People that are using an app launch the Gantt plugin to view and edit project information. This article explains what the plugin is, what it does, and how to navigate it.

• Projects in the Gantt plugin 
• Using the Gantt plugin 
• Navigation  
  • Buttons
  • Actions
• Managing project information

Gantt Charts display project information, like tasks, in a timeline view. The Gantt plugin displays a Gantt chart in an interactive format. This means that you can move, edit, and select information, making it easier to manage and understand your project. This looks like what you see in a Timeline report, but you can edit the information, not just view it.  

Use the Gantt plugin to manage task information, schedule project milestones, and assign resources to keep work on schedule.   

The plugin includes key project management features including:  

• Dependency types   
• Baseline dates  
• Automatic scheduling  

Projects in the Gantt plugin 

Projects in the Gantt plugin are made up of tasks, which are completed by resources on a schedule. The relationship between tasks and resources can be assigned in the app records or in the plugin. Tasks can also be related or dependent on other tasks, such as if one task needs to be completed before another.  

In the plugin, you see the project, the tasks that make up that project, and then additional information for those tasks. 

From this view you can open and edit additional information for each task.

Using the Gantt plugin 

The Gantt plugin is an interactive display of your project information. Explore and interact with the different parts of the plugin including:

• Hover—Hover over a time span in the timeline section to view more details. 
   
• Select—Select a task in the task list to select the timeline in the timeline view. Select a time span to expand and collapse a task in the list. 
  
• Drag—Drag a task to change the order. Drag a column to change the order. Click and drag a time span to edit it 
  
  
• Double click—double-click a cell to edit the value. Double-click a time span to open the information and make changes

Navigation  

The Gantt plugin has four areas:

1. Buttons—These apply to all of the data in the plugin. Things like saving or exporting data or changing your view to fullscreen.
2. Actions—These let you do different things and view different options for data in the plugin. Things like creating a record, undoing a change, searching for a record, or opening more settings.
3. Tasks—The project and task information in this app. You can control how the columns and data displays or make changes.
4. Timeline—The project and task information displayed in an interactive timeline view. You can view more details or make changes.

Buttons

These buttons apply to all the data in the plugin:

1. Export—Download the app records as a .xlsx file.
2. Save —Save the changes you've made, and then keep working.
3. Close—Exit the plugin and return to the app. You can close the plugin without saving your changes.
4. Fullscreen—Expand the view and enter fullscreen mode. In fullscreen mode, select this button again to exit.

Actions

The following actions are available to make changes and control the plugin data:

1. Create—Add a new task to the button of the list.
2. Edit—Open the information for the selected task.
3. Undo / Redo—Unapply or reapply the most recent change you made. A number displays to show how many changes are available to undo or redo. 
4. Expand all / Collapse all—Expand or collapse all tasks and subtasks in the plugin. 
5. Zoom in / Zoom out—Change the unit of time you're viewing the timeline in. For example, from days to weeks or weeks to month.
6. Zoom to fit—Change the view of the timeline to be bigger or smaller to display all of the task timespans. 
7. Previous time span / Next time span -- Move the timeline view to display the next or previous time span. Usually a time span is a week. 

The following controls and menus are available:

1. Features—Use this menu to select or clear the features you want to use in the plugin. This includes things like dependencies, task labels, project lines, highlighting non-working time, cell editing, baselines, rollups, progress lines, timelines, time range grid, and schedule. 
   The features you select in this menu apply every time you open the plugin. 
2. Settings—Use this menu to change how things display in the plugin. This includes things like row height, bar margin, and animation duration.
   The settings you select in this menu apply every time you open the plugin. 
3. Critical Paths—Select to enable the critical paths setting. When enabled, the critical path of the project displays.
4. Project Start—Enter a value to change the Project Start date. This is automatically populated based on app data.
5. Task Filter—Enter the name of a task to search for it. 

Selecting multiple tasks and create or remove dependencies

You can select two or more tasks and create a chain of dependencies between them. Hold the shift key to select multiple tasks, then right click and select either Add Dependencies or Remove Dependencies to perform a bulk action.

Managing project information

After you launch the Gantt plugin in your app, you can do different things with your project data including:

• Creating a task 
• Creating dependencies between tasks 
• Editing a task 

Creating a task 

To create a task:

1. In the plugin, Select the Create button.
   This adds a new task to the bottom of the list.
2. Enter a task name.
   
3. Add any other details for the task, such as start date and duration.
   The plugin automatically populates some values for a task.
4. Exit the row to save your changes.
   Note that the changes you make in the plugin are applied when you select the Save button. 

You can also:

1. Right-click a task to open the menu.
2. Select Add > Task above or Task Below.
3. This adds a task above or below the task you right-click.
4. Add task details.

Creating dependencies between tasks 

To create a finish-to-start dependency between tasks:

1. Hover over the task.
2. Select the end of the task.
3. Drag the line to the task to create the dependency from.
   This makes the task you connect to dependent on the task you connect from. The plugin automatically updates the date for the dependent task. 

Editing a task 

When you edit a task you can either edit the information that displays in the cell in the task area or you can open the task information and make changes there. 

To open the task information:

1. Right-click a task in the task list or double-click the timespan in the timeline.
   This opens the information.
2. Make changes.
3. Select Save.
   This applies the changes you made to the task. You still need to use the Save button before you exit the plugin.