OpenProject 16.1 allows you to create project life cycles and export meetings as PDF docs

OpenProject 16.1 marks a significant upgrade for open source project management, introducing structured portfolio planning. The new project life cycle feature enables users to define distinct phases for each project and set go or no-go decisions at phase gates. This shift allows organizations to move beyond individual project tracking and toward comprehensive portfolio management with greater clarity and control.

Additionally, users can now export meeting agendas and outcomes as PDF documents, improving the ability to archive and share key project communications. When configuring reminders for work packages, smart default options such as “Tomorrow” and “In 3 days” have been added, speeding up the scheduling of common notifications.

Project scheduling also gains greater flexibility through the introduction of negative lag between related work packages. With this update, a successor task can begin even before its predecessor concludes, supporting more agile and overlapping workflows. Furthermore, hierarchy custom fields in the work package view are now fully expandable, letting users visualize and navigate the complete parent-child hierarchy tree at a glance.

Rounding out the release, the date picker component has been upgraded for improved screen reader compatibility and accessibility standard compliance. This benefits users who rely on assistive technologies when interacting with project timelines and task deadlines.