Create Excel Gannt Chart Program Plan
Excel, Gannt Chart, Program Plan, resource plan, integration plan
1. What is Blue Excel?
Blue Excel is a powerful Excel Addin. It is designed to make program Gannt Chart and embedded
a demo for easy learning. Excel is often used to make program plan instead of Microsoft Project
due to it is familiar by most people. Blue Excel provides faster way to create program Gannt Chart
plan. It supports plan based on week, working day or calendar date. You can create task bar by
input start/end date or by graphically way. You can move, shrink or extend the task bar which
makes schedule adjustment easier. You can set task bar color and create connector between tasks
which make it’s easy to understand task priority and dependency. Task information can be shown
in the task bar. Precondition and detail information can be shown in front or after the task bar. All
these make the task easy to read. You can also customize the color of text and task bar. Using
excel you can hide/unhide areas, filter tasks, set color of the text, add comment, add column, add
shape, group rows and so on. All these excel embedded features make you easy to manage your
plan and don't need to learn a new tool. Blue Excel also supports integration plan and resource
plan making. You can create task bar graphically, move, shrink or extend the task bar easily. Add
detail information to the task bar is supported. Limited text information on text bar is no longer
an issue.
2. How to create an Excel Plan?
2013-6
2013-8
Task C-
Jeffy
2013-9
2013-10
Task D-
John
2013-7
2013-8
Task E-
2013-13
2013-15
Task F-
2013-9
2013-13
Task G-
2013-7
2013-11
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Task B
2013/3/2
2013/3/9
2013/3/16
2013/3/23
2013/3/30
2013/4/6
2013/4/13
2013/4/20
2013/4/27
2013/5/4
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
2013/2/23
8
Task A
Approve>>
Tom
2013-4 Q2
10
2013/2/16
2013-5
2013-3 Q1
9
2013/2/9
7
2013-3
Task B-
1
6
End
2013/2/2
Start
2013-2 Q1
2013/1/26
Owner
Task A-
2013-1 Q1
5
Tasks
Status
Color
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
4
--detail
2013/1/19
Bar Setting
3
precondition>>
--Basic design
Task C
Task D
Task E
Task F
Task G
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Task B-
Tom
2013-6
2013-8
Task C-
Jeffy
2013-9
2013-10
Task D-
John
2013-7
2013-8
Task E-
2013-13
2013-15
Task F-
2013-9
2013-13
Task G-
2013-7
2013-11
10%
2013/4/20
2013/4/27
2013/5/4
17
18
2013/4/13
16
2013/4/6
2013/3/30
13
15
2013/3/23
2013-4 Q2
14
2013/3/16
12
2013/3/9
11
2013/3/2
10
2013/2/23
8
2013-3 Q1
9
2013/2/16
2013/2/9
7
2013-2 Q1
6
2013/2/2
End
2013-5
2013/1/26
Start
2013-3
5
Owner
Task A-
Status
Color
Tasks
2013-1 Q1
4
--detail
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
2013/1/19
Bar Setting
3
precondition>>
--Task A
Approve>>
20%
--Task B:Basic design
30%
40%
--Task C
--Task D
50%
60%
100%
--Task E
--Task F
--Task G
Example of Excel Gannt Chart plan created by Blue Excel
Refer following links for more detail:
http://www.smartxyz.com
A. Start plan tool bar
Plan Tool Bar Button
Press “F5” or press “Plan Tool” bar button
on the menu to pop up the “Plan Tool” Bar.
Plan Tool Bar
B. Create the template.
Create a new Excel file. Click
2
to create template.
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Select the plan type, according task plan sheet will be created.
“Gannt Chart by week” is the Gannt Chart template based on week.
“Gannt Chart by week day” is the Gannt Chart template based on working days.
“Gannt Chart by Calendar” is the Gannt Chart template based on calendar date.
“Integration Plan” is the template for integration.
“Prototype Plan” is the template for resource allocation.
