# Planning

The Gantt chart is a tool used in scheduling and project management and allowing to visualize in time the various tasks composing a project.

It is a representation of a connected graph, evaluated and oriented, which makes it possible to graphically represent the progress of the project.

Note

For large projects, with many sub-projects and activities, we limit the number of lines to display so as not to deteriorate performance, even if the project selector has already contextualized the display.

## Gantt chart

This screen allows to define projects planning and follow progress.

The Gantt Chart is composed of five areas:

Gantt (Planning)

Interface areas:

Toolbar

Timeline

Task List: the WBS struture

Progress data

Gantt chart view

Details area

### Toolbar

Gantt chart’s toolbar

Interface areas

Predecessor & Successor

Activity planning calculation

Automatique run plan

Create and display a new baseline

Create a new planning element

Advanced filter

Display the columns

Planning view options

Change the layout mode

Display from… to…

Display options in Gantt view

Planning validation

Display the timeline

Print and Export

Predecessor and Successor

This functionality allows you to display the predecessors and/or successors of a plannable element (project, activity, milestone, etc.)

Click once on to display the first level of predecessors of the selected element

Double-click to display all predecessors of the selected element

Click once on to display the first level of successors of the selected element

Double-click to display all successors of the selected element.

Click on to clear the selection of the predecessor or successor

Activity planning calculation

When you make a modification on an element of your project, the project must then be recalculated to take it into account.

You have the option of using the automatic calculation function, which, if you make a modification on the planning screen, and only on this screen, will immediately take this modification into account.

If the modification is made on another screen, even if you have selected automatic calculation then, you will have to restart the calculation on the planning screen.

- Click on to start the activity planning calculation.

- A popup window appears with the list of projects.

- The check boxes in the list area allow you to select one or more projects to recalculate.

Project selection popUp for project calculation

If you have selected one or more projects with Project Selector then the selected projects will be automatically checked.

Choose the date on which you want to recalculate the project.

By checking the “Hide unselected projects” box, you will only have the projects selected in the project selector and they will be automatically checked.

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> Overuse (infinite overbooking capacity)

> The overuse option allows you to allocate to all the resources and this, on the projects of your choice, maximum overbooking.

> This allows you to see the amount of work that is overused for the resources assigned to the task for each period of time.

> Warning

> This function is dangerous, it does not reflect reality.

> For this reason, by default, it is not activated, even for the administrator.

> See: Specific access in the Planning access rights section

> The overuse option allows you to allocate to all the resources and this, on the projects of your choice, maximum overbooking.

> Calculate with the critical path

> Check the box to enable critical path calculation.

> If this box was not checked during the last calculation then the critical path display option in the Gant chart options will not display anything.

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Automatic run plan

Swith the button to activate automatic calculation on each change.

Only works on the Gantt Planning view.

If the modification of an element is carried out on the dedicated screen of the element, then it is necessary to click again on BUTTON to restart the computation

All modifications about assignement (rate, name or numbers of resources, dates…) done are not displayed on the new planning screen until having, for this purpose, activited the planning calculation, either in an automatic run plan or not.

On the contrary, the screen planning will not change even if modifications have been loaded yet.

> Automatic calculation

> Differential calculation = calculation of projects that require a recalculation.

> Complete calculation = calculation of all projects

> The calculations are programmed according to a frequency of CRON type (every minute, every hour, at a given hour every day, at a given time on a given week day, …)

> See: Global Parameters into the chapter Automatic planning Calculation

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Create a baseline

The baseline is a record of the planning state at a time T.

Baseline display on Gantt chart

You can display two baselines on the Gantt chart. Above and below the bars of the Gantt chart.

You can create as many baselines as you want per day, but you can only save one baseline per day. Each new baseline must replace the previous one.

- Saved a baseline with the button .

Baseline management

- Enter the project on which to create the baseline.

- You have possibility to save baselines on all projects.

- The list of existing baselines, already registered, is available via this window.

- You can modify your baseline or delete it to save another one.

Error message on baseline management

- An alert message notifies you when a baseline has already been performed on the current day.

  Show baseline

  You can display two baselines at the same time. The one above the current activity bars of your project. The other below.

  Each of them can be personalized with a different color.

  Display two baselines

  This option will be very useful for you to compare possible drifts and explain them.

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Add a new planning element

- Allows you to create a new planning element.

- The element is then added under the previously selected element and with the same level of incrementation

- The element is added to the Gantt chart and the detail area adapts to the content created.

- The details area allows you to complete the entry.

Popup menu - Create a new item

You can create several elements on the planning view and more on to the Global planning.

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Advanced Filter

The advanced filter allows to define clause to filter and sort.

More details: filters

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Displayed columns

This functionality allows to define columns displayed in the progress data view.

More details: Display and organize the columns.

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Display other options

Clicking the icon will bring up the additional options window.

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Change layout of the screen

You can modify the display of the Planning screen independently of the other screens.

If you choose a vertical display mode globally, you can display the planning view horizontally without modifying the general display.

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Display from… to…

Change the start and / or end date to limit or extend the display of a Gantt Chart.

If the display is truncated because the project is too long, think to change the display scale.

> All the projet

> Check All the project for the Gantt chart to show all project tasks when possible.

> Saving dates

> Save your dates of display to retrieve them on every connection.

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Other options: checkbox for display

You can display or not, certain information on the Gantt chart.

> Show WBS

> Click on “Show WBS” to display the WBS number before the names.

> Task list without and with WBS Display

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> Color on activies

> You can apply the color of the project or the plannable element on the list (representing the wbs) and the Gantt’s bars.

