Creating a project

Every new project starts in one dialog, New project. You pick what it starts from, fill in its details, and nothing is saved until you press Create project — so you can change your mind at any point. You can also start from a copy of a project you already have, or from a file (see Importing a project).

Where to find it#

The same dialog opens from each of these:

• + New project on Home and on the Projects page.
• File ▾ → New project in the editor.

When you belong to more than one company or group, a Company or group row comes first, so you pick where the project lives. It starts on the company the scope control at the top shows, or on the group you chose there when that group is in the list; pick another to put the project somewhere else. It never starts on a company or group where your role is Field, since only an Editor or an Admin can create a project there. A copy (below) starts on the company or group of the project it copies when that one is in the list.

Start from#

The START FROM list offers:

• Blank project — always first. The project starts empty.
• Your company's project types. Each active type is its own row, and picking one also picks its default project template. With more than eight templates, a search box ("Search project templates") narrows the rows for the type you picked.

Project types and templates are set up by a company admin — see Project types and project templates. A company admin also sees Manage project templates… at the foot of the list.

On a phone, this step is its own sheet, Start from, with PROJECT TYPE and PROJECT TEMPLATES headings and a Select button.

If your company has no active project types or templates, the dialog says "No project templates yet — this project starts blank." When you use Ganttry without a company account, it says instead: "Saved in this browser. Project templates and company settings come with a Ganttry account."

Project details#

PROJECT DETAILS holds the same fields as Project settings:

• Project name
• Company
• Status
• Project start date — tasks with no predecessors or constraints start here.
• Working calendar — click it to set up the project's work week and holidays without leaving the dialog; ← New project brings you back. See Scheduling.
• Critical total float (working days) — how much float still counts as critical. See the critical threshold.

Below the details, the WHAT THIS PROJECT STARTS WITH band lists the company settings the project picks up — Company, Color tags and Working calendar — and, once you pick a template, a Columns row naming the template's own added columns (the first three, then "+N more"). The band's hint gives the order they apply in: "Applied when you create the project: company settings first, then the project template, then anything you changed above."

Press Create project to create it.

Changing your mind#

Close the dialog after typing something and it asks Discard this new project? — "Nothing has been created yet. Your settings will be lost." Choose Keep editing or Discard. Close it with nothing typed and it simply cancels; the status line reads "Canceled".

Other ways to start#

These don't go through the dialog:

• A copy. On Home (or File ▾ → Open project…), Make a copy… in a project's ⋯ menu asks for a name (the project's name plus "(copy)" to start) and creates the copy. The original stays exactly as it is. A copy keeps its source's own settings, its site address and everything on its tasks, such as dates, crew and equipment needs, notes and progress, but it has no bookings and nobody on Assigned To. The status line says so: Created "Bridge 12 (copy)" from "Bridge 12" — the original is untouched · the copy has no bookings or assignments (or no bookings, or no assignments, by what the source held).
• From an earlier version. In a project's History, New project from this, in a row's ⋯ menu, copies that saved version or automatic save into a fresh project in the same company or group, named after it, such as "Bridge 12 (Plan A)". It is a copy like the one above: no bookings and nobody on Assigned To. See Saving, history and opening projects.
• From a file. Import… on Home, or File ▾ → Import file…, brings in an MS Project, P6, Excel or CSV schedule. See Importing a project.
• The sample project. The first time you open Ganttry with no projects, it creates a sample project so you have something to try. While it is your only project, Home offers Open the sample.

Who can use it#

Admins and Editors can create projects in the companies and groups they belong to. A Field account cannot. If you can't create projects, Home tells you to ask a company admin. See Who can see and do what.

Good to know#

• The project's Site address — one line, Street, city — is set later, in Project settings. It prints under the project name on the Work tab and travels with the project. Saving the project as a template, or copying it for a training course, leaves the address out.
• A template brings its tasks and its own columns. Your company's settings, the template and your own changes apply in that order, so what you typed in the dialog wins.
• To keep a project as a starting point for the next one, see Save as a project template… on Project types and project templates.