A new project has to be configured before it can be used. You must be signed in as the Super User or as an Account Administrator to configure a new project. To use the settings of a project you have already configured, clone them instead and skip these steps: read the article Cloning Project Settings.

There are two parts to the configuration. First you set the project's details, NDE requirements and team on this page. Then you choose the WPS, welders and machines the project may use.

Open the page with Create & Configure when you create the project, or later from the project's Project Info page with Edit. Click "Explain this function" next to the page title for a narrated walkthrough of the page, or the book icon beside it to open this article.

Step 1 - Project details

1. Select Division, Customer and Contractor: pick them here if you did not when you created the project. All three are optional. Click + to add a new one without leaving the page;
2. Repair Welds: what happens when a weld fails visual inspection or NDE. 0: no repair weld is created. 1 (the default): a repair weld is created automatically once; if W-100 fails, W-100-R1 is created, but if W-100-R1 then fails, W-100-R2 is not. 2: a second repair weld is created too, so W-100-R2 is created when W-100-R1 fails;
3. View - rows per page: the number of rows shown on the list pages, 50, 100 or 250. The pages where you edit data show 1000 rows;
4. Units: Metric or US Customary. A project's units may differ from the account setting.

The repair welds and units cannot be changed once the project is configured and saved. "-R" is reserved for repair welds, so it cannot be used in weld numbers.

Step 2 - Group welds into spools, items or assemblies

A drawing often makes more than one piece: an isometric fabricated as several spools, or a structural drawing built as several assemblies. Grouping puts each weld on a drawing into one of those pieces, so you can track, map and report them piece by piece.

1. Group welds into…: turn the switch on to group this project's welds;
2. Display Name: what your team calls a group: Item, Assembly, Piece or Spool. The name is used on every screen and report of the project, for example "Spools" on a drawing and "Welds By Spool" on Drawing Details.

How the welds are grouped on the drawings:

• Each drawing lists its groups, for example the spools 1001-S1, 1001-S2 and 1001-S3. Add them when you add the drawing, or later in Edit Drawing, where they can also be renamed or removed. They also come in with drawing imports. Read the article Add Drawing (one at a time);
• Groups belong to the drawing number, so every revision of the drawing shares them;
• When you add a weld, by hand, in the weld map editor, in Multiple Entry or by import, pick one of its drawing's groups. The AI fills the group in from the spool marks it reads on the drawing, and you check it in AI Weld Review;
• Drawing Details then shows the welds by group, with each group's progress and its own weld map print. The weld map viewer can colour the welds by group, and the weld log, test packs and data book reports show the group beside the drawing;
• A weld without a group is shown as not grouped. Removing a group that welds use ungroups those welds.

Once welds in the project carry groups, the switch cannot be turned off, but the display name can still be changed. Weld grouping is available on the Projects, Projects + and Projects ++ plans and on Enterprise.

Step 3 - NDE settings

Set the inspection and NDE requirements for the project as a percentage of welds. They apply to every tag and drawing, and can be changed for a particular tag.

1. Visual Inspection (VI): when it is set above 0%, a user must be picked as Welding Inspector in the team (Step 7);
2. The NDE methods: RT, UT, PT, MT, FT, PMI and BT. Drag the slider to the percentage required;
3. Custom methods: the account's own NDE methods, marked Custom, work the same way (Step 4).

A method left at 0% can be set later. Once a method is set to 1% or more and saved, it can be raised or lowered, but not set back to 0%: once used in a project, it stays available.

When you change the NDE settings of a configured project, WeldTrace asks whether to apply them to all the tags. Choose Yes to overwrite the NDE settings of every tag with the ones on this page; No changes the project's settings only.

Step 4 - Custom NDE methods

Besides the built-in methods, an account can have two NDE methods of its own, for example Phased Array UT (PAUT) or Eddy Current Test (ET). They are set up once for the account, and every project can then set a percentage for them. They work like RT and UT in the tags, in NDE requests and results, and in the NDE reports.

