Work in Team Web Access

Article
07/29/2015

Planning and tracking the progress of your software development project is simple when you use Team Web Access (TWA). To get started, launch TWA from a connected project in Visual Studio or from a supported web browser using the following URL:

**http://ServerName:8080/tfs/**CollectionName/ProjectName

TWA connects you to the team project defined for a team project collection on Visual Studio Team Foundation Server (TFS) or Visual Studio Online. You can manage source code, work items, builds, and test efforts. If you need to create a team project, go here.

Portfolio backlog with features and backlog items

The hubs (such as Home, Code, Work, and Build), the tabs (such as Backlogs and Queries), and the links that appear depend on: (1) the access level group to which you belong, (2) whether the feature has been configured for your team project after an upgrade, or (3) whether a resource has been configured for your on-premises deployment or team project.

Choose the hub to access the task you want

Here’s what you can do, based on the hub you select, the access level you have, and the options configured for your deployment.

Hub	Task
Home	From the main page: Create a work item. View the team home page. Enter the team room. (See note 1) From the Activities list: View backlog. View task board. View queries. Go to project portal. (2) View process guidance. (2) View reports. (3) Request feedback. (1) From the Members and Administration list: Manage team members. Configure team schedules and iterations. Configure team work areas.
Code	Team Foundation version control: View, download, and compare version-controlled files. Find and view changesets. Find and view shelveset details. Set team favorites. Git: Use Visual Studio with Git. Set up Git. Develop your app in a Git repository.
Work	Create a backlog or Work with portfolio backlogs (1). Track progress using the Kanban board. Track progress using the task board. Query for work items. Set query permissions. Set team favorites.
Build	View builds. Manage the build queue. Manage build controllers. Rate build qualities. Set team favorites.
Test	Plan, create and run tests. (1)

Notes:

For on-premises deployments, you’ll need to have Advanced access to TWA features.
For on-premises deployments, your team project must be configured with a SharePoint site for these links to appear. These links don’t appear for projects hosted on Visual Studio Online.
For on-premises deployments, your team project must be configured with SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services for these links to appear. These links don’t appear for projects hosted on Visual Studio Online.

If your team project is missing one or more links, you may be able to add functionality to your on premises TFS deployment.

Configure permissions, groups, defaults, and other administrative features

To manage permissions and configure specific features, you use the TWA administration context. Choose the Settings Icon (Team Web Access) gear Settings icon to access the administration context, or enter the following URL in the web browser:

http://ServerName:8080/tfs/CollectionName/ProjectName/_admin

The features and permissions you can configure depend on your TFS group membership and the server-project collection-team project-team context you’re in. For example, the following illustration shows the team project context. Choosing DefaultCollection takes you to the team project collection level, and choosing Control panel takes you to the server level.

Administration context for Team Web Access

The following table describes the areas you can configure based on the context level and permission group you belong to.

Context	TFS group membership	Areas
Control panel (Server)	Team Foundation Administrators	Configure the following areas for the server: Change access levels to TWA features. Configure features after an upgrade. Install a TWA extension.
Team project collection	Project Collection Administrators	Configure the following areas for a team project collection: Create a TFS group. Manage permissions (security).
Team project	Project Administrators	Configure the following areas for the team project team: Add another team. Edit the team project profile. Schedule sprints, define iterations, and set permissions. Define areas and set permissions. Manage permissions (work items and test). Set team alerts. Set permissions on source code folders.
Team	Team Administrators	Configure the following areas for the selected team: Add a team administrator Add team members Edit the team profile. Schedule team sprints. Define areas. Manage permissions (security). Set team alerts. Set permissions on source code folders.

Q & A

Q: What browsers support TWA?

A: Go here for the supported browsers.

Q: What are the main differences between using TWA and Team Explorer?

A: Although you can access source code, work items, and builds from both clients, some task-specific tools are only supported in one client and not the other.

