Interactive Gantt

The Gantt is a display option in the work plan that allows you to see items as bars spanning their duration.

It provides improved task management capabilities not only by furnishing a more visible and graphical display of task timelines, but also by allowing the ability to update and reallocate tasks from within the Gantt interactively in a split view screen showing both the Gantt and the tasks data table. The Gantt view increases visibility of project progress and scheduling as well.

The Interactive Gantt is extremely helpful during the initial project planning phase, as well as to track progress and scheduling during the execution phase.

Clarizen allows you to even share Gantt charts to all internal and external stakeholders in your organization via customized widgets for complete visibility.

Key Features

The Interactive Gantt contains several key features including:

• A unified side by side view of the data grid and Gantt chart
• A Dynamic and interactive Gantt chart providing real time insights on your tasks
• Drag and drop capabilities for:
  • Adjusting Start date and Due date
  • Reporting work by changing the task's % Complete
  • Reordering of work items
  • Creating dependencies between tasks

Accessing and defining the Interactive Gantt View

The Gantt chart view is accessible from the Utilities action bar in the Project module overview and the Work Item module as well as in the project's detailed Workplan view in the gear menu under Manage Columns.

In the Project and Work Item modules, select the project(s) / work item(s) you wish to view, open the Utilities Tab and click . A standalone view of the selected project(s) / Work item(s) is opened in a new screen displaying both the Gantt and relevant columns side by side.

In the detailed project work plan view the Gantt will be displayed inline side by side with the Grid view. To remove the Gantt open the gear icon and change the view from Gantt to Grid.

You can also define the Gantt as the default selection for the view in the view editor.

Defining the interactive Gantt View

The Gantt view can be defined to show a Standard, Critical Path, Baseline, or Plan vs. Actual display. The view can also be defined to show labels and the percent complete directly on the Gantt view.

To define the Gantt Display options:

1. Click the within the relevant view
2. Under Manage select Gantt display
   
   The Gantt display window opens.
3. Select the desired view from the Display As menu
   
4. Select whether to show or hide Gantt bar labels using the Include labels checkbox
5. Select whether to show or hide the percent complete within the bar using the Show % complete checkbox
6. Select the desired labels for each of the available label positions

   Note:

   • You can use any number of labels.
   • The available label positions are: before, after, above, or below the bar.
   • Label availability depends on the Gantt view type selected
7. Click to save the changes and close the window.

Controlling the Interactive Gantt View

The Gantt view results can be searched and filtered much like any view in Clarizen, see Searching And Filtering. In addition you can control the timeframe displayed using the zoom slider.

The time frame indicator includes two headers, the main header (title) displaying the selected view and a sub header showing details.

The available time frames include:

• A yearly view where the main title will show the year and the sub header will show quarters, for example 2015 and Q1, Q2, etc.
• A Quarterly view where the main title will show the quarters and the sub header will show months, for example 2015 and Q1 2015 and January, February, etc.
• A Monthly view where the main title will show the month and the sub header will show weeks based on the day of the month, for example January 2015 and 3,10,17,etc. (day of month)
• A Weekly view where the main title will show the week and the sub header will show the dates within the week, for example 03/01/2015-09/01/2015 and 3,4,5,etc.
• A Daily view where the main title will show the selected day and the sub header will show hours, for example 03/01/2015 and 1,2,3,…,14,15,16, etc.

The format of the Actual full dates (day. Month and year), are based on the organizational setting.

Use the zoom slider to control the displayed time frame.

The Fit button automatically sizes the entire Gantt view to fit the screen.

Interactive Gantt Visualization Legend

The interactive Gantt is both shape and color coded to help quickly identify and understand the view displayed.

Work items with Duration set to 0 are shown as diamonds, regular work items are displayed as a rounded rectangle bar while hammocks are represented by a two sided call-out bar with teeth.

Dependencies are represented by arrows connecting the various work items.

An Orange vertical line indicates Today’s date

The interactive color coding is as follows:

• Projects marked as portfolios are displayed in Olive green
  
• Projects are displayed in Blue
  
• Milestones are displayed in Green
  
• Tasks are displayed in Amber
  
• The Bar Opacity indicates the work progress, Saturated colors represent % completed where the lighter color indicates planned work not yet complete
• Exceptions are marked gray
• When selecting the critical path display option, work items at risk will have a red border surrounding the Bar
• When selecting the baseline or plan vs. actual display options, an additional thinner bar is displayed beneath the main bar

Using the Interactive Gantt

The Gantt view is fully interactive where changes made in the Work Plan Grid affect the Gantt and vice versa.

This allows you to manage your projects and tasks with ease.

Hovering over an item on the Gantt will display a quick peek Gantt bubble sowing the relevant fields based on the Gantt display option and profile settings for each user.

Based on your individual user permission, you can edit the fields shown ion the bubble as well as utilize drag and drop capabilities to:

• Move items to change their order and even move them between hammocks
• Change the start date and due dates of the relevant work item. This will change the item's duration and affect all of the relating work items
• Report progress on a work item
• Create, Move, and Delete dependencies

Note:

On any drag and drop action, a warning message will pop up to confirm the action

To move items in the Gantt:

1. Hover over the center of the item's bar until the cursor changes to a 4-way (move) arrow
2. Click and drag the bar to the location you wish to move it to
3. Release the mouse button

To change the item's Duration:

1. Move your cursor to the beginning or the end of the work item's Bar until the cursor changes to a horizontal 2-way (stretch) arrow
2. Click and drag the bar back or forward to change the Start date or Due date of the work item
3. Release the Mouse button

Alternatively, hover over the work item bar until the quick peek bubble appears and manually change the relevant filed.

To create dependencies:

1. Move the item as described above
2. Release the mouse button while the cursor is directly on top of another work item's bar
3. A dependency is created between the two items

Sharing and Printing the Gantt

The Gantt view can printed, shared as a link or as a widget.

Sharing the Gantt is done from the Project level or on the standalone Gantt view.

To print the Gantt:

1. In the Gantt view open the Utilities tab
2. Click
   The Print preview window opens
3. Define the Gantt print options:
   • Full Gantt - prints the entire Gantt
   • Current view - prints only the view currently displayed
   • Specific period - allows you to define a specific time frame to display
4. Move the page column separator between the list (grid) and the Gantt view to determine what columns will be printed
5. Use the zoom slider to adjust the desired zoom for the Gantt
6. Define the print options, page size and orientation
7. Click

To share the Gantt as a widget:

1. In the standalone view Click located on the Common toolbar
   The Share Widget Gantt screen opens
   
2. Define the various widget restrictions:
   • Add an expiration date
   • Restrict the Gantt view to only one display option
   • Limit access to the widget to Clarizen users only by selecting the Require password option
3. Define the Workplan view you wish to share
4. Click
   
5. Define the sharing method:
   • Copy the Link to create a hyperlink which you can use on any page
   • Select the 'include iframe code so this URL can be embedded' option to create an HTML code that you can embed on any HTML page
   • Type or select email recipients in order to send the link as an email
     you also have the option to personalize the email by clicking Personalize message
6. Click to close the window and complete the sharing process