OpenProject 5.0.0

Work package creation via split screen

OpenProject 5.0 extends the work package split screen functionality and allows users to create work packages from the work package table via the work package split screen (#17549).

Attachments can now be more easily added by using the drag and drop area on the work package split screen.

New work package full screen view

The existing work package screen has been replaced by a new responsive work package screen, making it possible to quickly switch from the work package page to the full screen view (#16364).

Similar to the work package split screen, the work package full screen contains information which can be accessed via different tabs while still maintaining the main area for the description and attributes.

In addition, the behavior for watchers has been changed: Email notifications are sent out immediately when adding a watcher to a work package.

Improved work package split screen

It is possible to edit and comment in one step in the work package split screen (#20208).
Watcher behavior changed: User receive an email notification when they have been added as watchers.
Repository revisions are shown in the activity tab on the work package split screen (#15422).

New home screen

With OpenProject 5.0, the new home screen of OpenProject instances displays important information (such as existing projects and registered users) as a dashboard. In addition, links to important resources and references have been added.

Optionally, a welcome text block with custom notifications can be added.

Aggregated work package activities and email notifications

In order to reduce the amount of activity and email notifications on work package entries, activities which are performed on a work package within a short time period are aggregated.

Work package updates by the same user within this time period are shown as one activity entry. Email notifications are sent based on these aggregated activities (#20694, #21035).

Enhanced repository management

Important: When updating your existing OpenProject installation, please note that you need to adjust the repository configuration. Otherwise, repositories will not work properly. Details are included in the “OpenProject 5.0 upgrade guide”.

With OpenProject 5.0 the repository functionality has been significantly improved (#20218): When deleting a project, the associated repository is deleted automatically as well.

Additionally, repository settings can be configured project-wise, allowing project admins to configure the description and checkout information for their projects.

Furthermore, it is possible to see the disk space used by the used repositories in order to get a better overview of the data usage.

Invite project members to OpenProject and add to a project in one step

With OpenProject 5.0 users can be invited to a project via email without first creating an account for them in the admin settings.

The user then receives an email notification and can create an account for OpenProject.

Additionally, the member tab in projects has been removed from the project settings and has been added to the project side menu.

The create user functionality has been simplified, so that only the most important values have to be entered during creation.

Improved project administration page

The project page in the administration not only includes the used disk space for the repositories but also lists the number of projects.

Columns in the project table can be sorted (e.g. project name, creation date, used disk storage).

The project list is paginated in order to reduce loading time when there are a lot of projects.

Restructured my account section

The My Account page has been restructured and the settings are spread out across different sections (#19753).

Profile images can be set in my account section (local avatar plugin).

Simplified project and user creation

The project and user creation has been simplified and only shows the most important information (#20884).

The create project screen only shows the project name and required custom fields.

Attributes shown on user invitation screen are limited to most important attributes.

Deprecated features

In order to reduce complexity, some rarely used OpenProject features have been deprecated and removed with OpenProject 5.0:

The field “Homepage” in the project settings has been removed to reduce complexity. Instead a custom field or the project description can be used to contain the homepage information (#1928).
The field “Summary” in the project settings has been removed to reduce complexity. Instead of the summary the first row of the project description is shown on the project list.
Project dependencies have been removed from OpenProject since they didn’t serve a significant purpose. Additionally, the “second grouping criterion” has been removed from the timelines filters (#21509).
The column “Set current rate” has been removed from the project member table (#21501). A user’s hourly rate can be set in the user administration.

The copy and duplicate functionality on the work package fullscreen and split screen has been temporarily excluded. It will be re-implemented in the next OpenProject version.

Usability improvements

Aside from the main features, several smaller usability improvements are included in OpenProject 5.0:

The custom fields have been moved to a separate tab in the project settings (#20841).
Status reports are no longer a separate menu entry in the side menu but they have been moved to the timeline toolbar (#21822).

Improved design

OpenProject 5.0 includes several design improvements. For example, the button styling has been improved (#19675).

The notification and alert messages for work packages have been re-styled (#18623) and the layout has been improved in many other places as well.

Additional functionalities for API v3

The future OpenProject API (API v3) has been extended by several functionalities. For instance, the API v3 now includes an endpoint for the work package index-action.

Please note that the API v3 is still a draft.