Settings

Project Creation Settings tell the Milestones PM+ app which ﬁelds from the triggering record should be

used to create the new Project. These settings must be conﬁgured in order to automatically create

projects using Flows. To create these settings, navigate to Setup > Custom Settings > Project Creation

Settings > Manage > New.

By default, the Project object has an Account and Opportunity lookup ﬁeld. To associate Projects to

non-Account or Opportunity objects, ﬁrst create a new Project lookup ﬁeld to that object.

Required Fields

There are a number of ﬁelds that must be populated on project creation settings. These ﬁelds tell

Milestones PM+ how to create and name the new Project, and how to relate it to the triggering record.

Name

This is the API name of the object that should trigger project creation, in all lowercase. For example, if a

Project should be created whenever an Opportunity’s Stage Name is set to Closed Won, the Name for

the relevant Project Creation Settings would be opportunity. If a Project should be created when a ﬁeld

on a custom object Student_Info__c is updated, the Name for the Project Creation Settings would be

student_info__c.

Project Naming Convention Field

This is the API name of the ﬁeld that is used to populate the Name of the new Project. This could be set

to any ﬁeld on the triggering record, including formula ﬁelds and standard and custom text ﬁelds. For

example, if the new Project should have the same name as the triggering Opportunity, this ﬁeld would

be set to Name. If the Project should be named using a custom formula ﬁeld

Project_Name_Formula__c, this ﬁeld would be set to Project_Name_Formula__c.

Project Creation Field

This is the API name of the ﬁeld that contains the value representing the Project template that should

be used to create the new Project. This could be set to any ﬁeld on the triggering record, including

formula ﬁelds, text ﬁelds, and picklist ﬁelds. For example, if the new Project should be created using a

template whose name is equal to the triggering Opportunity’s Stage Name, this ﬁeld would be set to

StageName. If the Project should be created using a template whose name is equal to the value

selected in a custom picklist ﬁeld Template_Picklist__c, this ﬁeld would be set to Template_Picklist__c.

Project Lookup Field 1

This is the API name of the lookup ﬁeld on the Project object that should relate the triggering record to

the new Project. For example, if the Project is created from an Account, this ﬁeld could be set to

Account__c. If the Project is created from a custom object Student Info, this ﬁeld could be set to a

custom lookup ﬁeld on Project Student_Info__c.

Optional Fields

In addition to the required ﬁelds, there are some optional ﬁelds that can be used to enhance automatic

project creation.

Primary Lookup

This is the API name of the lookup ﬁeld on the triggering record that should be used to populate the

new Project’s Project Lookup Field 1 ﬁeld, if you do not want that ﬁeld to be populated with the

triggering record’s Id. For example, if the Project is created from an Account and should be related to

the triggering Account’s parent record, this ﬁeld should be populated with ParentId.

Project Lookup Field 2

This is the API name of an additional lookup ﬁeld on the Project object that should be populated during

the creation process. For example, if the Project is created from an Opportunity and should be linked to

both the Opportunity and its related Account, this ﬁeld should be populated with Account__c. If this ﬁeld

is populated, a value must also be entered for the Secondary Lookup ﬁeld.

Secondary Lookup

This is the API name for the ﬁeld on the triggering record that should be used to populate the Project’s

Project Lookup Field 2 ﬁeld. For example, if the Project is created from an Opportunity and should be

linked to both the Opportunity and its related Account, this ﬁeld should be populated with AccountId.

This ﬁeld only needs to be populated if Project Lookup FIeld 2 is populated.

Conﬁguration Examples

Below are example Project Creation Setting conﬁgurations for the scenarios outlined in Step 1. Note

that the Project Creation Settings are not limited to the ﬁelds referenced in these scenarios - both

standard and custom ﬁelds of various types can be utilized in the Project creation process.

Methods 1 and 5

No Project Creation settings are needed for these. Skip to step 3.