C. Change template
Click the configuration button
to show the configuration dialog. This is used to set the start
date and end date of the template.
Configuration Dialog
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2013/5/25
2013/6/1
22
2013/4/13
15
21
2013/4/6
14
2013/5/18
2013/3/30
13
2013/5/11
2013/3/23
12
20
2013/3/16
11
2013/5/4
2013/3/9
10
19
2013/3/2
9
2013/4/27
2013/2/23
8
18
2013/2/16
2013/4/20
2013/2/9
7
2013-5 Q2
17
2013/2/2
6
End
2013-4 Q2
2013/1/26
Start
2013-3 Q1
5
Owner
Status
Color
Tasks
2013-2 Q1
2013/1/19
2013-1 Q1
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
16
--detail
4
Bar Setting
3
precondition>>
For example the start date and end date of the template is 2013-3 and 2013-22. You can
change it to the actual start date and end date you will use for your plan. The start date and
end date shows the period of the plan. Change it on the configuration dialog.
For example, change end date to 2013-27.
After set up the configuration, click [Create Template] button to generate template. It will
remove all Gannt Bars in the bar area, also it will regenerate the timeline according the start
date and end date in configuration. Following the end date of the timeline changed to 2013-27.
2013/7/6
2013/5/11
19
2013/6/29
2013/5/4
18
27
2013/4/27
17
26
2013/4/20
16
2013/6/22
2013/4/13
15
25
2013/4/6
14
2013/6/15
2013/3/30
13
24
2013/3/23
12
2013/6/8
2013/3/16
11
23
2013/3/9
10
2013/6/1
2013/3/2
9
22
2013/2/23
8
2013/5/25
2013/2/16
7
21
2013/2/9
2013-6 Q2
2013/5/18
2013/2/2
2013-5 Q2
6
End
2013-4 Q2
2013/1/26
Start
2013-3 Q1
5
Owner
Status
Color
Tasks
2013-2 Q1
2013/1/19
2013-1 Q1
20
--detail
4
Bar Setting
3
precondition>>
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
[Update Timeline]- This will only regenerate the timeline. Task bars and all shapes on the sheet
will not be removed. This is useful if later you want to extend the end date of the timeline.
You can also choose to show the progress on task bar or not. The progress will be shown as
percentage on the task bar, if you select this option.
D. Edit/Add tasks
Edit the task description. Input the start and end date of the task.
To add a new task just add one line and input the information of the task.
To delete a task, just delete the line in excel.
Task B-
Tom
2013-6
2013-8
Task C-
Jeffy
2013-9
2013-10
Task D-
John
2013-7
2013-8
Task E-
2013-13
2013-15
Task F-
2013-9
2013-13
Task G-
2013-7
2013-11
2013/2/9
2013/2/16
2013/2/23
2013/3/2
2013/3/9
2013/3/16
2013/3/23
2013/3/30
2013/4/6
2013/4/13
2013/4/20
2013/4/27
2013/5/4
2013/5/11
2013/5/18
2013/5/25
2013/6/1
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
2013-5 Q2
6
2013-4 Q2
2013/2/2
End
2013-5
2013-3 Q1
5
Start
2013-3
2013-2 Q1
2013/1/26
Owner
Task A-
Status
Color
Tasks
2013-1 Q1
4
--detail
2013/1/19
Bar Setting
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
3
precondition>>
After task start date and end date input, the task bar will be draw automatically.
For by week plan, two date formats are supported. 1. 2014-1 year-week 2. 2014/4/2
year/month/day.
Date auto fill, for by week task plan, date auto completed is supported. For example, if you
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input 4, then it will use current year to auto fill it. The result is like 2014-4.
For end date, if you input ‘+3, it will be auto filled as start date ‘+3. For start date, if you input ‘-3,
it will be auto filled as end date ‘-3. This only support “2014-1, year-week” format.
If the input date is not correct, for example the end date is less than start date or it is out of
timeline, then it will be marked as red. You need correct then go ahead.