An account administrator or the Super User sets them up on the Admin page, under the Dashboard menu:

1. Abbreviation: 1 to 4 letters, for example PAUT. It cannot be one of WeldTrace's own: VI, RT, UT, MT, PT, FT, PMI, BT, HT, PWHT or DT;
2. Title: the method's name, up to 18 characters, for example Phased Array UT;
3. Active: turn a method off to stop it being offered, without losing its results;
4. In use: a method that projects already use can be renamed or turned off, but not removed;
5. Save: save the changes.

While a slot is free, an administrator can also add a method from the project's own NDE settings: click Add NDE method, enter the name and abbreviation, and click Add. It is saved to the account, so every project can use it. Its slider starts at 0%; set the percentage and save the project.

Custom NDE methods are available on the Projects, Projects + and Projects ++ plans and on Enterprise.

Step 5 - Pressure test, PWHT and NDE options

1. Pressure test (HT): turn the switch off if the project does not use the Pressure Testing module. Read the article Pressure Testing;
2. Post weld heat treatment (PWHT): turn the switch off if the project does not use the PWHT module. Read the article Post Weld Heat Treatment;
3. NDE for: Completed welds only makes only the completed welds available for NDE; All welds includes the incomplete ones. This can be changed after the project is configured;
4. Selection of welds for NDE: Automatic guides you through picking welds at random for NDE when you create a test pack; Manual shows the available welds and NDE methods for you to choose. Read the article Creating a Test Pack.

Once a project has used the pressure testing or PWHT module, its switch can no longer be changed.

Step 6 - Logo and labels

1. Project Logo: upload a logo for the project, for example the customer's or the project's. It is optional. If you picked a customer, the customer's logo is used; without either, your account logo is used. The project logo replaces the account logo on the screens of the project and on all its reports, depending on the project's header and footer configuration;
2. Labels: pick up to 3 letters or numbers as the project's label, as when you created it (see Creating a project).

Step 7 - The project team

The Super User and Account Administrators have full access to every project as Project Administrators, so their names are not listed here.

1. Project Administrators: configure the project and manage its team. A user picked as project administrator is removed from the other roles, since the role already has full access;
2. Welding Supervisors: allocate welds to welders and record their completion;
3. Welding Inspectors: record visual inspection and NDE results, and may be allowed to add and edit data. If Visual Inspection is set to 0%, no welding inspector can be picked;
4. Project Users: can view and print the project's reports;
5. Welders: welders with login access see and update their own welds in the project. Login for welders is available on the Pro plan and above: read the article Login for Welders;
6. The letters: click a letter to list the users whose names start with it. Letters with users are highlighted. Click a user to give them the role; they are added to the line below with an "x" to remove them.

A user can be both a welding supervisor and a welding inspector. What each role can and cannot do is set on the Access Control page: read the article Project Roles & Access Control.

Step 8 - Custom fields and comments

1. Custom Fields: add up to two fields with your own names, 4 to 12 characters, for example Priority or Site. They show on every weld screen;
2. Comments: remarks about the project. You can add images here too, for example a weld map legend. The comments are printed in the project details section of the data book.

Step 9 - Save, and select the WPS for the project

1. Save: save the settings and come back to them later;
2. Save & Add WPS: save the settings and choose the WPS, welders and machines the project may use. It shows until the project is configured.

Save & Add WPS asks how the project will use the WPS and welders:

• "I will use all WPS and welders in this project": every qualified WPS, welder and machine is available in the project;
• "I will select the WPS and welders for this project": a page opens where you search for and select the WPS, welders and machines the project may use. Read the article Using specific WPS, welders and machines in a project.

This question is asked only once, and the choice cannot be changed later.

You may watch the video on our YouTube channel to learn how to create and configure a project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGAvYJwQJhE

Read the next article: Cloning Project Settings