> color applied to the left part of the gantt chart

> See: Custom color

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> Activity colors by type

> You can apply the color defined for the activity types directly on the Gantt exactly as when you define it in the management section of your activity.

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> Resource

> The Resource checkbox allows you to directly display the resources assigned to each activity on the Gantt chart.

> Display of initials

> Display of name

> A user parameter allows you to choose between displaying names or initials.

> Choose if you want names, initials or nothing to appear on the Gantt chart.

> See: Tab Display

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> Name on bars

> You can display the item name directly on the milestone bars including.

> A bar that is too small will truncate the name

> Bar name

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> Critical path

> The critical path allows you to determine the total duration of your project. This is the longest sequence of tasks that must be completed for the project to be completed on time.

> The Critical Chain, meanwhile, is a technique for planning and monitoring deadlines but has the same principle: take into account the constraints to determine the duration of the project and the critical tasks that may impact this duration. One of these constraints is the taking into account of resource or skill limitations in addition to the dependencies between the tasks and the implementation of buffers, i.e. time reserves, in the critical chain and the secondary chains.

> ProjeQtOr offers you a critical chain rather than a critical path, but for better understanding, the term Critical path has been retained.

> You must calculate your planning with the critical path checkbox enabled if you want to display it on your Gantt chart.

> The red net represents the critical path of the project.

> Note

> The tasks of the project which are not crossed by the critical path are elements which will not affect the duration of the project and, even modified, will not automatically involve a modification of this duration for the entire project.

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> Template model

> You can display or hide the template type projects in the area list.

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> Closed element

> Allows to list closed items on the projects.

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> Assignment without left work

> Assignments that have no more to do will no longer be visible on the detail.

> Hide assignment without left work.

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> Lock bar detail

> The detail of the bars is visible with a right click directly on the bars.

> By default, this detail showing the dispatch of the planned work for the resources, does not remain displayed when you no longer hover over the bar after the right click.

> Activate this option so that the detail remains displayed

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> Detail on simply click

> Single-click detail allows you to click on the lines of the WBS without triggering online editing and display the task detail with a single click.

> In this mode, you can double-click on a line to activate inline editing.

> When this option is disabled, inline editing is active.

> When you click on a line in the WBS structure the icon appears at the end of the line. Click on it to see the details.

> Click on || to close the detail

> See: Progress data

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> Technical progress

> When this option is activated, you display the production progress of your work units on the Gantt bar in the same way as the actual work.

> You can display both progress bars at the same time on the same activity bar.

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Planning validation

Allows you to replace the validated dates with the planned dates.

If you do not have the rights activated in specific access> Planning access right then you will not see this part in the schedule options

Store planned dates

With this approach, you validate in a way any possible delay on the activities of your project.

Two actions are available: Always or If empty.

> Always

> Will overwrite existing values.

> If values are entered in the “validated” fields then, they will all be replaced by the planned dates (calculated by the software)

> If empty

> Will not overwrite existing values.

> If the “validated” fields are not completed, then these dates will be replaced by the planned dates.

> If the “validated” fields are completed then they will be kept.

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Timeline options

Max row in timeline .

Set the maximum number of lines the timeline should be composed of

Show/Hide Timeline

Show or hide the timeline.

See: project Timeline

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Print and Export the Gantt chart

You can print directly on your printer or export in PDF format or in MS Project format

> Print planning

> Click on the button to print the Gantt chart in A4 and / or A3 format.

> The print quality, despite printing or exporting on a reduced scale, remains very qualitative and offers very little loss of detail in the diagram.

> Export planning to PDF

> Allows to export planning to PDF format. Export can be done horizontally (landscape) or vertically (portrait) in A4 and / or A3 format with great detail even with a zoom

> Export contains all details and links between tasks and also include a pagination.

> And the option Repeat Headers allow you to print or export your planning in multiple pages

> Export planning to PDF

> This feature will execute export on client side, in your browser. Thus the server will not be heavy loaded like standard PDF export does.

> It is highly faster than standard PDF export.

> Warning

> This technically complex feature is highly dependent on the browser and is not compatible with all of them. It is compatible with the latest versions of IE (v11), Firefox, Edge and Chrome. Otherwise, the old export function will be used.

> Tip

> Forced feature activation/deactivation

> - To enable this feature for all browsers, add the parameter $pdfPlanningBeta=’true’; in parameters.php file.

> - To disable if for all browsers, add the parameter $pdfPlanningBeta=’false’; Default (when $pdfPlanningBeta parameter is not set) is enabled with Chrome, disabled with other browsers

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> Export planning to MS Project

> You have the option of exporting XML in MS Project.

> Click on the button to start the export.

> A user parameter allows you to enter if you want to add the assignments when exporting the project to MS-Project format.

> If not, the name of the resources will not be available in the MS-Project application

> See:User Parameters into the chapter<UP-print-export>

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### Task List: the WBS struture

The task list displays the planning elements in hierarchical form by dividing the WBS.

Tasks are regrouped by projects and activities.

The projects displayed depend on the selection made with the project selector

See: Project selector

Task list & progress data view

Interface areas:

Show or Hide activities

Icon of element

Reorder Planning elements

Names of the items

Increase and decrease indent level

Edit online

Show/Hide activities

- Click on the plus or minus of the header area to close and open the groups in the list area.

- Click on the icons at the top of the list to expand or collapse all project groups at the same time

- Click on the group row to expand or collapse the group only

See also: Scale

Icon of element

A specific icon appears to the left of each item type for faster identification.