You can also use formula for date input. For week plan you use "=I19". To add weeks to a date,
you can use "=DateAddP(I20,3)". To reduce weeks you can use "=DateAddP(I20,-3)".
If the start date or end date is formula, the date will be highlighted. After date formula
changed, , you can use [F5] to update all the task bars. Make sure all task bars updated
according the change.
You can also press
for press “F4” to draw selected rows only.
Tom
2013-6
2013-8
Task C-
Jeffy
2013-9
2013-10
Task D-
John
2013-7
Precondition
2013-8
Task E-
2013-13
2013-15
Task F-
2013-13
2013-17
Task G-
2013-7
Task B
2013/3/9
2013/3/16
2013/3/23
2013/3/30
2013/4/6
2013/4/13
2013/4/20
2013/4/27
2013/5/4
2013/5/11
2013/5/18
2013/5/25
2013/6/1
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
2013/2/23
8
Task A
Approve>>
Task B-
2013-5 Q2
2013/3/2
2013/2/16
2013-5
2013-4 Q2
10
2013/2/9
7
2013-3
2013-3 Q1
9
2013/2/2
End
6
Start
2013-2 Q1
2013/1/26
Owner
Task A-
Status
Color
Tasks
2013-1 Q1
5
--detail
2013/1/19
Bar Setting
4
precondition>>
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
3
Press
to draw all task bars.
--Basic design
Task C
Task D
Detail information
Task E
Task F
Task G
2013-11
Task bars drawn
Task description can be separated by "-", the text before "-" will be shown on the Gannt Bar.
You can also edit task description directly in the task bar, the information will be automatically
updated to the task description cell.
You can also fill the precondition and detail information of the task. The precondition will be
shown in front of the task bar. The detail information will be shown after the task bar.
You can input precondition in precondition column , or just in front of the task bar. You can
input detail information in the detail column or just in the cell next the task bar.
This is quite useful. In some case, the task bar is too short to show the key message of the bar,
detail information is a supplement. Precondition and show the precondition of the task, all
these make the plan easier to read and understand.
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You can also set the color of the task bar. Set color of the cell in front of the task, which
marked as “color” column, then the task bar color will be same on the color of the cell.
You can also insert columns before the “end” date column, to add additional information.
You can also set the default color of precondition, detail information and default color of the task
bar. Following is an example to change the color of precondition, detail information and task bar.
When select a taskbar, the weeks or days of the task and the start/end time of the task will be
highlighted on the timeline like following picture.
The selected row is marked as following like “Task A”:
This is useful when select a shape task bar.
Task A-
2016-36
Task B-
Tom
2016-39
Task C-
Jeffy
2016-41
Task D-
John
2016-43
E. Show/Hide columns and customized scroll
You can show/hide columns by the button on the sheet.
PreCondition-F:G
PreCondition-F:G
Click the button to show or hide Precondition column. If the column was shown, then the text is
highlighted.
You can also define the button you like by yourself. Copy the button and change the text. The text
before “-“ is the description. The text after “-“ is the columns which will be controlled. You can
input “F:G” to control multi columns.
Col-W
W – Define the column to be scroll to.
Col-This can be any reminder text.
Click the shape button can scroll to the specified column immediately. This makes the plan easy
to be read.
You can copy the shape and customize the column to be scroll to by yourself.
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F. Create connector to show the dependency
You can also create a connector to show the dependency of the tasks.
