Work in Team Web Access

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.

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.

Notes:

1. For on-premises deployments, you’ll need to have Advanced access to TWA features.

2. 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.

3. 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 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.

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

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.

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.

1. 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.

2. Verify that your computer is connected to the network and can access network resources.

3. Verify that TFS hasn’t been taken offline. Talk with your TFS administrator.

4. 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 gear Settings icon.

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 or 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.