- Project

- Project to recalculate (the Gant diagramm to display with the latest settings)

- Project under construction

- Projet fixed in the planning

- Activity

- Milestone

- Meeting

- Test session

Other items can be displayed in the Gantt chart (action, decision, delivery…)

Reorder planning elements

The selector allows to reorder the planning elements.

Note

Ability to move multiple tasks at one time from one location to another using the key control to select the lines and then dragging and dropping them.

Warning

If you move an activity to a new project, the assigned resource must be allocated to the new project to allow this move.

Item name

Click on a line to display the detail of the item in the detail area.

Increase and decrease indent level

Increase and decrease indent level

Indentation buttons

Increase indent

The element will become the child of the previous element.

Decrease indent

The element will be moved at the same level than the previous element.

### Progress data

The progress data view allows to show progress on project elements.

To display the progress columns, pull the splitter to the right.

Progress data view

For each planning element, the progress data are displayed at them right.

you can add or remove the columns you are interested in using column management.

Click on to manage them.

See: Display and organize the columns.

Move column

You can change the order of columns and resize them from this view without going through the column management menu.

Drag and drop the column to the right or the left. Click on the splitter between two column to resize the column.

> Edit on line

> Most rows and fields in the displayed columns can be edited from this view.

> Click the field once if the Single Click Details option is disabled, double-click if the option is enabled.

> - Click on to display the detail

> - Click on to edit the line

> - Click on to close the detail.

> More info: Edit on line

### Gantt chart view

The Gantt chart view is a graphical representation of the progress data of a project.

For each planning element, a bar is associated with it

Gantt chart view

Scale

Scale available: daily, weekly, monthly and quarter.

The Gantt chart view will be adjusted according to scale selected.

When you are in the planning view on the wbs and gantt area and details area, you can move from one scale to another using the wheel control on your mouse.

> - Mouse wheel up to increase the scale*.

> - Mouse wheel down to decrease the scale.

- When you continue to increase after the semester, then we loop and return to the day scale, the smallest.

- Outside of these areas, the mouse wheel will increase the zoom of your browser.

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Gantt chart’s bars

The bars in the gantt chart graphically represent a line of your WBS structure.

We visualize the start and end dates and therefore the duration of the task.

The bars displayed in the gantt chart can appear with different colors. Each color has a meaning.

> CURRENT DATE BAR

> Current date bar

> Yellow column indicates the current day, week, month or quarter, according to scale selected.

> The red line in yellow collumn display the current day and time.

> PALE GREEN OR RED BAR

> no charge

> Condition : Activities without assigned work - pale red or pale green as appropriate

> GREEN BAR

> all is well

> Condition : Assigned resources are available and meet workload, validated or scheduled dates do not conflict with other items

> RED BAR

> Overdue tasks

> Condition: Planned end date > Validated end date - Real end date if completed task > Valited end date

> PURPLE BAR

> Impossible to calculate the remaining work

> Condition: If a resource is not or is no longer available on an activity.

> The calculator is trying to plan the workload. The resource assigned to the activity is unable to be planned for this task (absence, calendar, assignment or assignment periods, etc.); then the bar turns purple.

> PINK BAR

> Impossible to calculate the remaining work

> Condition: Planning can take into account validated end dates of activities as a priority using a global parameter.

> When this option is activated, the validated end date, if it is not provided, is automatically inherited from the successor or parent.

> In the case of an inheritance and the Planned end date > Validated end date, the bar turns pink.

> Pale pink without workload and bright pink with workload.

> Inherited date

> When the validated dates are inherited then they are displayed in italics and grayed out whether in the list area or the detail area.

> FOR COLOR BLIND

> The color of the bar adapts to color blind people if you have activated the option.

> > GREEN BAR

> > Color of the GREEN bar

> > Enable this option in user parameters

> > RED BAR

> > Color of the RED bar.

> > Enable this option in user parameters

> SPECIAL BARS

> some features offer different color codes.

> > SURBOOKING and OVERUSE BAR

> > Resource capacity overbooking

> > Condition: Add extra work time on the standard capabilities of your resources to plan more projects that you will not process.

> > Surbooking or orveruse view on Gantt chart

> > See: Managment of surbooking periods

> > See: overuse

> > SURCAPACITY BAR

> > Overcapacity of resources

> > Condition: The capacity of the resource has been changed. It can be under capacity or over capacity. That is to say, it does less or more than its FTE.

> > Surcapacity view on Gantt chart

> > For more information see: Variations in resource capacity

> > in progress

> > Real work

> > Work in progress

> > Condition: the length represents the percentage of completion based on the actual progress (Assigned - Real work) versus the length of the Gantt bar.

> > Technical progress

> > Technical progress

> > Condition: the length represents the percentage of completion of the units of work that you enter manually (Delivered - completed) in relation to the length of the Gantt bar.

> > You can display both progress bars at the same time on the Gantt chart bar.

> > > Progress bars for actual work and work units

> > Consolidation bar

> > Consolidation Bar

> > Condition: graphical display of the dates consolidated by the group of planning elements for a project

> CUSTOM COLORS

> You can apply the color of your choice on the bars of the Gantt chart representing activities, milestones and meetings.

> If the Planned end date> Validated end date then the bar should be colored red.

> In case you have set a custom color, this state will still be indicated by a thin line at the bottom of the bar.

> Custom colors on the gantt chart bars

> And in the task list, where the indicators remain the original color.

