Login
OpenProject 16.6: Project evaluation and scoring
OpenProject 16.6 has been released and this version introduces new features and improvements again. Please take a few minutes to learn what changes for you. We will summarize the most important changes in this blog article and, as always, please see our release notes that contain all changes, features and bug fixes.
- Project evaluation and scoring (Enterprise add-on)
- Significant performance improvements
- New index page for Documents module
- Further usability updates
Project evaluation and scoring (Enterprise add-on)
With OpenProject 16.6, project portfolio managers gain new ways to make their work more measurable and transparent. The release introduces three new project attribute types: Hierarchy, Weighted item lists, and Calculated value. They can be combined to evaluate and compare projects based on consistent criteria.
These attributes allow organizations to build their own evaluation models. Hierarchy project attributes let you organize information in a structured, nested way — for example, grouping initiatives by region, department, or program.
Weighted item lists extend this concept by assigning numeric scores to list options, such as effort levels or risk ratings. These values can then be used as input for automated calculations.
Calculated values enable automatic computations based on formulas using numeric project attributes, including scores from Weighted item lists or even other calculated values. The computed result is displayed directly on the project overview and in the project list. It automatically updates whenever one of its source attributes (e.g., Benefit or Effort in the example below) changes.
Here’s an example of a calculated value called ‘Overall score (calculated)’ with the following formula: (Strategic impact * 0.6) + ( Benefit * 0.3) - (Effort * 0.1)
These new attribute types open up flexible ways to work with project data. Scoring is just one typical example — the same structure can be used to represent strategic priorities, aggregate indicators, or define your own evaluation framework that fits your organization’s needs.
Note
Please note that these new project attributes are part of our Enterprise add-ons in the Enterprise Premium plan.
Significant performance improvements
Working with large projects and complex portfolios can be challenging when pages take too long to load or filters lag behind. That’s why OpenProject 16.6 focuses on improving performance, ensuring that even large-scale installations with thousands of projects and millions of work packages remain fast and reliable.
To achieve this, several backend processes have been improved. Database queries and API responses have been refined to avoid unnecessary counting operations, and the autocompleter for adding work package relations now only retrieves the data it actually needs. These changes reduce query load and make the application more efficient overall.
As a result, users will notice faster response times, smoother navigation, and more responsive filtering — even in the largest environments.
New index page for Documents module
Managing project documents efficiently is key to keeping everyone aligned. But as projects grow, finding the right file can become a challenge. To make this easier, OpenProject 16.6 introduces the first step toward a more powerful and collaborative Documents module.
The new index page provides a structured overview of all project documents, showing each file’s Name, Type (the category), and Last edited date. The most recently updated items are always on top. A quick filter helps you search by title, and the navigation menu on the left lets you narrow the list by Type (previously called Category). Both terms are used synonymously in this first step, as Type will gradually replace Category in future updates.
A new + Document button makes adding content straightforward, and on mobile devices, the view adapts to show only the most relevant details.
While this is a smaller change on its own, it marks the beginning of a broader improvement to how teams will work with documents in OpenProject. We are excited about the upcoming changes that will make document management and live collaboration easier and more intuitive.
See our roadmap for more information.
Further usability updates
Small usability enhancements can make a big difference in everyday work. OpenProject 16.6 brings several refinements that make managing information smoother, meetings more efficient, and administration tasks easier to navigate.
Change parent of a custom field item or project attribute (Enterprise add-on)
Administrators can now rearrange items within hierarchical custom fields (Enterprise add-on) or project attributes without having to recreate them. A new Change parent option opens a dialog showing the hierarchy tree, allowing quick reorganization through search and selection.
Updated “More” menu in meetings
In the Meetings module, moderators can now move agenda items directly between sections using the new Move to section action. This saves time in meetings with multiple sections or longer agendas and helps keep discussions better structured.
Learn more about meeting management with OpenProject.
Editing individual attributes even if other fields are invalid
Users can now edit visible fields even if other required fields are missing or invalid. This prevents unnecessary validation errors — for example, when a required field was added later — and lets users continue their work without interruption.
Sticky header and first column in workflows
In Administration → Work packages → Workflow, the table now has a sticky header and sticky first column. This makes it easier for administrators to keep an overview of transitions when scrolling through large workflow tables.
Read more about managing work package workflows in OpenProject.
Mini calendar re-added on mobile
On mobile devices, the date picker once again includes a mini calendar view for selecting start and finish dates. This makes it easier to see weekdays and working days at a glance, improving usability when managing tasks on the go.
OpenProject 16.6: Migration, installation, updates and support
Follow the upgrade guide for the packaged installation or Docker installation to update your OpenProject installation to OpenProject 16.6. We update your hosted OpenProject environments (Enterprise cloud) today, November 5, 2025.
You will find more information about all new features and changes in our Release notes or in the OpenProject Documentation.
If you need support, you can post your questions in the Community Forum, or if you are eligible for Enterprise support, please contact us and we are happy to support you personally.
- New to OpenProject? To test all features of OpenProject 16.6 right away, create a 14 days free trial instance for our OpenProject Enterprise cloud.
- Prefer to run OpenProject 16.6 in your own infrastructure? Here you can find the Installation guidelines for OpenProject.
- Want to upgrade from a Community version to try out the Enterprise add-ons? Get a 14 days free trial token to test the Enterprise add-ons (all plans).
Credits
A very special thank you goes to Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, City of Cologne, Deutsche Bahn and ZenDiS for sponsoring released or upcoming features. Your support, alongside the efforts of our amazing Community, helps drive these innovations. Also a big thanks to our Community members for reporting bugs and helping us identify and provide fixes. Special thanks for reporting and finding bugs go to Sven Kunze, Stefan Weiberg, Gábor Alexovics, Alexander Aleschenko, and Tobias Nowakow.
This release, we specifically want to thank Emon for reporting a security vulnerability on our website. Reports and feedback like this are one of the reasons we love OSS and appreciate being part of such an amazing community.
Last but not least, we are very grateful for our very engaged translation contributors on Crowdin, who translated quite a few OpenProject strings! This release we would like to particularly thank the following users:
- William, for a great number of translations into Chinese Traditional.
- Pickart, for a great number of translations into Catalan.
- Maxime77, for a great number of translations into French. Would you like to help out with translations yourself? Then take a look at our translation guide and find out exactly how you can contribute. It is very much appreciated!
As always, we welcome any feedback on this release. 💙
