ProjectEngine v1.4.0 — Interactive Tutorial & Modernized User Experience

[TMailletFR]

ProjectEngine v1.4.0 introduces a major improvement to the way users discover, learn, and interact with ProjectEngine.

Following the new Ribbon and project migration features introduced in v1.3, this release focuses on guided learning, a more modern interface, clearer messages, and improved usability.

The highlight is a new interactive tutorial that helps users understand ProjectEngine directly inside Excel, from creating their first WBS to exploring Gantt charts, scheduling analytics, and project reporting.

🎓 New Interactive Tutorial — Learn ProjectEngine Inside Excel

ProjectEngine now includes a fully integrated, bilingual interactive tutorial.

Accessible directly from the ProjectEngine Ribbon or the welcome screen, the tutorial guides users through 29 steps covering the main features of the application.

Two learning modes are available.

🔎 Discovery Mode — Explore at Your Own Pace

Discovery Mode provides a guided tour of ProjectEngine without requiring any data entry.

• Explore the WBS, Gantt, S-Curve, Dashboard, Constraints, and Event History.
• Understand where to enter project data and where to find calculated results.
• Learn how dependencies, calendars, milestones, and scheduling dates work.
• Discover Critical Path, Longest Path, Total Float, and Free Float.
• Identify the main Gantt controls, navigation features, and simulation tools.
• Learn how Dashboard snapshots and comparisons work.
• Navigate freely through the tutorial without running planning calculations.

The tutorial highlights the relevant areas of the workbook and explains their purpose.

Discovery Mode can be used even on an empty project. When a chart or calculated result does not yet exist, the tutorial explains what will appear once the necessary data has been entered and calculated.

✍️ Practice Mode — Learn by Doing

Practice Mode takes the tutorial a step further by allowing users to work directly in their own project while following the instructions.

• Enter real tasks, dates, progress, calendars, and dependencies.
• Follow the construction of a working WBS.
• Execute normal ProjectEngine commands when prompted.
• Observe calculated dates and scheduling analytics.
• Build and explore the Gantt and S-Curve.
• Learn how planning warnings and errors are handled.
• Continue through reporting and advanced project features.

The tutorial remains open while users interact with Excel, allowing them to enter data and use the workbook normally.

No artificial demonstration project is inserted, and Practice Mode does not use a separate scheduling engine.

When a planning operation encounters a blocking error, ProjectEngine displays its normal diagnostic messages. Users can correct their inputs and try again before continuing.

📖 Additional Tutorial Features

• 29 guided steps available in English and French.
• Previous and Next navigation.
• Resume or restart either learning mode.
• Independent progress tracking for Discovery and Practice.
• Contextual highlighting of actual Excel cells and controls.
• Editable input areas remain accessible during Practice Mode.
• Automatic cleanup of temporary highlighting.
• Integration with the existing ProjectEngine language settings.
• No additional installation or external resources.

The tutorial uses the same planning commands and validation rules as normal ProjectEngine operations.

🚀 Improved Welcome Screen

The welcome screen introduced in v1.3 has been expanded to make onboarding easier.

Users can now choose to:

• Start New Project — begin with an empty workbook.
• Import Previous Project — transfer supported data from an older ProjectEngine version.
• Discover ProjectEngine — open the interactive tutorial.

The tutorial can be closed and reopened without losing the current project data.

For users who begin entering tasks during the tutorial, the welcome workflow now offers a way to continue with the existing work rather than starting over.

The welcome screen also behaves more consistently when an import is cancelled, allowing users to return to their choices instead of unexpectedly leaving the onboarding process.

After a Full Reset, the welcome screen becomes available again.

🎨 Modernized ProjectEngine Interface

ProjectEngine's three main dialog windows have received a visual redesign:

• Planning Messages
• Project Welcome
• Interactive Tutorial

The updated interface introduces:

• Modern rounded buttons.
• A more consistent visual style across the application.
• Improved typography, spacing, and alignment.
• Clearer primary and secondary actions.
• Improved visual distinction between information, warnings, and blocking errors.
• More readable layouts in English and French.
• Improved keyboard navigation and button interaction.

The new controls remain integrated into Excel and preserve the functionality of the existing application.

No additional add-in, external program, or installation is required.

💬 Smarter Message Window Sizing

Planning messages now use a more adaptive window layout.

Previously, short messages could appear in unnecessarily large windows, while longer messages sometimes required excessive scrolling.

ProjectEngine now adjusts the message window to the content before displaying it.

• Short messages open in more compact windows.
• Longer messages receive more space when available.
• Very long messages remain scrollable.
• Message navigation does not cause the window to constantly resize.
• Message text remains selectable and copyable.
• Warning acknowledgements remain available where applicable.