Method 2 – Static Template Flow

In this example, Projects should be created automatically when the Stage Name of an Opportunity is

updated to “Closed Won.” The new Project should be created from the template referenced by a custom

text ﬁeld Project_Template_Name__c, and the Project’s name should be based on a custom Opportunity

formula ﬁeld Project_Name__c.

The project creation settings for this scenario would be conﬁgured as follows:

Method 3 – Variable Template Flow

In this example, Projects should be created automatically when a custom picklist ﬁeld

Template_Picklist__c on Account is updated. The new Project should be created from the template

referenced by the picklist ﬁeld, and the Project’s name should be the same as the triggering Account

record. The Projects’ OwnerId ﬁeld should also be populated with the triggering record’s OwnerId.

The project creation settings for this scenario would be conﬁgured as follows:

Method 4 – Variable Template Flow with Simple Criteria

In this example, Projects should be created automatically when a custom Number ﬁeld

Student_Year__c on a custom object Student_Info__c is updated. The Project should be created from

the template referenced by a custom picklist ﬁeld Template_Picklist__c, which is automatically

populated based on the triggering record’s new Student_Year__c value. The Project’s name should be

based on a custom Student_Info__c formula ﬁeld Project_Name__c. A lookup on Project to

Student_Info__c, Student_Info__c, has already been created.

The project settings for this scenario would be conﬁgured as follows:

Step 3: Setup Button or Flow

Follow the instructions below for the method indicated by your chosen scenario in Step 1.

Method 1 – Button or Link

1. Navigate to the object that should trigger Project creation.

a. Lightning: Setup > Object Manager > Chosen Object > Buttons, Links, and Actions, New

Button or Link

b. Classic, Standard Object: Setup > Build > Customize > Chosen Object > Buttons, Links,

and Actions > New Button or Link

c. Classic, Custom Object: Setup > Build > Create > Objects > Chosen Object > Buttons,

Links, and Actions > New Button or Link

2. Display Type: Select either “Detail Page Button” (recommended) or “Detail Page Link.”

3. Behavior: Select the value that matches your desired behavior.

4. Content Source: Select “URL.”

5. Value Input: Paste /apex/MPM4_BASE__Milestone1_Import_Project?&Id={!Object.Id}

Ensure that Object is replaced with the API name of the object. The button or link should now be

conﬁgured as follows:

6. Click “Save.”

7. Navigate to Page Layouts and add the button or link to the page, as follows:

Method 2 – Static Template Flow

1. Create a new Flow by navigating to Setup > Flows and clicking “New Flow.”

2. New Flow: Select “Record-Triggered Flow.” Click “Create.”

3. Conﬁgure Start:

a. Object: Select the object that should trigger Project creation. Following the conﬁguration

example in Step 2, the selected object would be “Opportunity.”

b. Conﬁgure Trigger: Select “A record is updated.”

c. Set Entry Conditions: Conﬁgure this section to specify when an Opportunity record

should trigger the Flow. Following the conﬁguration example in Step 2, this section

would be conﬁgured as follows:

i. Condition Requirements: Select “All Conditions Are Met (AND).”

ii. Field: Select “StageName.”

iii. Operator: Select “Equals.”

iv. Value: Select “Closed Won.”

d. When to Run the Flow for Updated Records: Select “Only when a record is updated to

meet the condition requirements.”

e. Optimize the Flow for: Select “Actions and Related Records.”

f. Click “Done.” Your conﬁguration should be set up as follows:

4. (If you would like the ﬂow to update the triggering record’s template ﬁeld if it is null, continue

with this step. If this validation is not required, continue to Step 5.) Click the plus button under

“Run Immediately ” to add an “Update Triggering Record” element:

a. Label: Enter the desired value, e.g. “Update Template Name Field.”

b. API Name: Enter the desired value, e.g. “Update_Template_Name_Field.”

c. Description: Enter the desired value, e.g. “This action updates the Template Name ﬁeld

on the triggering record if it is null.”

d. How to Find Records to Update and Set Their Values: Select “Use the record that

triggered the ﬂow.”

e. Set ﬁlter conditions: Conﬁgure this section to only update the ﬁeld if it is currently null.

