Creating Gantt Charts with Preceden

One of Preceden's many layout options displays your timeline as a Gantt chart.

Here are a few examples of the Gantt chart layout:

A Gantt chart timeline with green Steven and purple Mary layers, each event named down the left and its dates printed beside the bar

A Gantt chart timeline with blue Product and yellow Marketing layers, two of the bars showing how much of the work is complete

A grey Gantt chart timeline tracking two hiring processes, one layer per candidate, from salary research through to the job offer

With a Gantt chart layout, event names appear on the left of the timeline below the layer names, rather than on the timeline itself.

If you are still deciding which format your work needs, see Gantt Chart vs Timeline.

FAQs

How do I make my timeline look like a Gantt chart?

For new timelines, choose the Gantt Chart layout on the create timeline screen and the timeline is set up as a Gantt chart from the start. Timeline Templates shows what that layout looks like before you pick it.

For existing timelines, click Appearance > Layers and select the Use Gantt chart layout option:

The Layers section of the Appearance settings with Use Gantt chart layout checked

We also recommend going to Appearance > Colors and checking both options under Layer Colors: Apply the layer color to the layer's background and Override event color with the layer color:

The Layer Colors settings with both boxes checked, applying the layer color to the layer's background and overriding event color with the layer color

Once you have saved those changes, give each layer its own color instead of leaving the default transparent background.

How do I open an event to edit it?

Click the event's name in the list on the left of the chart. Other articles describe clicking an event's name on the timeline itself, which the Gantt chart layout does not print there, so the left-hand list is where you click instead. Clicking the bar opens the same event, and so does the list of layers and events below the timeline.

Can I change how events are ordered?

When using the Gantt chart layout, events are automatically ordered by start date.

Can I put each team on its own row instead of each task?

Not with this layout. The Gantt chart layout gives every event a row of its own, so a layer holding six tasks takes six rows. If you want one lane per team, person or workstream, with that group's work laid out along its own band of the timeline, use a layered layout such as Multiple Layers instead. Make a Swimlane Timeline covers how to plan and build one.

Can I show how much of each task is complete?

Yes. Open the event, expand More Options, and choose a figure from the Percent Complete dropdown. Preceden shades in that share of the bar for any event with a start and an end date, which is what the second example above is showing. See Add an Event to Your Timeline for the rest of the event settings.

Can I make one task start when another one finishes?

Yes. Check the Dependent box above the Start Date field and pick the event this one should follow. The dependent event's dates then move on their own whenever the event it depends on changes: Make an Event Start When Another Event Ends.

Can I add milestones?

Yes. Open the event, expand More Options, and check Make this event a milestone. Preceden then draws it as a vertical line spanning the full height of the chart. A milestone takes a start date only.

Are all of the normal appearance settings still available?

Choosing the Gantt chart layout makes two appearance settings unavailable:

Layer names always appear on the left side of layers, never at the top
Layers are never automatically compressed, because each row holds a single event

You still choose where each event's dates, duration, and % complete appear: pick a Bar Content Layout under Appearance > Events. New Gantt charts start with Name and details right, which places the details to the right of each bar and its icon. An existing timeline you switch to the Gantt chart layout keeps the Bar Content Layout it already had, so choose Name and details right there if you want the same look.