Gantt: General settings

Let's look at the general settings that are specific to Gantt charts.

1. Chart type

Track project status with regular Gantt charts or manage resource allocation with the Gantt resource option. Learn more about configuring Gantt resource charts.

Regular Gantt chart

Gantt resource chart

2. Progress bar display

You can use a bar chart or a bullet chart to represent the progress of your tasks and subtasks.

Progress bar display

3. Row height

Set a custom row height.

Row height

4. Enable dynamic row height

The dynamic row height option automatically adjusts cell height to wrap long data labels, making your Gantt charts more compact, readable, and easier to navigate with minimal scrolling.

Dynamic row height enabled

Dynamic row height disabled

• Outside label width: Set a custom width for the data labels.

Data label width

• Dynamic row height threshold: Specify the maximum row height when dynamic row height is enabled. This prevents rows from getting too big.

Dynamic row height threshold

5. Actual bar height

Set the height of the progress bars with respect to the row. 60% means the progress bar will occupy 60% of the row height.

Bar height

6. Header height

Set the height of the Gantt header.

Header height

7. Week start day

By default, the week starts on Sunday. However, in certain regions like India, Russia, China, and most European countries, the week starts on Monday. You can customize the start of the week by selecting your preferred day from the Week Start Day dropdown.

In images show the difference in the timeline when we change the week start day.

Default week start on Sunday

Setting the week start day to Monday

8. Fiscal year - starting month

Many projects are funded on a fiscal year basis, so tracking tasks and milestones within fiscal periods ensures proper budget and resource allocation. Additionally, stakeholders typically review project progress on a fiscal-quarter basis. You can select the fiscal start month from Canvas settings > General > Fiscal year - starting month dropdown.

Notice how the years and quarters in the timeline are adjusted based on the selected fiscal year start month - April.

Fiscal year start month option

9. Date format

Select a date format to display the start and end dates in the tooltip.

Tooltip date format

10. Grand total row

Every project involves a number of tasks and subtasks. The Grand Total row option enables you to immediately gauge the overall status of the project - it displays the cumulative progress of all the tasks involved.

Grand total row

11. Grand total label

Change the default label of the grand total row ('Overall Result') and set a custom name. We've used 'Overall Project Progress' in this example.

Custom label for grand total row

12. Hide parent on collapse

Enable this toggle to hide the parent task progress bar when the hierarchy is collapsed. When the hierarchy is fully collapsed, all the parent bars will be hidden.

Hide parent on collapse

13. Hide parent on expand

Enable this toggle to hide the parent task progress bar when the hierarchy is expanded. When the hierarchy is fully expanded, none of the parent bars will be displayed. Notice how the parent progress bars are displayed only when the hierarchy is collapsed.

Hide parent on expand

14. Hide parent affected levels

If your project has multiple tasks with subtasks and child tasks (multiple levels), you can select which levels to hide when expanding or collapsing the hierarchy.

In the sample reports, the level 1 progress bar is hidden when the hierarchy is collapsed. The level 2 progress bar is hidden when the hierarchy is expanded.

Level 1 progress bar is hidden when the hierarchy is collapsed

Level 2 progress bar is hidden when the hierarchy is expanded

15. Show search

Enable the search option to locate tasks or sub-tasks faster. You can search for a particular keyword or a partial keyword, and all occurrences will be highlighted.

Search for tasks and subtasks

16. Zoom option

Analyze the progress of tasks either at a high level, for example, at a year-level, or zoom in for detailed task tracking. The Zoom option allows you to use buttons to zoom in and out, or use the mouse wheel.

Zoom options