Project Story is an AI-powered reporting solution for Planner Premium that automatically generates clear, concise plan reports using GPT-4, turning key data insights into visually appealing reports for easy sharing with stakeholders.
Beyond generating content, Project Story offers flexible customization and reusable templates that simplify reporting and help maintain consistency across multiple plans.
When the plan owner clicks the plan name on the Project Story home page for the first time, a default report is automatically generated for the selected plan.
Report settings are available in the top-right corner of the page.
- Save as Template
- Configure Report
- Schedule Distribution
- Change Template
- Report Settings
- Export as PDF
- Regenerate Report
Save as Template
Project Story reports are fully configurable, allowing you to modify the layout and select the fields displayed in each report section as needed. The Save as Template option allows users to save a customized Project Story report as a reusable template. Once saved, the template appears in your personal list (Settings -> Change Template) and can be reused across other plans, helping to maintain a consistent reporting format.
When a template is applied, all configured fields, sections, and layout settings are automatically reused, simplifying the reporting process and ensuring standardization across your portfolio.
For more details about template settings, please refer to the "Change Template" section of the article.
Configure Report
To customize the report, open the report settings in the top-right corner and select "Configure Report."
Plan owners can customize the content and layout of the Project Story report by enabling or disabling specific sections and rearranging them using drag-and-drop. By default, all sections are included in the report.
Each report section also offers the "Edit Layout" settings, accessible via the ellipsis button in the top-right corner. Using this option, you can choose the layout style that best suits you.
In the Plan Details section, the "Edit Fields" option lets you tailor this report section by adding, removing, or reordering individual fields using drag-and-drop.
Additionally, all report section summaries are fully editable. To open the summary section for editing, click on the pencil-like button in the upper-right corner of the summary section.
Each summary includes two parts: general status and recommendations. Although technically stored as a single block, both parts can be edited independently.
Within the "Edit Content" window, you can modify the text and apply formatting as needed.
Additionally, you can lock the content by selecting a default number of days or a specific custom date, preventing it from being automatically regenerated before that date.
The "Lock until" section shows the date until which the section content is locked.
The "Edit Content" window also displays the last modified information for easy tracking.
Users can delete a part of the summary, but the entire summary cannot be removed; at least one character must remain in one of the summary parts to maintain data integrity.
Schedule Distribution
The Schedule Distribution feature in Project Story enables Project Managers to automatically deliver plan status reports via email in PDF format. This ensures that key stakeholders consistently receive the latest updates, on time and without manual effort.
You can configure the following settings:
- Recipients: Specify the email addresses of stakeholders who should receive the report.
- Distribution Schedule: Define the exact day and time for the report to be sent.
- PM Notification: Enable a reminder to be sent to the Project Manager 24 hours before the report is distributed. This helps ensure the plan is reviewed and updated in Planner Premium, so the report reflects the most accurate, up-to-date information.
- Pause Distribution: Temporarily stop scheduled email deliveries without deleting the setup.
- Send Now: allows you to send the current version of the report immediately, without waiting for the scheduled distribution time.
For more details, please refer to the Automating Project Story Report Delivery with Schedule Distribution article.
Change Template
By default, four report templates are available:
- The Colorful multi-page template (for OOB Planner Premium) displays each plan section separately, one after another. Colorful multi-page report template covering key plan entities like plan details, milestones, risks, plan goals, schedule, and efforts. Best suits Planner Premium environments with out-of-the-box configuration.
- The Colorful multi-page template (for Project Accelerator) displays each plan section separately, one after another, in color-coded format. Colorful multi-page report template covering key plan entities like plan details, milestones, risks, issues, finance, schedule, and efforts. Best suits Planner Premium environments with Microsoft Project Accelerator installed.
- The Colorful single-page template (for OOB Planner Premium) presents all key plan details on a single page, offering a quick, compact overview. Concise, colorful one-page plan status snapshot. Includes key metrics, milestones, risks, and focus areas. Best suits Planner Premium environments with out-of-the-box configuration.
- The Colorful single-page template (for Project Accelerator) presents all key plan details on a single page in a color-coded format. Concise, colorful one-page plan status snapshot. Includes key metrics, milestones, risks, issues, and focus areas. Best suits Planner Premium environments with Microsoft Project Accelerator installed.
A colorful single-page template (for OOB Planner Premium) is applied by default.
If any custom templates have been created, they will also appear on this page and can be selected for use.
As a rule, templates are private and can only be reused by the user who created them. If another user opens a report where a template was previously applied, they will see the report in the saved layout. However, they won’t have access to the template itself for use in other plans (unless it is shared by the creator).
The following actions are available for custom templates:
- Set as Tenant Default (The out-of-the-box templates can also be set as default)
- Edit (Name and Description)
- Share Template
- Delete
The Default Template is automatically applied to all new reports within the tenant. If a template is marked as the default, it is automatically shared with other users using the "Set as Tenant Default" option. When a custom template is shared, other users can view it in the template gallery and choose to set it as the default.
To share a template, click on the ellipsis button in the top right corner of the template and choose the "Share to all users" option. Shared templates appear in the Template Gallery and are available to all users within the tenant. Other users cannot edit, share, or unshare templates they did not create.
If a template no longer needs to be shared, its creator can unshare it at any time.
If an unshared template was previously applied to a plan by another user, it will remain applied to that specific plan, but it will no longer be available for selection or visible in the template gallery.
Once a different template is applied, the unshared template cannot be re-selected. The same behavior applies to all deleted templates; they remain applied until changed, but are no longer accessible for future use.
Repot Settings
In the Report Settings, you can define whether the report is regenerated on a daily basis.
When daily auto-regeneration is enabled, the report is regenerated every morning if the plan is active and the report has been accessed at least once in the last 7 days.
Daily regeneration occurs at 07:00 AM, based on the time zone configured in the Tenant settings.
If daily regeneration is not enabled, the report is regenerated only manually by clicking the 'Regenerate Report' option, when exporting the report to PDF or through scheduled distribution.
Export as PDF
Project Story reports can be exported as PDF files. This is especially useful for sharing static reports with external stakeholders or for archiving purposes. The report is regenerated to show the latest data before export.
Updating the Report: Manual and Scheduled
There are several ways to regenerate the report:
Manually: By clicking the Regenerate Report button. Additionally, it is possible to regenerate individual report sections rather than regenerating the entire report. This provides a faster, more efficient way to update specific parts of your report without affecting the rest.
Also, when the "Export Report to PDF" option is used, the report is regenerated before exporting.
Automatically: Project Story offers daily automated report regeneration to ensure plan data stays up to date. By default, daily regeneration occurs at 07:00 AM in the time zone configured in the Project Story -> Tenant settings.
However, to optimize performance and reduce unnecessary system load, regeneration only occurs under specific conditions.
A Project Story report will be regenerated automatically only if the following conditions are met (1,2,3 or 1,3,4):
- Project Story Has Been Opened at Least Once. If a plan has never had Project Story opened, it is excluded from daily regeneration.
- Project Story Was Viewed in the Last 7 Days. The system checks whether the Project Story report was accessed within the past 7 days. If it hasn’t been opened recently, regeneration is skipped.
- Project Status Is Active. Only plans with an active status (%Complete < 100%) are considered for regeneration. Archived or completed plans are excluded.
- Schedule Distribution Is Enabled. If Schedule Distribution is configured for a project (the report is scheduled to be emailed), regeneration will occur regardless of when the report was last opened. This ensures recipients always receive up-to-date content.