Project Request & Templates — End User Guide
Guide Summary: Use this guide to understand how Project Request & Templates standardizes new project intake, approval, and template-based project creation in Cora PPM.
1. What is Project Request & Templates?
Project Request & Templates is Cora PPM's guided project-intake feature. Instead of building a brand-new project from scratch, a user selects a pre-approved template project, gives it a name, and submits a Project Request. Cora PPM clones the entire template — its schedule/WBS, budget structure, custom fields, and roles — into a new draft project, then routes that request through an optional approval workflow before the project goes live.
There are two related-but-different concepts in Cora PPM — don't confuse them:
Feature | Purpose |
|---|---|
Project Request & Templates | Requesting a brand-new project to be created from a template |
Change Request | Requesting a scope change on a project that already exists |
This guide covers Project Request & Templates only.
2. Why Does a Customer Use It?
Consistency — every new project of a given type starts from the same vetted schedule, budget structure, roles, and custom fields, instead of being built ad hoc.
Governance — nothing becomes a live, resourced project until it has been approved through a controlled workflow, with a full audit history of who requested, submitted, approved, or rejected it.
Speed — requesters fill in one short form rather than manually re-creating tasks, budgets, and roles every time.
Controlled access — administrators decide exactly who is allowed to request a project at all, and can restrict specific templates to specific roles.
Data capture at the point of intake — the template's Smart Form captures the business information the organization needs before the project is approved, and that data can drive the approval routing itself.
3. Key Concepts & Acronyms
Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
PPM | Project Portfolio Management |
Template (Project Template) | An ordinary project that an administrator has registered as a source to clone from. There is no separate template object — it is just a project with a row in the Request Templates configuration. |
Smart Form / Custom Detail Page | The configurable form attached to a template that captures the business data for a request, such as budget, sponsor, or priority. Each template can have its own Smart Form. |
WBS | Work Breakdown Structure — the task/schedule hierarchy that gets copied from the template into the new project |
Workflow Engine | Cora PPM's generic approval-routing engine, reused across Project Requests, Smart Forms, expenses, and other approval types |
SSO | Single Sign-On — approvers may be asked to re-authenticate before approving or rejecting, depending on configuration |
MTO | Manufacture-to-Order — a production/manufacturing project type where the project only starts once a customer order is confirmed |
GovCon | Government Contracting — projects delivered under a government contract, typically with strict compliance and reporting requirements |
4. How It Works — Statuses
Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Draft | Request has been created from a cloned template but not yet submitted. It is only visible to the requester. |
Submitted / Waiting Approval | Request has entered the approval workflow and is awaiting a decision. Some screens show Submitted and others show Waiting Approval; both refer to the same underlying status. |
Approved | The request has cleared its workflow, or no workflow was configured. The cloned project is now live and usable. |
Rejected | An approver rejected the request, with a mandatory comment explaining why. The requester can edit and resubmit, or delete it. |
If a template has no workflow attached, a request created from it is auto-approved immediately — there is nothing to wait on.
5. Step-by-Step How-To
5.1 Requesting a New Project as a Business User
From the top menu, choose New → Project Request. This opens the New Project Request dialog.
Enter a Project Request Name — this becomes the new project's name.
Select a Project Template from the dropdown. Only templates you are permitted to use appear here.
Click Create. When prompted to confirm, click Create again.
Cora PPM clones the template's tasks, schedule, budget structure, and custom fields into a new draft project, then shows a success message.
Complete the three main areas of the request record:
Tab | Purpose |
|---|---|
Project Details | The template's Smart Form, where you fill in the business data for this request. This tab may be relabeled by the template. |
Project Documents | Appears only if the administrator has enabled Include Documents in Request; lets you attach supporting files. |
Workflow | Shows the approval workflow that will apply once submitted, including name, status, submitter, and comments. |
Complete the Smart Form fields, then click Submit. Confirm at the prompt.
Depending on the template's workflow configuration, the request may be approved immediately or move to Waiting Approval.
You can track your requests at any time via the My Project Requests dashboard widget.
5.2 Approving or Rejecting a Request as an Approver
Open the request from the My Workflow Approvals widget, a notification, or the My Project Requests widget.
