Migrate from WP Project Manager to Microsoft Project

WP Project Manager Projects stored in wp_cpm_projects map to Microsoft Project plan files (MPP) or Project Online/Project for the web Project records. We extract project name, description, visibility flag, start date, and end date from wp_cpm_projects, and create the Microsoft Project plan with the equivalent project-level fields. If the customer uses Project Online, we create a project via the Project Online REST API (/_api/ProjectServer/Projects). If Project Desktop, we build the MPP structure programmatically via the MSProject object model or MPXJ library.

WP Project Manager Tasks stored in wp_cpm_messages with type=task map to Microsoft Project Task records. We map task title (Name), description (Notes), Start (from start_date or computed from project start), Finish (from due_date), Priority, and Status (percent complete from completion percentage). Task IDs from wp_cpm_messages are preserved in a custom column for lookup reference during dependency reconstruction.

WP Project Manager Subtasks stored in wp_cpm_task_relations with a parent task_id link map to Microsoft Project Tasks at a deeper outline level under the parent Task. We reconstruct the subtask tree by iterating wp_cpm_task_relations ordered by the parent_id relationship, setting Microsoft Project Task.OutlineLevel incrementally for each nesting depth. The original subtask ordering from wp_cpm_task_relations.position is preserved as the outline sequence.

Milestones in WP Project Manager are stored as type=milestone records in wp_cpm_messages. We create Microsoft Project Task records with the Milestone flag set to True (Task.Milestone = pjYes) and zero duration. The linked task_ids in the milestone record migrate as a custom column (Milestone_Linked_Tasks__c) to preserve the task grouping context, since Microsoft Project does not have a native milestone-to-task grouping mechanism.

Dependencies between tasks in WP Project Manager are stored in wp_cpm_task_relations with relation_type flags (e.g., Finish-to-Start). We extract every dependency record, parse the relation_type to determine the Microsoft Project predecessor type (FS, FF, SS, SF), and create Task.PredecessorLinks on the successor Task pointing to the predecessor Task's UID. This is the highest-risk mapping step because circular dependencies in WP Project Manager must be detected and broken before insertion into Microsoft Project.

WP Project Manager task comments stored in wp_cpm_task_comments map to Microsoft Project Task.Notes fields. Since Microsoft Project does not have a native multi-comment threading model, we concatenate comments in reverse chronological order (newest first) with author name and timestamp prefixed to each entry. The format is: [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM Author]: Comment body. If the comment references a file attachment, we include the normalized file path in the note text and flag it for the file transfer step.

File attachments referenced in WP Project Manager task comments are stored as WordPress Media Library entries with paths in wp-content/uploads. Actual files must be transferred separately via SFTP or the hosting file manager. We pair the database export with a file manifest listing each attachment's WordPress path, the associated task reference, and the target directory in Microsoft Project (or the connected SharePoint/OneDrive location if using Project Online). Absolute URLs with the source domain are stripped and replaced with relative paths. The customer is responsible for executing the file transfer; we provide the manifest and target path mapping.

WP Project Manager assignees reference WordPress user IDs stored in wp_users. We extract wp_users (display_name, user_email, user_login) and create Microsoft Project Resources using user_email as the dedupe key. Resource.Name maps from display_name, Resource.Initials from the first letters of the name, and Resource.Type set to Material for non-hourly assignments. If the customer uses Project Online, Resources are created via the Project Online REST API (/_api/ProjectServer/Resources). WP roles and WordPress-specific capabilities do not map to Microsoft Project resource roles; we document the capability gap for the customer's PMO to address in resource governance.

Time tracking entries stored in the WP Project Manager premium time tracker sub-table (user_id, task_id, start, end, notes) map to Microsoft Project Resource Assignments. Each time entry creates an Assignment record on the matching Task, with Assignment.ActualWork computed from the duration between start and end timestamps. The time entry notes migrate to Assignment.Notes. Note that Microsoft Project requires the Resource to have a calendar and Max Units set before Assignment records can be inserted; we run Resource provisioning before Assignment migration.

WP Project Manager Custom Fields are stored as PHP-serialized arrays in wp_postmeta. We deserialize each array using a staging script, normalize field names (removing wp_ prefixes and special characters), infer the data type (text, number, date, checkbox), and create matching Microsoft Project custom fields. Text fields become Text1-30 custom fields; numeric values become Number1-20; dates become Date1-10; checkboxes become Flag1-20. The customer chooses the specific field numbers during scoping. Any deserialization failures are logged and reported in the migration summary; serialized data that cannot be parsed is flagged as unmigrated in the inventory.

WP Project Manager's Gantt chart view is derived from task start dates, due dates, and dependency links stored in wp_cpm_task_relations. We extract the dependency links (see Task Dependency mapping) and reconstruct them in Microsoft Project as Predecessor-Successor links. Start dates and due dates on tasks map directly to Task.Start and Task.Finish. The visual Gantt layout in WP Project Manager is a view property and does not migrate; the underlying scheduling data does.

Invoice records in WP Project Manager are tightly coupled to WooCommerce and Stripe integrations and have no clean export path. We do not migrate Invoice data. We recommend exporting invoices as PDF reports from WP Project Manager's UI before migration begins and storing them in a shared drive. The associated task and time tracking data migrates normally; financial records must be re-created in the destination accounting or billing tool.