Removing a SharePoint Tasks List Project Site from Project Server 2013

Whew, that was harder to figure out than I think it should be and I’m only 99% sure that I’m doing it right so feel free to pipe in, in the comments if you have something to share.

What

We have Project Server 2013 (PWA, Project Web Access). We have a number of projects on the go but one of them “wrapped” (finished) and I don’t need it (or want it) to be visible on our Active Projects Heads Up Display. I do want to keep the SharePoint site/web that was created (in PWA it is called a SharePoint Tasks List – terrible naming! Sure there is a list, but you are creating a website when you use it … harrumph!)

So What

Well, it ain’t very intuitive to remove that project from your “Project Center”. Removing an Enterprise Project is a different animal so remember, this applies to when you are removing a “SharePoint Tasks List” site from the Project Center.

And this help information doesn’t cut it for me (but did at least get me on the right track): http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/project-server-help/remove-a-sharepoint-task-list-from-project-web-app-HA102848178.aspx

There are a couple of steps here and I’m going to spell them out for you (and so I remember as well). Keep in mind, my goals are:

1. I don’t want to see this project listed in Project Center
2. I do want to keep the project artifacts around. I want to still be able to peruse the old content for a long time to come
3. I do want to still be able to search the content (so I’m not going to remove the site from being crawled by choosing Site Settings, Search Settings, Search and Offline Availability and choose “no” for “Allow this site to appear in search results?” – That was a freebie 😉

I also am assuming here you have the appropriate rights to see and do the things I am covering…

Now What

Ok, to accomplish #1 and #2 above I’m going to…

1. In Site Settings, PWA Settings, I’m going to select “Connected SharePoint Sites” under “Operational Policies”

1. I’m going to select the site I wish to remove from the Project Radar and then choose “Edit Site Address” from the menu of choices

1. Next I’m going to choose “Unlink the SharePoint site from the project”. Performing this step may not be 100% necessary but I like the idea of the site being “unavailable” in PWA but still have the web and its contents in my collection.

1. With that done, I just now go to PWA Settings again and choose “Delete Enterprise Objects” under “Queue and Database Administration”

1. I select the project I want to remove from PWA/Project Central and click Delete. Note, there is a check box there for “Delete the Connected SharePoint Sites” and it is not selected by default, so the above steps may not be necessary but call me old fashioned and a little overly cautious… 😉

That’s it. The Project is now gone from Project Central but the web/site still exists in “All Site Content” in my site collection in case I need elements from it again.

But Wait, There’s More…

Being the fuss pot that I am, I’m going to end up with a lot of webs/sites in my Site Collection under “All Site Content” so I take a moment to rename the site to “ARCHIVED – blah blah foo blah” so visually I can ignore them when browsing the site.

Hope this helps someone!