[Closed] MS Project experts - Help on changing working times

I want to produce very simple Gantt charts for a project.

Use Excel. Seriously. 😉

Anyone??

Right click on the timeline in the Gantt chart and there should be an option to change timelines or similar.

That'll change the view of the Gantt chart.

If you want to change the working hours to 24hrs then You'll need to change the calendar.

A quick google search should tell you.

What version are you using? Do you really want to show working time over 24 hours? Are you resourcing tasks?

Just to clarify, I am not really intending to use Project the manage things to any great detail, not assigning resources or anything.

I simply want to be able to create smart looking charts for documents etc.

We are talking time estimation in big handfuls, looking at "tasks" as taking x number of days.

I have tried the Excel option and had some success but it doesn't allow linking and dependencies, which I would like to be able to do. Also I would like to be be able to tweak individual tasks and see their effect on the whole timeline.

McHamish, I have set the calendar to 24hrs, max working hrs per week, max days per month. I have also changed each task to 24hrs. I still get strange results.

I found "edays" and have had some better the results but it still gives some strange results.

I think I will stick with the excel option!

If you are only using for presentation I would use Visio - it gives a better looking output.

It's a bit difficult to advise really...MS Project can be a PITA.

You said above you don't want to assign resources. Sometimes MSP makes strange scheduling decisions when no resources are assigned...try adding in a resource - just stick a letter as the resource.

If I'm creating a high level project schedule for presentations etc., I use Excel usually, Visio is a good option as it has some scheduling functionality.

Try modifying the columns you can see - iirc you need to right click on the column titles, and add the columns you need. Work is the critical one. You'll also need to check the calendar (as previously mentioned) to make sure the working day is correct.

Edit: I suggest adding different columns as you may find the whole thing starts to make sense when you see what Project is trying to calculate. Adding at least one resource (as McHamish suggests) is also a good idea.

But having spent many a "happy" hour trying to get ******* Project to work, I'd seriously suggest you follow jamj1974 and takisawa2's suggestions, and use something else. Really.

If you are looking to model OP - Project is best. The issues you are having sound like they could be resolved by: -

- setting task type to fixed units
- removing the setting for new tasks to have estimated durations
- using the MS Project standard 8 hour working day - unless you truly need to display tasks taking part over 24 hours
- removing the setting making tasks effort driven
- inserting the column "work" and ensuring work = 8 hours for each day
- making sure you are using the dependencies work properly e.g. SS where tasks need to start together, FF to finish tasks at identical times, FS to start one task as another finishes etc...
- use start as soon as possible as your only constraint type wherever possible

Try this and it should simplify things.

Just ignore all the complicated stuff.

Only enter the name of the task; the number of days from start to finish ( I.e. Ignore a 3d task will take 6d if the person doing is doing another 3d task at the same time), enter the time as x"d" to tell project it's a time in days, not weeks; and enter any preceding task numbers.

Simple really if all you want is a Gantt chart you can mess with and looks a bit more slick than Excel.

Ms project only needs to be complicated if you want to do complicated things.