Following the conﬁguration example in Step 2, this section would be conﬁgured as

follows:

i. Condition Requirements to Update Record: Select “All Conditions Are Met (AND).”

ii. Field: Select “Project_Template_Name__c.”

iii. Operator: Select “Is Null.”

iv. Value: Enter “{!$GlobalConstant.True}.”

f. Set Field Value for the Record

i. Field: Select “Project_Template_Name__c.”

ii. Value: Enter the name of the Project template that should be used, e.g. “Standard

Project Template.”

g. Click “Done.” The action should be conﬁgured as follows:

5. Click the plus button under “Update Triggering Record” (or “Run Immediately, if skipping step 4)

to add an “Action” element:

a. Action: Search for and select “Create Child Projects.”

b. Label: Enter the desired value, e.g. “Create Project.”

c. API Name: Enter the desired value, e.g. “Create_Project.”

d. Description: Enter the desired value, e.g. “This action creates a child Project and

associates it with the triggering record.”

e. Set Input Variables:

i. parentRecs: Toggle the switch to “Include.”

ii. Value: Enter “{!$Record.Id}.”

f. Click “Done.” The action should be conﬁgured as follows:

6. Once these actions are completed, your Flow should be conﬁgured as follows:

7. Click “Save” and enter the desired Label, API Name, and Description. Activate the Flow to

complete the conﬁguration process.

Method 3 – Variable Template Flow

1. Create a new Flow by navigating to Setup > Flows and clicking “New Flow.”

2. New Flow: Select “Record-Triggered Flow.” Click “Create.”

3. Conﬁgure Start:

a. Object: Select the object that should trigger Project creation. Following the conﬁguration

example in Step 2, the selected object would be “Account.”

b. Conﬁgure Trigger: Select “A record is updated.”

c. Set Entry Conditions: Conﬁgure this section to specify when an Opportunity record

should trigger the Flow. Following the conﬁguration example in Step 2, this section

would be conﬁgured as follows:

i. Condition Requirements: Select “All Conditions are Met (AND).”

ii. Field: Select “Template_Picklist__c.”

iii. Operator: Select “Is Changed.”

iv. Value: Enter “{!$GlobalConstant.True}.”

d. When to Run the Flow for Updated Records: Following the conﬁguration example in Step

2, this value should default to “Every time a record is updated and meets the condition

requirements.” If your speciﬁc use case does not cause this ﬁeld to be defaulted, select

“Only when a record is updated to meet the condition requirements.”

e. Optimize the Flow for: Select “Actions and Related Records.”

f. Click “Done.” Your conﬁguration should be set up as follows:

4. Click the plus button under “Run Immediately” to add an “Action” element:

a. Action: Search for and select “Create Child Projects.”

b. Label: Enter the desired value, e.g. “Create Project.”

c. API Name: Enter the desired value, e.g. “Create_Project.”

d. Description: Enter the desired value, e.g. “This action creates a child Project and

associates it with the triggering record.”

e. Set Input Variables:

i. parentRecs: Toggle the switch to “Include.”

ii. Value: Enter “{!$Record.Id}.”

f. Click “Done.” The action should be conﬁgured as follows:

5. Once these actions are completed, your Flow should be conﬁgured as follows:

6. Click “Save” and enter the desired Label, API Name, and Description. Activate the Flow to

complete the conﬁguration process.