> A parameter in the tools box allow to apply the color on the left part of the Gantt chart. See: Apply color on left part

> > color applied to the left part of the gantt chart

> Click on the reset button to come back to original colors.

> You can also set a default color based on the activity type.

> ITEM NAME DISPLAY

> Item name and planned dates on the selected bar

> Move the cursor over the bar to display item name and planned dates.

> or activate the “show bar name” check box directly on the Gantt view in the planning screen options.

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Dependency links

See also

- Predecessor and successor

- Milestones

Dependencies allow to define the execution order of tasks (sequential or concurrent).

All planning elements can be linked to others.

Dependencies can be managed in the Gantt chart and in screen of planning element.

Dependencies between planning elements are displayed with an arrow.

> Create a dependency

> To create a dependency, left click on a bar of the gantt (the predecessor) and slide towards the successor.

> You can also create dependencies with the predecessor and successor tables at the bottom of the details area.

> Remember than the first task always drives the second.

> Predecessor and Successor section - In the NAME field, icons are displayed to indicate the type of dependencies

> - Click on on the corresponding section to add a dependency link.

> - Click on to edit the dependency link.

> - Click on to delete the corresponding dependency link.

> Dialog box - Predecessor or Successor element

> Modify a dependency

> Click on the arrow which turns orange, a pop up is displayed allowing you to modify the type and one to add a possible delay.

> The delay can be positive or negative.

> Tip

> Multi-line selection is possible using `Control` or `Shift` key while clicking.

> Dependencies dialog box

> Negative delay allows overlapping of certain tasks

> See the strict mode of dependencies

> Dependency types

> End-Start

> The second activity can not start before the end of the first activity.

> Start-Start

> The successor can not begin before the beginning of the predecessor. Anyway, the successor can begin after the beginning of the predecessor.

> End-End

> The successor should not end after the end of the predecessor, which leads to planning “as late as possible”.

> Anyway, the successor can end before the predecessor. Note that the successor “should” not end after the end of predecessor, but in some cases this will not be respected:

> - if the resource is already 100% used until the end of the successor

> - if the successor has another predecessor of type “End-Start” or “Start-Start” and the remaining time is not enough to complete the task

> - if the delay from the planning start date does not allow to complete the task

> Strict mode for dependencies

> The strict dependency mode forces the successor planning element not to start on the same day as the same predecessor but the next day. Even if the task is finished before the end of the day.

> To have the successor start on the same day or before the end of the predecessor task, select NO for strict mode or you can also put a negative delay.

> The strict dependency mode is a global parameter.

> By default, the strict dependency mode is set to YES.

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Milestone

Milestones appear as small diamonds. Filled if completed, empty otherwise.

Color of diamond depends on milestone progress.

Ongoing milestone and in times

Completed milestone and in times

Ongoing milestone and delayed

Planned end date > Validate end date

Completed milestone and delayed

Real end date > Validated end date

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Detail of the work

ProjeQtOr also allows you to see the distribution of the workload assigned to the resources.

Right click on a bar to see the detail.

An option allows you to display the details of a bar rather than only seeing it on hover.

Display details of the work

The lines are sorted by resource name.

> Colors code

> Planned workload

> Real work - charged to the timesheet

> Excess workload over dates

> Absence of the resource

Warning

You have to selected day, week or month scale to display detail or a message will ask you to switch to smaller scale.

Quarter is not available for th detail.

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Project Timeline

You can view the timeline of your projects in the timeline.

The timeline allows you to have a faster visibility on the progress in time of your projects.

Timeline

- The timeline offers a linear view of some selected tasks.

- You can add/remove tasks to the Timeline with a single right click.

Add to timeline

- Timeline scale automatically adapts to selected tasks.

- You can hide the Timeline in the Gantt planning view options.

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Edit details on line

The lines represent each task that needs to be accomplished in the project. This is the WBS representation of projects.

You can edit these lines directly on the list.

> Each row and each column field can be edited from this view.

> Click the field once if the Single Click Details option is disabled, double-click if the option is enabled.

> - Click on to recorded the modification

> - Click on to cancel the modification

> - Click on to display the detail

> - Click on to edit the line

> - Click on to close the detail

> The controls relating to the choice of certain fields, such as for the planning modes, are well executed even in free edit mode.

Edit on line

Either with a single click if the “detail on single click” option is deactivated, or by double clicking if the option is activated.

> Dependancies

> Predecessor type dependencies can be displayed in the displayed columns and can be edited online directly.

> You just need to fill in the type of predecessor, the ID of the predecessors so that they are taken into account.

> Nomenclature for dependencies

> > - A1 for Activity #1

> > - P1 for project #1

> > - M1 for Milestone #1

> > - TS1 for TestSession #1

> > - MG1 for Meeting #1

> > - PM1 for Periodic Meeting #1

> > If user enters just ID, without letter, consider it is an Activity (auto-add A)

> > For all the rest of the elements that could serve as predecessors, you can enter the full name directly

> > For example to create a dependency with an Action as predecessor then enter Action#ID.

> > To add multiple predecessors at once, separate the items with a semicolon or comma. For example A1;A2 or A1,A2.

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By right clicking on each of the lines you have access to the Gantt submenu which allows you to access certain actions by going through the main menu of the screen.

Right click menu

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### Details area

The details area is the same as on all the ProjeQtOr element screens and adapts according to the selected element.

See: Details area

## Planning order

The planning is calculated as simply as possible. This means that no complex algorithm is applied.

The principle adopted is simply to be able to reproduce what you could do with a spreadsheet type spreadsheet, but this time automatically.

