Availability All Editions
Use copy and paste to easily import new and updated milestones into Meisterplan from spreadsheets. This helps you plan your portfolio with the most up-to-date data.
- Prerequisites
- Where to Find
- Choose Type of Data and Prepare
- Step 1: Copy & Paste
- Step 2: Assign Fields
- Step 3: Validate & Edit
- Result
In this video we will show you the basics of how the Quick Import works, using the project import as an example:
Prerequisites
Required User Rights
For importing milestones as described in this article, you need to have the following rights:
- Import and Export Data
- Under Detailed Project and Program Rights, you need to have the Add, Change and Delete Milestones and Milestone Dependencies right
- Under Project Field Rights, you need to have at least Read Only rights for the Project Key field.
- Under Edit Projects and Programs, you need to have at least the Projects with Logged-In User as Project Manager option
- To import Milestones while you are in the Plan of Record, you need to have the Edit Plan of Record right to access the respective projects. To import Actual Time Worked while you are in a scenario, you need to have edit rights for this scenario to access the respective projects.
Supported Formats
You can import data from all common spreadsheet formats, such as Microsoft Excel (both the desktop application and the Office 365 version) and Google Sheets.
Where to Find
In the left Sidebar, click Import and Export:
To import your milestones into the desired scenario or the Plan of Record, select the desired Scenario or the Plan of Record in the top left of the header:
Choose Type of Data and Prepare
Click Milestones and then Start Import:
You can add new milestones and update existing ones. Find a detailed overview of when milestones can be updated here.
Download Example Spreadsheet
If you don‘t have a spreadsheet of milestones available, download our example spreadsheet of milestones. This example serves as an outline for configuring your milestone related data. You can also use the example spreadsheet to run a test import in your Meisterplan system.
Your existing milestones will not be overwritten or deleted by the test import. You can delete the imported sample milestones at any time.
To successfully import your milestones, your spreadsheet should contain one line per milestone, and a column for each data field you would like to import.
Fields That Can Be Imported
These are the required fields that your spreadsheet should contain:
- Project Key: Project Key of an existing project; used to identify a project but cannot be used to update a Project Key
- Milestone Name
- Date: for the correct format see here
The following is an optional field you can import:
- Project Phase: The name should match an existing project phase in Meisterplan.
Milestone Dependencies
You cannot add, update or delete any milestone dependencies with this import.
Importing Several Milestones Per Project
You can import several milestones for the same project, but they must not have the same name. When a project has been split, the milestone date in your spreadsheet must be within the date range of one of the project segments in Meisterplan.
Date Formatting
In the Date and Number Formatting for Quick Imports article, you can find all details on how to format dates in your spreadsheet to ensure they are imported correctly.
Step 1: Copy & Paste
Copy the desired data from your spreadsheet and paste the data in Meisterplan (e.g., using CTRL+V). In this step, you can copy and paste different data as often as needed.
Step 2: Assign Fields
If your imported column name matches an existing field in Meisterplan, Meisterplan will assign it automatically. If you’d like to change or add a field assignment, just drag and drop the Meisterplan field to the desired location. This step ensures your spreadsheet data maps to the appropriate Meisterplan field.
If your spreadsheet contains columns that cannot be matched with Meisterplan fields, they will simply be ignored and the data from the unassigned columns will not be imported.
Step 3: Validate & Edit
Validation and Error Correction
In this step, you can validate and edit your milestones before import. Simply edit the highlighted field by clicking on it. Fields highlighted in dark red indicate an error that will prevent the complete line (i.e., the milestone) from being imported. Fields highlighted in light red indicate an error that will prevent the field from being imported, but not the rest of the line.
Once you’ve corrected all errors, click Import. Your data is now available in Meisterplan.
Update Existing Milestones
Exact Matching of Milestones and Projects
Importing new and updating existing milestones is only possible if the projects and milestones (if there already are milestones) in your spreadsheet exactly match the projects and milestones in Meisterplan. Projects are identified by their Project Key, milestones by their name.
Updating Existing Milestones
If milestones from your spreadsheet already exist in Meisterplan, they will be updated on import. This is only possible if the names of the milestones in your spreadsheet exactly match the names in Meisterplan.
Identical Names
Please note that, while Meisterplan generally supports having multiple milestones with the same name in a project, updating these milestones through the Quick Import is not possible.
Here are more details on when milestones can be updated:
| Data in Spreadsheets | Existing Data in Meisterplan | What Will Happen in Meisterplan |
| Milestone "Start" for "Project Alpha" | "Project Alpha" | Milestone "Start" for "Project Alpha" will be added in Meisterplan. |
| Milestone "Start" for "Project Alpha" | Milestone "Start" for "Project Alpha" | Milestone "Start" for "Project Alpha" will be updated in Meisterplan. |
| Milestone "Start" for "Project Alpha" | Milestone "Start" (02/01/21) and Milestone "Start" (03/01/21) for "Project Alpha" | Meisterplan will neither update nor import this milestone, because there are two milestones with the same name for the same project in Meisterplan. |
| Milestone "Start" (02/01/21) and Milestone "Start" (03/01/21) for "Project Alpha" | Milestone "Start" for "Project Alpha" | Meisterplan will neither update nor import this milestone, because there are two milestones with the same name for the same project in your spreadsheet. |
Result
Imported Milestones
Once you've clicked Import, your milestones will be available in the Plan of Record or the selected scenario.
