Overview: Gannt Chart#98

Gannt ChartProject Overviews

A Gantt chart is like one big visual timeline for your project. You can see a list of all sub-projects and tasks within the vertical column on the left hand side, and then see each activity's corresponding horizontal block within the timeline, showing the start and end date. This helps form a ''picture'' of your project, giving insight into the priority of items, important deadlines, and getting a simple breakdown of how things need to be sequenced.

From the Gantt Chart, you can create new Sub-Projects and ToDos, change the timelines of existing activities, edit those activities, and set up dependencies between activities. You can also email all members assigned to a Sub-Project or ToDo quickly.

Here is a quick snapshot of the many features of the Gantt Chart:

1 You can create a ToDo or a sub-project directly from the Gantt Chart using the shortcut links. In this image, we have a sub-project "Requirements Meeting" with the ToDos underneath it. You can move sub-projects and tasks around within their vertical hierarchy by clicking and dragging. Once you've created a sub-project or task, simply drag along the chart horizontally from a start to end date to establish the period. In this example, you can see the corresponding period of "Requirements Meeting" is December 7 through 14.

2 Expand the start or end date of an activity by dragging one end of the block. You can also move the time block as a whole forward or backwards to change the entire period.

3 From left to right, these icons do the following:

The calendar icon will move the beginning of the Gantt chart's view to the current day, which is shown in dark blue (4).
The magnifying glass allows you to adjust the scale of the Gantt chart, making it larger or smaller. You can also choose to hide weekends. Note: When creating new items, if you drag over a period that includes the weekend, whether you can see it or not, it will be included.

4 The current date will always be displayed in dark blue.

5 Clicking on any activity block will open a menu of options. These allow you to:

Edit the activity you've clicked, triggering a pop up.
View the stand-alone item, opening a new window in your browser.
View/change members associated with this item, as well as email all members from here if 2 or more are assigned.
Make an item timeless. This will keep the item existing in your project, and it will be viewable on the vertical list of sub-projects and tasks, but it will not have a block (start and end date) within the Gantt chart.
Set a dependency on another sub-project or task. This means the current item cannot be started until the item it's been marked dependent on has been marked complete. Once the dependency is set, you will be unable to change the period of the activity by itself. If you try to click and drag it, it will snap back to it's previous place. If you check your ToDo list, this item won't show up until you've completed the previous item.
Lastly, you can delete the sub-project or task.

6 Once a dependency is set, it will be shown by a dotted line from the beginning of the dependent sub-project or task to the end of the predecessor sub-project or task. If you increase or decrease the timeline of the predecessor activity, the dependent activity will immediately move to the new end date of the predecessor.

7 To adjust the timeline period being displayed in the Gantt chart, click and drag the ends of the blue pane, denoted by two vertical white lines.

8 The (i) icon denotes other activities associated with the corresponding sub-project or task. This icon will appear on the same horizontal line as the sub-project or task it's associated with, and will be displayed on the date of the associated activity. For example, the (i) icon can mean an expense has been created related to a task displayed on the Gantt chart, and the placement of the icon will indicate the date the expense was logged.