All unrealized work is planned, from the start date to the maximum date depending on the load assigned to the project(s).

The calculations are performed task by task, according to the following organization

- WBS

  The WBS (Work Breakdown Structure), that is to say the structure or scheduling of your schedule is planned first if no other constraint comes to disturb this order. It is read from top to bottom and from left to right.

- The validated end date

  It is possible to set the default priority of activities from the finish date posted before the order in the WBS structure.

  > - This will give higher priority to activities that need to finish sooner, regardless of WBS.

  > - The planned end date is by default the validated end date.

  > - If the validated end date is not defined, the planned end date can be retrieved from a successor (e.g. end milestone) or from the parent.

  > - If two activities have the same scheduled end date, the WBS is always the last priority criterion.

  > - This feature can be disabled in Global setting to fetch default WBS criteria only.

- Priorities of activities

  All activities with the lowest priority value will potentially be scheduled first.

- Project priorities

  The smallest value (index) is calculated first, this means in particular that if the projects have different priorities, all activities of the project with the smallest priority value will potentially be planned first.

- Planning modes

  “The must start on the validated date”, “regular between two dates” and “recurring” modes are priority modes compared to the other activity planning modes other than manual planning.

- Dependencies

  If an activity or project has a predecessor, the predecessor is always scheduled first.

- Meetings

  It is fixed on a given date. Even if not all of the participants are available. In this case, an alert informs you and the Gantt chart displays the unavailability.

- Planning Manual and planned interventions

  This highest priority planning mode. The workload assigned with this planning mode can be recorded in planned work or in actual work.

## Planning Modes

Projeqtor offers several ways to plan the workload for your resource with 11 different planning modes.

The order of the planning modes is not random and the further you go down the list, the more the planning modes have priority and will recover the load on the tasks that can be scheduled in the previous planning modes.

- As soon as possible

- Work together

- Fixed duration

- Duration driven

- Duration constrained

- Must start before…

- Must start at validated date

- Should end before…

- Regular between dates

- Regular between dates in full dat

- Regular between dates in half day

- Regular between dates in quarter day

- Recurring

- Manual planning

- Minimum threshold & not splitted work

- Planning modes screen

As soon as possible

- The task is planned to be completed as quickly as possible.

- If no assignment is created the bar will automatically be 1 day.

- If the validated duration is entered, it is this duration that is planned.

Planning Mode As soon as possible: the calculation will schedule the resource as soon as it has an available slot

|MODES|

Work together

- When two or more resources are assigned to the same task, planning tries to find periods where all resources are available to work together.

- Periods are searched “as soon as possible”.

- If only one resource is assigned, this planning mode is exactly the same as “As soon as possible”.

- If one resource is assigned more work than the other, the extra work is planned after working together periods.

Planning Mode work together: the calculation will schedule the resources at the same time and as soon as it has an available slot

|MODES|

Fixed duration

- The task is planned by duration. The validated duration field must be filled in.

- If work is assigned to the task, the scheduling behavior is the same as “Regular Between Dates”.

- Ability to readjust (start and end date) the task with handles directly on the Gantt view bar.

- When the number of assigned work days exceeds the indicated duration, then the days (detail of the Gantt bars) following the validated end date of the activity will be in red.

Planning mode fixed duratiion with workload

Planning mode fixed duratiion with workload and validated end date < planned end date

|MODES|

Duration driven

- The task is planned by duration which is fixed.

- If the allocation of resources exceeds the set validated duration then the distribution of remaining work becomes overuse.

- When the assigned workload does not exceed the number of days of fixed duration then the planning mode distributes the workload by smoothing it throughout the duration, exactly as with the fixed duration or the regular between two dates.

- In automatic calculation mode, only the activity in this mode will be recalculated.

- Other activities, even those driven by dependencies, will only be recalculated with the full calculation function.

- Ability to readjust and move the task (handles on each side of the bar) directly on the Gantt.

- With the left handle you adjust the full bar without changing the duration.

Planning mode Duration driven: work that exceeds the duration is calculated as overuse

|MODES|

Constrained duration

This planning mode behaves similarly to the “fixed duration” and “Duration driven” modes with some additional specificities.

This is a priority mode compared to the “as soon as possible” or “work together” mode.

It offers the possibility to shift the validated start date and the end date using the handles on each side of the bar.

Activity in constrained duration mode

- Moving the start date fixes the validated start date without affecting the duration of the schedulable task.

- Moving the end date automatically calculates the duration.

- No overbooking within the same project.

- Possible inter-project overbooking.

- Respect of the allocation and the assignment rate by project and activity.

indication of the start date by a red line

- If the start date is specified, the task takes priority over those of the same priority which do not have one.

- When the start date is entered but not respected, the bar turns red and a red line is displayed at the base of the line to indicate the duration of the drift (validated start date or end date of the predecessor(s)).

- If the duration is not respected, the task is red.

|MODES|

Must not start before validated start date

- The validated start date field must be set.

- The task must not begin before a specific date.

- If a stronger constraint, such as dependencies or real work, is specified, the planning mode will no longer be respected.

- You can block resource imputations in this planning mode by enabling the global parameters “lock timesheet before validated start date” in global parameters

|MODES|

Must start at validated start date

- The validated start date field must be set.

- The task must not begin before this specific date.

- This planning mode reclaims time from previous planning modes.

- It has priority over the “as soon as possible”, “fixed duration” and “work together” modes.

- The start date is no longer respected if a stronger constraint, such as dependencies or real work, is specified.

