Widgets

Available widgets

By default, the Dashboard tab contains the following widgets:

• Project info & description 
• A pie chart with Task status 
• A bar chart with Time spent on tasks
• A bar chart and a table with Milestones
• A bar chart with a Schedule
• A bar chart with Budget

Below, you can find a detailed explanation of each of them.

Note that for some widgets (namely, Budget, Time on Tasks, and Schedule) you can configure the calculation mode:

• Actual to planned (compares current performance with the initially estimated values).
• Actual to baseline (compares current performance with the values saved as baseline).

Check here how to create a project baseline.

Project info & description

This widget provides essential project information, including:

1 Project owner

2 Project team

3 Its start and end date

4 Its progress

5 The date of the last change

In addition, there is a section for adding a project description 6. Here, you can introduce and edit project details, summaries, or any other relevant information at any time.

Tasks

This widget enables you to monitor the status of project tasks through a color-coded donut chart. It displays the number of tasks that are currently Open, In Progress, Done, or Closed.

Below the pie chart, you will find information about the total number of tasks in the given project, including:

• All the tasks in the project
• Unassigned tasks in the project 
• Overdue tasks in the project.

Time on tasks

This widget allows you to track project variance in working hours through a bar chart. It displays logged working hours, total estimated working hours for the project and the variance between the two. To calculate the variance, GanttPRO compares the total actual time log data registered by project participants and the total of the estimated working hours for a project. 

Depending on the calculation mode set in the Overview tab, it can display Actual to planned or Actual to baseline variance. 

'Actual to Planned' comparison simply shows the real-time difference between the total hours logged in the Time Log field and the sum of all estimation values set for tasks in the Estimation field.

'Actual to Baseline' comparison shows the variance between the total hours logged in the Time Log field and the sum of all estimation values set for tasks in a specific baseline saved for this project.

Milestones

This widget helps you monitor project through a color-coded pie chart. It displays the number of milestones that are currently: Open, In Progress, Done, or Closed. 

To the right of the chart, you'll find a table with detailed milestone information, including the name, date, and status.

Schedule

This widget allows you to track project progress to determine if it is on schedule or running behind. It presents a color-coded horizontal bar chart displaying:

• Planned Progress
• Actual Progress
• Schedule Variance

Schedule variance represents the difference between Actual and Planned progress. If it is negative, it will be labeled as Behind. If it is positive, it will be labeled as Ahead. 

Depending on the calculation mode set in the Overview tab, it can display either Actual to planned or Actual to baseline variance. 

Let’s see how progress variance is calculated. The reference point is the current date (also a Today marker on a Gantt chart). Actual progress reflects the real total progress percentage up to this date. In this example, it is 51% 1. 

Planned progress implies that every task or its respective parts should be completed as per the plan by this date. On a Gantt chart, all the tasks or their parts until the Today marker should be completed.  

As seen in the example 2, Tasks 1 and 5 are progressing as planned. Tasks 2, 3 and 4 are behind schedule. 

Planned progress implies that all tasks should have reached a specific percentage of completion by the Today marker. According to a plan from this example, by this date, project progress should have been 76%.

Since the Actual progress is behind for two tasks, we can see the negative Schedule variance in the dashboard. 

When you opt for the Actual to Baseline calculation mode, the variance compares the Actual progress with the estimation specified in a particular project baseline. 

Budget

This widget enables you to monitor project costs through a bar chart and determine whether it is within budget or exceeding it. It displays:

• Total actual cost
• Total budget
• Variance

To calculate the variance, GanttPRO compares the total Actual costs up to the date with the Total cost estimates for the entire project. 

Depending on the calculation mode set in the Overview tab, it can display Actual to planned or Actual to baseline variance.

Actual to planned comparison simply shows the real-time difference between the sum of all values from the Actual costs field and the sum of all values from the Budget field. 

Actual to baseline comparison shows the variance between the sum of all values from the Actual costs field and the sum of all the values from the Budget field for the selected project baseline. 

Managing widgets

By default, all widgets within the Overview tab are enabled. However, you have the flexibility to customize it by adding or removing widgets. To do this, click on Manage Widgets and use the toggles to enable or disable each widget.

Please note that any changes made in the Overview tab apply to the entire project. All project participants with access to this tab can see those changes and manage widgets. Access can be configured in Project rights. 

Project participants that do not have access to project costs data, will not see the Budget widget.