The result is a cleaner and more comfortable experience when reviewing planning diagnostics.

🌍 Improved French and English Text

This release includes another localization refinement, particularly for the new tutorial and redesigned dialogs.

Improvements include:

• Complete English and French tutorial content.
• Consistent terminology between the tutorial, Ribbon, and workbook.
• Improved French wording in planning messages.
• Clearer explanations of scheduling concepts and user actions.
• Better readability of warning acknowledgements.
• Improved language consistency across the main dialogs.

The tutorial follows ProjectEngine's existing language preferences. Users can continue to select languages globally or independently for the different workbook areas.

🛠️ Stability and Usability Improvements

Tutorial and Excel Interaction

• Improved interaction between the tutorial and the Excel Ribbon.
• Users can edit worksheet cells while Practice Mode remains open.
• Improved transitions between the tutorial and planning diagnostic windows.
• Improved handling of workbook changes and tutorial closure.
• Temporary tutorial highlights are cleaned up during saving and closing.
• Improved resume behavior when returning to an unfinished tutorial.
• Improved handling of empty projects and operations with no calculated activities.

Welcome and Import

• Cancelled imports now return users to the welcome screen when appropriate.
• Improved handling of partially entered projects during onboarding.
• Improved preservation of project data when leaving the tutorial.
• More consistent handling of successful, cancelled, and failed operations.

Planning Messages

• Improved dialog sizing and scrolling.
• Improved keyboard interaction, including focus and closing behavior.
• Clearer warning acknowledgement controls.
• More consistent message presentation without changing the underlying scheduling and warning rules.

🔒 Privacy and Workbook Metadata Improvements

ProjectEngine now reduces the amount of local file information retained during project imports.

In particular:

• The original source workbook's absolute file path is no longer stored in the destination workbook's import metadata.
• Import diagnostics avoid unnecessarily persisting raw technical error details.
• Existing project settings, event identities, and acknowledgement information remain preserved.
• An Excel privacy setting that could trigger unwanted warnings during saving and importing has been corrected.

These changes improve privacy and reduce unnecessary prompts without disabling Excel's normal warning system.

As with other Excel workbooks, document metadata may still be created or updated when files are saved. Users should review confidential information before sharing project files publicly.

🔄 Upgrading from v1.3

Users of ProjectEngine v1.3 can move to v1.4.0 using the existing project import feature.

1. Download and open the new ProjectEngine workbook.
2. Select Import Previous Project.
3. Choose your existing ProjectEngine file.
4. Review the transferred project information.
5. Run Planning Update or Full Update when ready.

The original source workbook remains unchanged.

Important: Import replaces the supported project data in the destination workbook. Keep a backup of the destination before importing.

The new tutorial can be launched at any time from the ProjectEngine Ribbon, including after importing a project.

✅ Validation and Compatibility

The new tutorial and interface have been tested with standard ProjectEngine workbooks, large planning scenarios, and analytics-focused datasets.

Validation covered:

• Both tutorial modes and their 29 steps.
• English and French localization.
• Real worksheet editing during Practice Mode.
• Planning calculations and blocking-error recovery.
• Ribbon and tutorial navigation.
• Welcome screen interactions and import cancellation.
• Keyboard interaction and message-window behavior.
• Save, close, and reopen workflows.
• Preservation of existing planning data and functionality.

Testing was performed on Microsoft Excel for Windows. Not every combination of Excel version, 32-bit or 64-bit architecture, display scaling, or Windows configuration has been tested.

ProjectEngine remains:

• Free and open source under GPL v3.
• Fully integrated into Microsoft Excel.
• Available in English and French.
• Usable locally and offline.
• Free of additional installers, external add-ins, servers, and user accounts.

Summary

ProjectEngine v1.4.0 makes the application significantly easier to discover and learn.

The new 29-step interactive tutorial, with Discovery and Practice modes, allows users to progress from understanding the workbook to performing real scheduling operations directly inside Excel.

Combined with redesigned dialogs, more readable planning messages, improved onboarding, and additional usability and privacy improvements, this release delivers a more accessible and polished ProjectEngine experience.

The scheduling engine, dependency logic, analytics, simulation workflows, and reporting features introduced in previous releases remain at the heart of the application.

Thank you to everyone who continues to test ProjectEngine, report issues, and share suggestions. Your feedback helps make the project more useful and reliable for real-world planning.

ProjectEngine — Real scheduling. Native Excel.

[GitHub Repository](https://github.com/TMailletFR/ProjectEngine)

[Project Website](https://tmailletfr.github.io/ProjectEngine/)

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This discussion was created from the release ProjectEngine v1.4.0 — Interactive Tutorial & Modernized User Experience.