You can block resource imputations in this planning mode by enabling the global parameters “lock timesheet before validated start date” in global settings

|MODES|

Should end before validated end date

- The validated end date field must be set.

- The task is planned backward from end to start.

- A validated end date must be defined.

|MODES|

Regular between dates

- Allows to evenly distribute work between two dates.

- Used for management recurrent activities.

- The validated dates fields must be set.

- Possibility to readjust the task with handles directly on the bar of the Gantt view.

Regular between dates mode

See also: Regular modes with excess workload

|MODES|

Regular in full days

Work will be distributed on full day between on working days.

Possibility to readjust the task with handles directly on the bar of the Gantt view.

Planning mode Regular in full days: assigned days are distributed evenly in full days

See also: Regular modes with excess workload

|MODES|

Regular in half days

The work will be distributed over half of the day between working days.

Possibility to readjust the task with handles directly on the bar of the Gantt view.

Planning mode in half day: assigned days are distributed evenly in half days

See also: Regular modes with excess workload

|MODES|

Regular in quarter days

Work will be distributed on one quarter of the day between on working days.

Possibility to readjust the task with handles directly on the bar of the Gantt view.

Planning mode in half day: assigned days are distributed evenly in quarter days

See also: Regular modes with excess workload

|MODES|

> Regular modes with excess workload

> If the dates are too short compared to the assigned load, the excess load will be divided and added in the same way as the chosen mode.

> So you can get full days even in regular mode in quarter day or half days.

> > - Example with 8 days of workload to plan over 10 days with the Regular mode in half days between dates

> The load is distributed regularly so as to respect the dates.

> If the load is too high to meet the dates, the excess load will be distributed over the whole day after the validated end date and will therefore be late (red color)

|MODES|

Recurring (on a weekly basis)

- This mode allows you to plan the workload on a weekly basis which will be distributed each week, for example 1/2 day every Monday, 1 hour every day, etc.

- It automatically adapts to the elements which determines the total duration of the project. If the project falls behind schedule, this mode will continue to adapt and automatically distribute the load for each added day.

Tip

Please note, the project is only an envelope, it is the elements that compose it which will determine its duration. A recurring activity cannot be calculated correctly if it is the only component of the project, even if it has validated dates. Other elements (Activities, milestones, etc.) will be needed for the distribution of this load to be done correctly.

Click to enter the load for each day of the week.

The work is distributed dynamically according to the load indicated on the assignment table.

Planning mode in half day: assigned days are distributed evenly in quarter days

If you don’t want the recurring activity to fit the project, you can limit it between finish-to-start and finish-to-finish milestones.

Planning mode in half day: assigned days are distributed evenly in quarter days

See: Recurrent mode assignment

|MODES|

Manual planning

- This is the most priority planning mode and constraint.

- You have the option to save the work as planned or real work.

- Two screens are dedicated to it: planned interventions to plan monthly and the View interventions for read-only.

Note

The choice of planned or actual work is made in the global parameters in the planning section work tab.

See: global parameters.

|MODES|

Minimum threshold & not splitted work

When this value is set, the activity will only be scheduled on the day when the daily availability is greater than or equal to this threshold.

You also have the option to add a new property to a “cannot be split” task.

This will require defining the minimum work to be allocated each day and therefore filling in the minimum threshold field.

Be careful with this mode, planning will require finding consecutive days with at least the given value possible, which may never happen.

### Planning Modes screen

You can disable planning modes via the dedicated screen.

In the detail of the selected mode in the list box, check the “closed” box to disable the selected mode

Planning modes screen

## Plan with overuse

Scheduling with overuse calculates the schedule with “infinite” capacity for each resource.

It is assumed that the resource (ETP=1) can be planned on each project with its maximum ETP.

For example, if the resource is on 5 projects then it will be scheduled up to 5 fte per day.

If we recalculate with infinite capacity this is what the schedule says.

## Critical resource

The critical resources screen will allow you to identify the resources that will cause the project to drift and not miss certain key dates due to lack of capacity on the project.

This amounts to calculating the complete schedule and all your resources in infinite overbooking mode.

Planning in infinite overbooking mode

Critical resource list

The critical resources table tells you for each critical resource displayed

Critical resources list

- The name of the resource

- Its charges available

- Its load used

- Overbooking charge

- Its rank (Index used to calculate the margin = difference between available - used)

This table of critical resources is broken down by project.

Projects using critical resources

The Projects using critical resources table allows you to visualize the number of days late per project and which resources are causing the delay.

The strategic value has no impact on the display of projects and the determination of critical resources. This (numerical) value is free and left to your discretion.

It can be a value between 1 and 100, or a number of Business, regardless, this will allow you to identify whether projects consuming critical resources are strategically sound and therefore worth implementing.

The Critical resources planning

The Critical resources list by period table is a representation of the current planning, not the ideal planning.

The display will be done by period defined on the scale (week, month, quarter) or by displaying the “overbooking load” necessary to optimize the planning.

Critical resource screen

Formatting results and indicators

Indicator is a percentage = (Margin - Subooked) / Available (* 100)

- Define threshold

    - Defaut Red = “< 20%”

    - Default Orange = “< 5%”

- Late planning

    - In red, the resource does not have sufficient capacity to complete the task on time

    - planned end date > Validated end date - overbooking on the activity

- Missing capacity

    - In yellow, the resource does not have sufficient capacity to complete the task on time but is not the cause of the task delay.

