# Projects

> Create and manage the projects everything else in Manage hangs off.

Everything in Manage belongs to a **project**. The **Projects** list is your way
in - find a project, open it, or create a new one.

## The projects list

The list shows every project you can access, with **search**, sorting and paging.
Open a project to work on it; the count at the top shows how many you have.

## Create a project

If your role allows it, choose **New project** and fill in the form:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Name it">
    Enter the **Project ID** and **Project name**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Choose a configuration">
    Pick the **Configuration** that defines its tables and fields.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Add the details">
    Set the **Status** (Open, Closed, Archived or Historic) and, optionally, the client,
    contractor and consultant.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Coordinate system">
    Leave it on **Use configuration default**, or pick the grid this project's
    eastings and northings are in, such as **D96/TM (EPSG:3794)** for a project in
    Slovenia. Search by country, grid or EPSG code. If your organisation has a
    country set, the field suggests its national grid. Save.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Callout type="note" title="Configuration is fixed after creation">
  You can edit a project's details later, but not its **configuration** - that is
  locked in when the project is created.
</Callout>

## Import projects from CSV

To bring in a batch of past jobs - so they show where they were on the map - choose
**Import** next to **New project**. It needs the same permission as creating a project.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get the template">
    Choose **Template** to download a CSV with the columns and two example rows:
    Project ID, Project Name, Status, Client, Configuration, Easting, Northing,
    Latitude, Longitude, Start Date and Comments.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Fill it in">
    One row per project. Only **Project ID** is required. Give a position as
    **Easting** and **Northing** (in the configuration's grid) or **Latitude** and
    **Longitude**, and the project gets a pin on the map. A blank **Status**
    means Historic.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Upload and check the preview">
    Pick the **configuration** for rows that don't name one, then **Upload CSV**.
    Nothing is created yet: every row shows whether it will be created, skipped
    or has an error, and why.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Create">
    Choose **Create** to add the projects that passed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

How rows are read:

- A **Project ID** that already exists is skipped and left unchanged, so the same
  file can be uploaded again safely.
- **Status** must be Open, Closed, Archived or Historic.
- **Configuration** and **Client** are matched by name. An unknown configuration
  stops the row; an unknown client is left blank with a warning.
- **Start Date** can be dd/mm/yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd.
- Up to 2,000 rows per file.

An imported project's pin stays where the file put it, even if locations are
added to the project later.

## Edit or archive a project

From a project's actions menu, choose **Edit** to change its details, or
**Archive** to retire it. When editing, **Keep samples (months)** overrides how long
this project's tested samples are kept before they fall due for disposal - useful on
a big job. Leave it blank to use the company default; see
[Sample retention and disposal](/manage/lab-workflow/sample-retention). Archived projects drop out of the active list, but their
data is kept.

## Status

A project is **Open** while in progress, **Closed** when finished, **Archived**
once retired, or **Historic** for a past job brought in for reference, usually by
[import](#import-projects-from-csv). The status shows in the list and changes when
you edit the project.

On the map, each project shows as one pin coloured by its status: on a project's
map with **Other Projects Nearby** turned on, where you can switch the project pins
and their locations on and off separately.

Your organisation can also set projects to **Archived** automatically once they
have gone a chosen period with no new data logged. That is a status change only -
the project stays in the list and you can set it back - and it is separate from
the **Archive** action above, which retires a project and drops it out. A Super
Admin turns it on in
[organisation settings](/product-os/organisation-settings).