Tom
2013-6
2013-8
Task C-
Jeffy
2013-9
2013-10
Task D-
John
2013-7
2013-8
Task E-
2013-12
2013-14
Task F-
2013-13
2013-17
Task G-
2013-7
2013-11
2013/3/9
2013/3/16
2013/3/23
2013/3/30
2013/4/6
2013/4/13
2013/4/20
2013/4/27
2013/5/4
2013/5/11
2013/5/18
2013/5/25
2013/6/1
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
2013/2/23
8
Task A
Approve>>
Task B-
2013-5 Q2
2013/3/2
2013/2/16
2013-5
2013-4 Q2
10
2013/2/9
7
2013-3
2013-3 Q1
9
2013/2/2
6
End
2013/1/26
Start
2013-2 Q1
5
Owner
Task A-
Status
Color
Tasks
2013-1 Q1
2013/1/19
--detail
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
4
Bar Setting
3
precondition>>
Select start bar
Task B
--Basic design
Press [Ctrl]
Select end bar
Task C
Task D
Task E
Task F
Task G
Select the start task by selecting the task bar, then press “Ctrl” and select the end task bar.
Press
to create the connector.
G. Change task bars
Sometime input the start date and end date of a task is not a fast way.
You can create a task by select an area directly.
For task F select the cell from week 8 to week 14, click
start date and end date will be changed accordingly.
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to create the task bar directly. The
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You can also move the task bar.
Select the task bar, click
to move the task bar right or left.
You can also extend or shrink the task bar by one cell width.
[LeftExtend]- Left extend the task bar.
[LeftShrink]- Left shrink the task bar.
[MoveLeft]- Move Task bar to left.
[MoveRight]- Move Task bar to right.
[RightShrink]- Right shrink the task bar.
[RightExtend]-Right extend the task bar
H. Multi tasks on one line
Task B-
Tom
2013-6
2013-8
Task C-
Jeffy
2013-9
2013-10
Task D-
John
2013-7
2013-8
Task E-
2013-13
2013-15
Task F-
2013-13
2013-17
Task G-
2013-7
2013-11
Multi task
2013-7
2013-8
2013/3/9
2013/3/16
2013/3/23
2013/3/30
2013/4/6
2013/4/13
2013/4/20
2013/4/27
2013/5/4
2013/5/11
2013/5/18
2013/5/25
2013/6/1
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
2013/2/23
8
Task B
2013-5 Q2
2013/3/2
2013/2/16
Task A
Approve>>
2013-4 Q2
10
2013/2/9
7
2013-5
2013-3 Q1
9
2013/2/2
End
6
Start
2013-3
2013-2 Q1
2013/1/26
Owner
Task A-
2013-1 Q1
5
Tasks
Status
Color
Commmets-E PreCondition-F Detail-G
2013/1/19
--detail
4
Bar Setting
3
precondition>>
--Basic design
Task C
Task D
Task E
Task F
Task G
H
G
Multi tasks on one line
Sometime, you need show multi tasks on one line. This is easy to understand the sequence of the
tasks, also this can save the space to show tasks and make the plan more concise.
Blue Excel supports to make plan this way. Select an area, press
shape.
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to create a task bar by
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Actually there are two kind bars supported by blue excel, one is the cell merge bar. Which is
controlled by the start and end date. And another is shape bar, which is not controlled by start
and end date. You can control it by moving and dragging the bar directly.
For this shape task bar, sometime you want to add some information in the cell beside the bar
and don’t want the row be redrawn when press F4. You can input text like “`hello” or “~hello”,
make sure “`” or “~” is ahead of the text , then this text will not be removed when redraw the
bar.
If the row only include shape task bars and don’t need be redrawn, you can input “m” in color
column. Then the row will not be redrawn and your added information will not be cleared.
When you use following to move the bar, the information beside the bar will be moved
accordingly which make the plan very easy to read.
Create as much bars as you want on one line. Input task description on the bar and change the
color of the task bar to make it easy to be understood.
For this shape task bar, you can easily adjust it too. Select the task bar, you can use above button
to move the bar left or right, shrink or extend the bar horizontally.
For this shape task bar, you can also move the task bar up or down. Shrink or extend the bar
vertically.
I.
Add comment to the task.
Add comment of a task bar. The information shown in the task bar is too little to address all you
want. You can add comment for a task bar. Press F6 or
to show the comment dialog, add
comment to the task.
Task E
,
The task bar with comment will be shown as this, with are red flag on the top corner.