Team Web Access	Team Explorer
Agile planning tools Agile portfolio management tools Team home page and team rooms Author and view flat-list query charts Request feedback Web-based Test Management Administration pages to administer accounts, team projects, and teams	Task specific interfaces that integrate with TFVC and Git Greater integration with work items and Office-integration clients. You can open a work item or query result in an office supported client. Additional text formatting options for rich-text fields in work item forms. Additional user interfaces such as Team Members and Work Item Templates. These interfaces are added when you install TFS Power Tools.

Agile planning tools
Agile portfolio management tools
Team home page and team rooms
Author and view flat-list query charts
Request feedback
Web-based Test Management
Administration pages to administer accounts, team projects, and teams

Task specific interfaces that integrate with TFVC and Git
Greater integration with work items and Office-integration clients. You can open a work item or query result in an office supported client.
Additional text formatting options for rich-text fields in work item forms.
Additional user interfaces such as Team Members and Work Item Templates. These interfaces are added when you install TFS Power Tools.

In addition, with TWA you have access to several web-based features added with the TFS update installed on your application-tier server. With TFS 2013.4 update, these include support for full-screen mode and type-to-find values in the Area and Iteration Path fields. To learn more, see What's new in planning and tracking.

To learn more, see Choose the Team Foundation client to support your tasks.

Q: Can I open a query in Excel or Project from TWA?

A: Not at this time. However, you can open Excel or Project and then open a query that you’ve created in TWA.

Q: What should I do if I can’t connect to TFS?

A: Here’s a list of the most frequently encountered connection problems and what to do about them. Start at the top and follow it in the order indicated.

Verify that you have required permissions.

If the errors that you receive indicate read-only or blocked actions, you might not have permission to act on the data.
Verify that your computer is connected to the network and can access network resources.
Verify that TFS hasn’t been taken offline. Talk with your TFS administrator.
Verify whether your team project has been moved to another team project collection in Team Foundation Server. If it has been moved, you must create a connection to the new server name.

For more troubleshooting tips, go here.

Q: Are there any compatibility issues with TFS versions?

A: No. TWA is automatically installed and configured when you install or upgrade TFS. Version compatibility is not an issue because all instances of TFS are accessed by TWA services that are hosted on that server. To learn about new features that have been added since the previous version, go here.

Q: How do I access the administration context?

A: From TWA, choose the Settings Icon (Team Web Access) gear Settings icon.

Go to the administration page

Q: How do I refresh TWA?

A: If data doesn’t appear as expected, the first thing to try is to refresh your client. Refreshing your client updates the local cache with changes that were made in another client or in TFS. To refresh the page or object you’re currently viewing, choose either the Refresh or Refresh Refresh icons.

Q: How do I add items to the team home page?

A: With the TFS 2013.2 update installed, you pin shared queries, build definitions, and source code folders to the home page. Also, you can pin charts of flat list queries to have them appear on the home page.

If your on-premises deployment hasn’t been updated to TFS 2013.2, you add shared queries, build definitions, and source code folders by adding them to Team favorites.

Q: How do I add members to my team, or add another team administrator?

A: From the Home page you can manage your team members. To learn more about configuring, customizing, and sharing team resources, see Collaborate using team resources.

Q: How do I customize the Agile planning tools that TWA provides?

A: You can customize some aspects through TWA and others by changing the process configuration. See Customize the agile experience for a team project.

Q: What other clients can I use to connect to TFS?

A:Team Explorer, which is included with Visual Studio or can be downloaded separately, connects you to TFS. Also, you can use Excel, Project, and Project Professional to manage work items. For a complete overview of all clients, see Choose the Team Foundation client to support your tasks.

Q: Can stakeholders who don't use Visual Studio use TWA to log bugs or code defects?

A: Members of an organization that have TFS deployed but do not have a client access license (CAL) can access TWA as a Stakeholder.

To learn more about access levels, see Change access levels.

Q: Can I add or modify work item types?

A: The work item types available to you are based on the process template that was used to create your team project. For TFS on-premises deployments, you can modify and add custom work item types.

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