Method 4 – Variable Template Flow with Simple Criteria

1. Create a new Flow by navigating to Setup > Flows and clicking “New Flow.”

2. New Flow: Select “Record-Triggered Flow.” Click “Create.”

3. Conﬁgure Start:

a. Object: Select the object that should trigger Project creation. Following the conﬁguration

example in Step 2, the selected object would be “Student Info.”

b. Conﬁgure Trigger: Select “A record is updated.”

c. Set Entry Conditions: Conﬁgure this section to specify when a Student Info record should

trigger the Flow. Following the conﬁguration example in Step 2, this section would be

conﬁgured as follows:

i. Condition Requirements: Select “All Conditions Are Met (AND).”

ii. Field: Select “Student Year.”

iii. Operator: Select “Is Changed.”

iv. Value: Enter “{!$GlobalConstant.True}.”

d. When to Run the Flow for Updated Records: Following the conﬁguration example in Step

2, this value should default to “Every time a record is updated and meets the condition

requirements.” If your speciﬁc use case does not cause this ﬁeld to be defaulted, select

“Only when a record is updated to meet the condition requirements.”

e. Optimize the Flow for: Select “Actions and Related Records.”

f. Click “Done.” Your conﬁguration should be set up as follows:

4. Click the plus button under “Run Immediately” to add a “Decision” element:

a. Create a new Outcome for each possible project template that could be selected. For

example, if the Template_Picklist__c ﬁeld could reference one of four templates based

on Student Year values 9-12, the decision would have four outcomes conﬁgured in total.

Following the example conﬁguration in Step 2, the Grade 9 outcome would be conﬁgured

as follows:

i. Label: Enter “Choose Grade 9 Template.”

ii. Outcome API Name: Enter “Choose_Grade_9_Template.”

iii. Condition Requirements to Execute Outcome: Select “All Conditions Are Met

(AND).”

iv. Resource: Select “$Record > Student Year.”

v. Operator: Select “Equals.”

vi. Value: Enter “9.”

vii. When to Execute Outcome: Select “Only if the record that triggered the ﬂow to run

is updated to meet the condition requirements.”

b. When all desired outcomes have been conﬁgured, click “Done.” A decision with four

outcomes for grades 9-12 would be conﬁgured as follows:

5. For each outcome of the Decision, click the plus button under the Decision name to add an

“Update Triggering Record” element. Following the example conﬁguration from Step 2, the

Update element for the Grade 9 outcome would be conﬁgured as follows:

a. Label: Enter “Select Grade 9 Template.”

b. API Name: Enter “Select_Grade_9_Template.”

c. Description: Enter “This action populates the Template Picklist ﬁeld with the Grade 9

Project Template when the Student Year ﬁeld is updated to Grade 9.”

d. How to Find Records to Update and Set Their Values: Select “Use the record that

triggered the ﬂow.”

e. Condition Requirements to Update Record: Select “None - Always Update Record.”

f. Set Field Values for the Record:

i. Field: Select “Template_Picklist__c.”

ii. Value: Select “Grade 9 Project Template.”

g. Click “Done.” The action should be conﬁgured as follows:

6. Once a Record Update element has been created for each outcome, click the plus button above

“End” to add an “Action” element:

a. Action: Search for and enter “Create Child Projects.”

b. Label: Enter “Create Project.”

c. API Name: Enter “Create_Project.”

d. Description: Enter “This action creates a child Project and associates it with the

triggering record.”

e. Set Input Variables:

i. parentRecs: Toggle the switch to “Include.”

ii. Value: Enter “{!$Record.Id}.”

f. Click “Done.” The action should be conﬁgured as follows:

7. Once these actions are completed, your Flow should be conﬁgured as follows:

8. Click “Save” and enter the desired Label, API Name, and Description. Activate the Flow to

complete the conﬁguration process.

Method 5 – Apex Trigger

In orgs with Milestones PM+ Premium Edition, the Project Creation Trigger page can assist you in

creating a custom trigger. For orgs with Milestones PM+ Free Edition, you can review Milestones PM+

Star ter Packs for implementation options, or follow the steps below to manually create a trigger.

