Want a Free Gantt Chart App?

There are quite a few XL based Gantt Charts out there. They fall into 2 main categories: Bar Charts and Conditional Formatting.

Bar Charts

This type creates a stacked bar chart with the first series being the duration from project start to task start. This series' fill color is set to "No Fill" so it appears that the second series - the actual task - is floating by itself. It is a clever and effective means to small Gantts - about 30 or less tasks. It can leverage XL2007 and later's improved aesthetics.

Conditional Formatting

This type uses spreadsheet cells and conditional formatting to make colored cells into Gantt Chart bars. This method can accommodate many more tasks but also creates a lot of formulas and calculations.

Introducing BabyGantt.xls

BXL's Baby Gantt uses shapes and VBA. It has the advantage of Conditional Formatting's "many tasks" without the formula overhead. It also shares the Bar Chart's improved graphics capabilities. But best of all, there's no setup - at least - not for the chart.

All Gantt Charts require tasks and dates. But that's all Baby Gantt requires us to enter. We don't need to add and configure charts or enter and autofill formulas across massive ranges. The VBA in Baby Gantt reads our task entries and generates the graphics on the fly. And because it is Excel, we can use formulas to calculate task start and end dates.

DIY

You can build BabyGantt.xls yourself or download it from my DropBox. Here is a link to the instructions:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nwhqr8e4x6070eg/BabyGantt.pdf?dl=0

The instructions include:

• • User Instructions - Step by Step guides on how to enter your project with examples

  • Download Instructions - Links to a fully functioning, totally free, unprotected BabyGantt.xls

  • Technical Documentation - All of the code with explanations and all data validation entries with screenshots.

BabyGantt is a good solution for small projects but it is actually intended as a teaching tool. Its real purpose is to teach VBA developers how to manipulate shapes with VBA. So all of the code is exposed and trimmed to be as easy to decipher as possible. Unfortunately, the stripped down code also makes it a bit fragile. So after learning the fundamentals of shape management, VBA coders can try the next level with MamaGantt.

MamaGantt includes all of BabyGantt's features but in a more "Production Quality" state. It leverages VBA's classes and adds controls to prevent users from inadvertently doing things they shouldn't. Like BabyGantt, it is intended as a teaching tool for VBA developers looking to take their skills to the next level with VBA's classes.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjjubogk5w90omf/MamaGantt.pdf?dl=0

PapaGantt is also available. PapaGantt is intended to be an example of how to leverage XL as an application development platform. PapaGantt provides more project management tools such as work breakdown structures, assignments, durations, task types, and more. It is intended as a "poor man's" alternative to full featured project management programs.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mv3vsjt26fhclao/PapaGantt.pdf?dl=0