Good Gantt Charting Software?

Question

Good Gantt Charting Software?

I have several projects on my own, each with a deadline and a (personal) estimate of the time I have to invest to get it done.

At a certain time, I can participate in several projects.

What I need is software that allows me to plan and display a "timeline": a line for each project that expands when I have to activate it.

Do you know something similar? I remember that this is a technique used in Software Engineering, but I don't remember the name ...

EDIT

Thanks to duffymo, I know I need a Gantt chart manager :)

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time-management

akappa May 23 '09 at 11:34

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10 replies

If you don't have Microsoft Project, you can do it in Excel with a complex bar chart.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA010346051033.aspx

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keeper May 23 '09 at 12:48

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I think he named the Gantt chart .

And Google can find a bunch of open source opportunities, including this one . I don't know if this is good.

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duffymo May 23 '09 at 11:38

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Microsoft's project is good.

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Ali Shafai May 23 '09 at 12:05

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For Mac OS, you should take a look at OmniPlan .

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Gumbo May 23 '09 at 12:13

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Do you really need a Gantt chart?

You have a work collection (backlog) that includes items from multiple projects. You have to predict the end dates of projects based on the rate at which you actually complete the work (speed) and the current mix of work items, and make decisions to reshuffle the backlog to reschedule the evaluation completion dates of various projects.

Given the speed (units of work over a fixed period of time), you can plan ahead by dividing your backlog items into timeboxes (iterations) that do not exceed the item cost. The time frame in which the last project item for a project operates is when that project will be predicted. Mix the mixture appropriately.

In some quarters, this is called “reality-based” because it is based on the rate of progress shown and consistent assessment. Gannt is based on plans; there is a tendency to want reality to fit the plan, which causes a lot of stress and pain.

There are a number of Agile / Scrum tools that automate the management of your backlog and allow you to track your work and calculate speed. I am a fan of Pivotal Tracker , which is a website and free. (Full disclosure: I worked with Pivotal Labs.)

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Dave W. Smith May 23 '09 at 18:44

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I would recommend an online free tool that allows you to create what you want called Gantter "

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user1196892 08 Feb 12 at 10:20

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For Linux and Windows: Planner

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seb May 23 '09 at 12:32

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OpenProj is indeed capable, seems to be MSProject compatible and works on Windows / Linux / Mac (Java based). It's also free.