Review the Project Details tab and the Workflow tab.
To approve, click Approve, then confirm. You may be prompted to re-authenticate through SSO.
To reject, click Reject, then confirm. A comment is mandatory; if you leave it blank, you will see an error.
If a request needs more than one approval step, a Multi Step Approval view shows all steps and who is responsible for each.
A rejected request returns to the requester, who can edit the Smart Form and resubmit, or delete the request entirely.
5.3 Setting Up Project Request Templates as an Administrator
This is done under Admin → Project Request Configuration.
Configuration Area | What to Set |
|---|---|
Allow Users to Request a Project | Choose whether any user can request a project, the feature is off, only specific roles can request projects, or access is controlled per template. |
Include Documents in Request | Toggle whether requesters can attach documents. |
Allow Users to Change Template When Changing Project Type | Toggle whether a requester can swap templates after project-type changes. |
Default Approver Role | Select the role automatically granted to a workflow approver while the request project has not yet been placed into the program structure. |
Template Location | Pick the parent project or folder that scopes which projects can be added as templates. |
Under Project Request Templates, click Add to register a new template.
Pick the source project under the configured Template Location.
Assign a Project Request Form.
Optionally set a custom Project Details tab name.
Optionally configure Template Specific Role Permissions.
Click Save. You will see a confirmation message.
Click Save on the main configuration page to persist your settings.
Note: There is no Is Template checkbox on a project itself. A project becomes a template purely by being added to the Project Request Templates grid.
5.4 Using the My Project Requests Dashboard Widget
Add the My Project Requests widget to your dashboard.
Use the donut chart to see requests broken down by status: Draft, Waiting Approval, Approved, and Rejected.
Use the grid to review Name, Status, and Submitted Date.
Click Click to view on any row to jump straight into that request.
Use the widget's settings to rename the widget or change the chart type.
6. Common Use Cases by Project Type
These are configuration patterns, not built-in Cora PPM features. Each business line is set up by an administrator as its own template, Smart Form, WBS, and workflow.
Project Type | Typical Template Setup | Approval Focus |
|---|---|---|
? Manufacture-to-Order (MTO) | Standard production WBS, customer PO number, quantity, required ship date, and unit cost. | Production planning and finance sign-off before resources are committed. |
? Pharma / Life Sciences | Trial or study phase templates with regulatory fields such as protocol number, sponsor, IRB/ethics approval reference, and therapeutic area. | Compliance or QA approval before the study project goes live. |
?️ Capital Projects | Capital-planning WBS, budget categories, estimated capital cost, funding source, and expected ROI/payback. | Executive approval for projects above defined cost thresholds. |
?️ Government Contracting (GovCon) | Templates structured around contract line items, deliverable schedules, contract number, funding vehicle, period of performance, and compliance requirements. | Contracts and compliance sign-off because of government audit requirements. |
7. FAQ
Question | Answer |
|---|---|
What is the difference between a Project Request and copying a project manually? | A Project Request is governed. It goes through an approval workflow, only uses admin-approved templates, and captures structured business data before the project becomes live. |
Who decides what fields I fill in when I request a project? | The administrator, through the Smart Form attached to the selected template. |
Why do I not see any templates in the dropdown? | Either no templates have been configured yet, or you do not have the role required to use the templates that exist. Contact your administrator. |
What happens to the schedule and budget from the template? | They are copied in full into your new project, and dates are automatically shifted forward to start from today. |
Can I edit a request after I submit it? | Only if it is rejected. Once submitted and waiting on approval, it is locked into the workflow. |
Why was my request auto-approved with no one reviewing it? | The template you used has no workflow attached, so requests from it are approved immediately by design. |
Can a request require more than one approver? | Yes. Templates can be linked to multi-step or parallel approval workflows, visible on the request's Workflow tab. |
Can I attach supporting documents to a request? | Only if your administrator has enabled Include Documents in Request for your organization. |
Does Cora PPM have built-in support for industries like Pharma, GovCon, Manufacturing, or Capital Projects? | Not as distinct system features. These are achieved by configuring separate templates per business line, using the same generic Project Request mechanism. |
Can a template be deleted once it is in use? | Not while it has a workflow attached. The workflow link must be removed first. |
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