Create a Trigger

To manually create a trigger, two main variables must be managed by either users or a workﬂow - the

template name (e.g. “New Client Onboarding”) and Project name (e.g. “Account Name - New Client

Onboarding”). In most implementations, users will either populate a custom text ﬁeld or select a

template from a picklist ﬁeld. If implementing a picklist ﬁeld, make sure there is no default value;

otherwise, the trigger will not ﬁre.

1. Log into your sandbox. Go to the Salesforce object that will create Projects.

2. Create a picklist ﬁeld with values matching the Project template names (e.g. “New Client

Onboarding”) and note the API name for this ﬁeld (e.g. “Project_Templates__c”).

3. Go to the Developer Console (available in Salesforce Enterprise Edition and above unless an API

package has been purchased with Professional Edition). Click File > New > Apex Trigger.

4. Enter a trigger name (e.g. “MPM4_Opportunity_Project_Creation”) and select the target object,

e.g. “Opportunity.”

5. Copy and paste the template trigger code below, replacing variables accordingly. Make sure that

“after insert, after update” is included in the parenthesis.

trigger MPM4_ObjectName_Project_Creation on ObjectName(after insert, after

update) {

if (Trigger.isAfter) {

Type pcu = System.Type.forName('MPM4_BASE',

'Milestone1_Project_Creation_Utility');

if (pcu != null) {

MPM4_BASE.Milestone1_Project_Creation_Utility projCreationUtil =

(MPM4_BASE.Milestone1_Project_Creation_Utility) pcu.newInstance();

if (Trigger.isAfter) {

projCreationUtil.createChildProject(trigger.oldMap,

trigger.newMap, new Map<String, Object>{

'projectCreationField' => 'FieldName',

'projectLookupField1' => 'FieldName',

'projectLookupField2' => 'FieldName',

'secondaryLookup' => 'FieldName',

'projectNamingConventionField' => 'FieldName'

});

}

For explanations of the parameters in createChildProject, refer to Step 2: Project Creation Settings.

For assistance deploying this trigger or changing the setup of how Projects are automatically created,

review Milestones PM+ Starter Packs for trigger creation services, including implementation and

customization (e.g. an opportunity product can be used to select the template, a project can support

being tied to multiple child opportunities, etc.).

TIP: Use Rollup Helper for free to rollup the product(s) on an opportunity, and then use that rollup ﬁeld

as part of a workﬂow that triggers project creation. If you have three or more lookups to set on the

Project object, use Lookup Helper for free.

Create a Test Class

To deploy the trigger into production, a test method class must be created. The code below can be used

to build your trigger. Note that if there are multiple required ﬁelds on the target object, values for those

ﬁelds must be provided in the constructor before inserting the record.

1. From your sandbox, go to the Developer Console (available in Salesforce Enterprise Edition and

above unless an API package has been purchased with Professional Edition). Click File > New >

Apex Class.

2. Enter the name of the new trigger, plus “_Test” as the Apex class name. Click “OK.”

3. Copy and paste the template test class code below, replacing variables accordingly. Note that

this test class may need some adjustments to function with the chosen target object.

// All test methods in this class can access all data.

@isTest(SeeAllData=true)

public class ObjectName_Project_Creation_Test {

static testmethod void ObjectName_Project_Trigger_Test() {

MPM4_BASE__Milestone1_Project__c testProj = new

MPM4_BASE__Milestone1_Project__c(Name = 'Test456');

Account testAcc = new Account(Name = 'Test321');

insert testAcc;

ObjectName testObj = new ObjectName(

Name = 'Test123',

AccountId = testAcc.Id

// Insert additional required fields here

);

Test.startTest();

insert testObj;

testObj.Name = 'Test1234';

update testObj;

Test.stopTest();

testProj = [SELECT Id, MPM4_BASE__ProjectLookupField1 FROM

MPM4_BASE__Milestone1_Project__c WHERE MPM4_BASE__ProjectLookupField1 =

:testObj.Id];

System.assert(testProj != null, 'Project not created');

}

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