    - Planned end date > Validated end date - no overbooking

- Optimal planning

    - In green, the resource has sufficient capacity to complete the task on time

    - Planned end date < Validated end date - no overbooking on the activity

The Critical resources export

Exporting projects that use critical resources to Excel format is possible via this tab.

Export excel format of projects using critical resources

The Critical resources scenario

Without affecting your basic schedule, you can simulate starting one or more project(s) on later dates in months.

possible scenarios for a simulation on projects containing critical resources

You can also add additional capacity to your pools to check if the possible addition of resources can improve the planning of your projects.

You can apply a particular date for the new capacity to be added which will decide when the new capacity can be added.

The Critical resources work plan

You can obtain directly on the critical resources screen the report on the load planning on a selected resource for the indicated period.

load planning report for a resource

## Planned Interventions

The goal is to make the specifications more flexible to cover broader and more generic needs.

Assignment

The assigned workload is no longer determined but will be entered on a calendar which can be clicked, per half-day.

See: Planned interventions assignment

Assigment with the Manual planning mode

The workload saved in this window will be displayed to the planned interventions screen.

The planned Interventions

The planned interventions screen allow you to manage the manual planning.

This screen is available if at least one activity has a planning mode set to manual planning.

Planned interventions screen

Interface areas

Display zone

List of Projects and activity

FTE

Interventions mode

Interventions Calendar

Display zone

The display area allows you to filter the resources you want to display.

The screen is blank until you select the resource, the team or the organization.

The calendar is displayed for the resource or for all members of the selected team or organization.

These parameters are not exclusive, you can select team and organization.

> Resource

> Filter by resource on calendar display.

> Team

> Filter by team on calendar display.

> Organization

> Filter by organization on calendar display.

> Project

> Filter by project on calendar display.

> Year

> Select the year to display.

> Month

> Select the month to display.

> Hide done items

> You can hide the activities recorded in the “done” state in the displayed list.

Note

The selected parameters, except the month, always set by default to the current month, are saved as a user parameter.

When the user returns to the screen, he therefore finds the last parameters entered

List of Projects and activity

The list of activities displayed are in the planning mode “manual planning”. If no filter is selected (project, resource, organization …) then the screen does not display any data.

You cannot create new activities in manual planning mode from the intervention screen. You need to access the activities or schedule screen to create the new activity in manual planning mode. The new activity will then appear in the list.

Click on to access the activity screen and view its detail

FTE

In this calendar, we display graphically if we respect the quantity of people requested on the activity and on the half day.

Fill in an integer value for each activity to check.

If you enter 1, you expect at least one person to perform half a day on this activity.

A check is then carried out and takes into account all the resources assigned to each activity, and not only those selected and visible on the calendar.

If the field is left empty or at 0 then no control is carried out and the calendar will not display any green or red box.

> Blue box

> When you start to put in the workload but do not yet reach all of the expected FTEs.

> Green Box

> If the entry respects the workload constraint expected in FTE the box is green.

> Example with a value of 2 in the FTE field for the selected activity.

> This FTE value is defined for each half-day.

> You must therefore have 2 effective persons planned for each half day whatever the resource or resources that will be provided.

> Red Box

> If the total entry is greater than the expected workload in FTE the box is red.

> The box then turns red: the workload is higher than expected since we expected a person on this half day and on this activity

> Non-colored box

> There is no expected workload.

Interventions mode

The list of possible intervention methods is customizable.

This list can be modified via a setting screen in the list of values.

The saved modes will remain fixed for all projects and all teams.

Intervention mode

You can select an activity or a modality or both.

> - If the intervention mode is not selected, the box is colored according to the activity but no letter appears, and vice versa.

> - If only the intervention mode is selected, it will be saved without modifying the planned or actual work.

You can however add one or the other after having planned the intervention or the intervention mode.

A second click with the same parameters will delete the assignment.

Ctrl Click allows you to complete the two half days

Interventions Calendar

- Click on an activity and / or an intervention modes to plan workload on it

- Click on half a day to plan the workload

- The targeted half day is filled with the color of the selected activity and the letter of the chosen intervention mode.

> Light Gray color

> The light gray box indicates that the day is inactive on the resource calendar.

> It can correspond to a weekend, a public holiday or a non-working day recorded on the resource’s calendar.

> Dark Gray color

> The dark gray boxes indicate reality. It’s work actually performed and informed on the timesheet.

> When real work is completed for half a day, the box is half gray.

> If the full day is completed then the box is completely grayed out.

> Blue color

> The blue boxes indicate absences.

> Striped box

> The striped boxes indicates that the working time recorded by the resource has been validated.

Note

Planned or Real

The workload can be recorded as a planned load or as a real load.

This option can be set in the global settings.

### View interventions

This screen allows you to see your planned interventions.

You cannot modify these interventions or plan another half day on this screen.

It is a bit the equivalent of planning by resource but in manual planning mode

View interventions screen

## Gantt views

### Planning global

Global planning

The global planning allows to create and visualize any type of element (project, activity, milestones, risk, meeting, action …)

Create a new item

- Add and Show any new planning element on Gantt chart

- The created item is added in the Gantt and detail window is opened.

- The detail window allows to complete entry

- Project planning and activity planning calculation can be done in the Gantt.

Display items

- Requirements can be displayed but you will not be able to create them from the planning view

### Projects portfolio

This screen displays only the projects on the diagram. The activities and other elements that make up the planning are hidden.

Displaying the columns corresponding to the project fields behind the slider allows you to display all the information about your project in a single view: status, priority, dates, charges, duration, costs, etc.