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For a shape task bar, you can also add comment to the task bar. The task bar with comment will
be shown as below. The text will be attached with “#”.For this no comment, there is no “#”
attached.
Task A#
The comment dialog of the task bar is same as above. In order to delete the task bar and its
comment together, you need click
on the plan tool bar to delete it.
You can keep the dialog open and select another cell or shape, current information will be auto
saved. New selected cell or shape detail information will be shown.
You can also change size of the dialog to make it easy for view.
Count is the cells of current selected task or shape task. For a week plan, this means the weeks
needed for the task.
3. Integration Plan
Milestone
M1
M2
Bussiness Analysis
50
49
48
47
46
2013-11 Q42013-12 Q4
45
44
43
42
41
2013-10 Q4
40
39
38
37
2013-9 Q3
36
35
34
33
2013-8 Q3
32
31
30
29
28
2013-7 Q3
27
26
25
24
2013-6 Q2
23
22
21
20
2013-5 Q2
19
18
17
16
15
2013-4 Q2
14
13
12
11
10
2013-3 Q1
Tasks
M3
Risk
Task Connector
Task A
Task C
Task B
Task D
Task E
Task G
Compoent A
<< Compoent A verified
Component B
Add comment
to a task bar
Component B Optimzation
Compent C
Verification
Compnent B 1st version ready>>
Precondition
A,B,C Integration
Manual Prepare
Manual Verify
Product release
Reliability test
Actually, the integration plan uses the shape bar only to make an integration plan.
Select the area to create task bar then press
to create the task bar.
Definitely you can leverage the buttons on plan tool bar to move the task bar or shrink/extend
the task bar. You can also add detail information in the cell beside the bar, when you move the
bar, the information will move accordingly.
You can also create connector for task bars. Select one task bar and press “Ctrl” to select another
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task bar, press
to create connector. Once you move the task bar the connector will also move
with the task bar.
The important thing is that you can add comment for the task bar by “F6” or
. So you can add
as much as information as possible to the task bar, which make it easy to be understand.
4. Resource Plan
2013-5 Q2 2013-4 Q2 2013-3 Q1
2013-2 Q1 2013-1 Q1
Prototype 1
Intel CPU
8G Memory
FW
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Prototype 2
AMD CPU
16G Memory
Prototype 3
Intel CPU
16 G Rom
Prototype 4
AMD CPU
8G Rom
Build Protype
Build Prototype
Dev SW
installation
Build Dev
Environment
Build Prototype
Build Prototype
Software
Development
SW development
SW Verification
SW Verification
Test Procedure
Preparation
Software
Debug
Manual
Preparation
Example of resource plan
Resource plan also uses the shape bar only to make the plan.
It use vertical layout to make sure you have more text shown on the task bar.
Select the area to create task bar then press
to create the task bar.
Definitely you can leverage the buttons on plan tool bar to move the task bar or shrink/extend
the task bar. You can also add detail information in the cell beside the bar, when you move the
bar, the information will move accordingly.
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5. Others
Besides Gannt Chart, Blue Excel provides a lot free tools such as: Quick way to filter the selected
column. Quick way to run frequently used command. Quick way to run macros. Merge cells
content into one cell. Find an item between files. Check difference between files. Quick switch
between files. Shortcut to set color. Mark cells with same value in same color. Filter rows
according the value in current cell. Extract number. Extract text. Add character. Reverse text.
Remove space. Count characters. Convert value to text. Remove duplicate rows, cells. Remove
ranges and so on.
Quick Tool Bar Button
Press F7 or “Quick Tool Bar” Button
to show the quick tool bar.
Quick Tool Bar
If you want learn more, please go to http://www.smartxyz.com to find more information.
6. Free Plan template
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Click windows start menu to open the free task plan template. [Start]-[All Programs]-[Blue
Excel]-[Free Plan]. Then refer the [help] sheet of the template for help.
You only need input the start date and end date, the task bar will be auto drawn. Date forma is
like 15-9 year-week.
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