Project calendar configurations define the calculation of task duration and estimation, and the overall duration of the project.
Setting up a project calendar in GanttPRO, one of the best Gantt chart maker, will not only help you to keep track of time and follow the schedule, but also properly estimate the timing of project completion, its costs and required resources.
Well-defined project calendar will include general days-off, breaks and working hours. Thus, when you add tasks you can make more precise estimations on how long they will take based on the project calendar.
You can define the working schedule for the whole project when you create a project.
There, you can select working days and working hours. The most common example of a weekly work plan can be from Monday to Friday, 9 to 6, with an hour lunch break:
If you have already created your project without setting the working schedule or need to change it, add holidays or exceptions, you can do it in Project Settings.
To do this, click on the Project Settings icon in the top right corner and choose Change working week.
In this window, you can always modify Working days 1 and Working hours 2 as well as Add exceptions 4 to your working calendar: add, edit, and delete days off, non-standard working hours, etc.
It is also possible to switch between Calendar and Table views 3 for your convenience and add exceptions either through calendar or table.
In Days off, you can mark events like national holidays, for example, or any other.
1 Choose Day off
2 Introduce the title of the holiday
3 Select the date
4 Enable the Repeat option
5 Define the frequency of repetition if needed. In our case, it would be each year.
Also, you have a possibility to choose whether the repetition will take place forever 6 or until a certain date 7.
Once you are done, click on Apply 8.
1 Choose Custom day
2 Introduce the title
3 Select appropriate date
4 Enable the Repeat option
5 Define the frequency of repetition if needed.
Also, you have a possibility to choose whether the repetition will take place forever 6, whether this is a permanent schedule, or until a certain date 7.
If this Custom day has a different schedule, click on Working hours to set working hours 8.
Once you are done, click on Apply 9.
All exceptions will be displayed in the Calendar view in red (days off) and orange (custom days) colors.
There is another possibility within the project calendar that is a real timesaver. You can once create a calendar defining all the national holidays and general exceptions, save it as a template, and use it afterward for every project you create.
In the Templates section of Project Calendar, you can:
- Save as template your current calendar;
- Choose template from the ones you have saved;
- Go to template editor to create a new calendar template.