The possibility of displaying personalized fields using the customization plugin is also possible. Click the Columns button to choose which fields to display.

It displays milestone and project dependencies only.

Note

This section describes specific behavior for this screen. All others behaviors are similar to Gantt chart screen.

Gantt (Projects portfolio)

Show milestones

- You have the option to show or hide milestones.

- It is possible to define the type of milestone to display. All milestones are available: deliverable, incoming, key date, etc.

- The milestones are displayed directly on the bar of your project.

Projects portfolio columns

As in the planning view, you display a menu dedicated to the portfolio view by right-clicking on the list of projects.

Right menu

### Resource planning

This screen displays the Gantt chart from a resource perspective.

The assigned tasks are grouped under the resource level.

Regarding resource planning, periodic group meetings are under his responsibility.

Ability to view assigned activities without charge.

Gantt (Resource planning)

Limit display to selected ressource or team

- Click and select one ressource to display only his data.

- Click and select one team to display only data of resources of this team.

- Click and select one organization to display only data of resources of this organization.

Gantt charts for resources

The bars used in the Gantt chart for resources differ slightly from the standard planning bars.

Most of the bars used in the Gantt chart are the same as for standard planning.

See: Gantt chart’s bars.

> GREY BAR

> all is well

> Condition : Assigned resources are available and meet workload, validated or scheduled dates do not conflict with other items.

> The gray bar in the middle graphically represents the actual percentage progress relative to the total duration of the activity.

> This makes appear some planning gap between started work and reassessed work.

> Dependencies behavior

> - Links between activities are displayed only in the resource group.

> - Links existing between tasks on different resources are not displayed.

> Note

> This section describes specific behavior for this screen.

> All others behaviors are similar to Gantt chart screen.

Tools

- Click on to start the activity planning calculation. See: Activity planning calculation.

- Click on to create a new element.

- Click on to apply many filters. See: Advanced filters.

- Click on to organize the columns of the progress data view.

- Click on to display the sub-menu.

- Click on to display this screen in horizontal or vertical mode.

Display dates

This functionality allows to define columns displayed in the progress data view.

More details: Display and organize the columns.

Display options into the subMenu

options

Show WBS

Color on left part

Activities color by type

Show left work

Name on bars

Show project level

Template project

Closed element

Assignment without left work

Lock bar details

Detail on simply click

Auto scroll to planning bar

> Show WBS

> Click on “Show WBS” to display the WBS number before the names.

> Task list without and with WBS Display

> [back]

> Color on left part

> You can apply the color of the project or the plannable element on the list (representing the wbs) and the Gantt’s bars.

> Color applied to the left part of the gantt chart

> See: Custom color

> [back]

> Activity colors by type

> You can apply the color defined for the activity types directly on the Gantt exactly as when you define it in the management section of your activity.

> [back]

> Show left work

> The number of days assigned to the items are displayed at the end of the bar in the same way as the name of the resources.

> [back]

> Name on bars

> You can display the item name directly on the milestone bars including.

> A bar that is too small will truncate the name

> Bar name

> [back]

> Show project level

> Tasks can be grouped by project in the list area.

> Click on Show project level to view the projects on which resource activities depend.

> view with project levels and without project levels

> [back]

> Template project

> You can display or hide the template type projects in the area list.

> [back]

> Closed element

> Allows to list closed items on the projects.

> [back]

> Assignment without left work

> Assignments that have no more to do will no longer be visible on the detail.

> Hide assignment without left work.

> [back]

> Lock bar detail

> The detail of the bars is visible with a right click directly on the bars.

> By default, this detail showing the dispatch of the planned work for the resources, does not remain displayed when you no longer hover over the bar after the right click.

> > Activate this option so that the detail remains displayed>`

> [back]

> Detail on simply click

> Single-click detail allows you to click on the lines of the WBS without triggering online editing and display the task detail with a single click.

> In this mode, you can double-click on a line to activate inline editing.

> When this option is disabled, inline editing is active.

> When you click on a line in the WBS structure the icon appears at the end of the line. Click on it to see the details.

> Click on || to close the detail

> See: Progress data

> [back]

> Auto scroll to planning bar

> When you select an item in the list box (WBS) that is not directly visible on the Gantt chart, auto-scroll allows you to reach the item bar by automatically scrolling to its position on the Gantt.

> [back]

Print and export

You can print directly on your printer or export in PDF format.

> Print planning

> Click on the button to print the Gantt chart in A4 and / or A3 format.

> The print quality, despite printing or exporting on a reduced scale, remains very qualitative and offers very little loss of detail in the diagram.

> Export planning to PDF

> Allows to export planning to PDF format.

> Export can be done horizontally (landscape) or vertically (portrait) in A4 and / or A3 format with great detail even with a zoom

> Export contains all details and links between tasks and also include a pagination.

> And the option Repeat Headers allow you to print or export your planning in multiple pages

> This feature will execute export on client side, in your browser. Thus the server will not be heavy loaded like standard PDF export does.

> It is highly faster than standard PDF export.

> Warning

> This technically complex feature is highly dependent on the browser and is not compatible with all of them. It is compatible with the latest versions of IE (v11), Firefox, Edge and Chrome. Otherwise, the old export function will be used.

> Tip

> Forced feature activation/deactivation

> - To enable this feature for all browsers, add the parameter $pdfPlanningBeta=’true’; in parameters.php file.

> - To disable if for all browsers, add the parameter $pdfPlanningBeta=’false’; Default (when $pdfPlanningBeta parameter is not set) is *enabled with Chrome, disabled with other browsers.