Who can use this feature

Available on monday AI work platform

Available on Enterprise plan

Creating new projects and connecting them to your portfolio is simple, whether you do it manually or set it up to happen automatically. This article covers how to manually add projects, and how to automatically create and connect them using a workflow block.

Connect a project manually 

To create a new project manually, head over to your portfolio and click Add project.

The drop-down menu will allow you to choose from your recent projects or search for other projects in your account if you wish to connect an existing project to your portfolio. To create a new project within this portfolio, click Create new project.

Next, name your project and either choose from an existing account template or use the "Standard project" template to start from scratch. Click Create project when you're done. 

Now, you'll be able to see all connected projects in your portfolio, and input some project details such as Project health and planned timeline. 

Create a project automatically

The Create project in portfolio action block lets you create a project and connect it to a portfolio in a single workflow step. This is especially useful for Requests & Approvals flows, where an approved request needs to become a connected project.

Let's look at an example together. If you have a board where you manage prospective projects, for example a requests and approvals board, you can trigger the workflow when a request's status changes to Approved.

To set this up, create a new workflow and add a trigger, such as When status changes to something. Choose your board, the status column, and the status that should start the workflow, for example, Approved.

Next, add the Create project in portfolio action block. In its panel, use the Configure tab to set up the fields below.

Choose the Workspace and Portfolio where the new project will be created and connected, and a Folder if you want one. Then set the Name and Template to build the project from, its Privacy, and its Owners and Subscribers. You can also set Project Health (RAG), Priority, Stage, Planned Timeline, and Project Description, though these are optional.

Most fields can pull values directly from the triggering item, so details like owners and subscribers carry over automatically from your requests board.

Now, each time a request's status changes to Approved, a new project is created and connected to your portfolio.

Troubleshooting 

Let's review a few issues that might come up while managing projects with automations and try to solve them together. 

I can't find the board I want to use as a template

If you can't find the template you want to use, go back and make sure it is saved as a template. To do this, click the 3-dot menu, More actions, and then Save as a template.

Another important thing to note is that you are trying to use a project board template instead of a regular board template. 

Only project board templates can be connected to a portfolio, while regular board templates, even if they are used to manage a project, cannot be connected. You can identify the board type by its icon in the left pane. A regular board's icon has a vertical line at the left, while a project board's icon has 3 horizontal gantt-style lines. 

To convert a regular template board to a project board template, head to the template editor. Click the 3-dot menu on the board's header, click "More actions" and then Convert board to project.