Glossary

These are the words you meet in Ganttry and in construction scheduling, each defined once and linked to the page that explains it. Terms come first; every column — WBS, Total Float, Constraint and the rest — is defined once, under Columns.

Terms#

Admin, Editor and Field#

The three roles a person can hold, set separately on each company or group membership, so you can be Admin in one and Field in another. An Admin manages the projects where the role is held and is the only role that can delete one; a company Admin also manages the company's people and groups; an Editor creates and edits projects; Field sees projects read-only, without costs, and reports progress. See Who can see and do what.

Baseline#

A frozen snapshot of the plan — every task's dates and duration — that you compare progress against later. Save one from Project settings with Save baseline…; keep up to 5 named ones, one of them active, which drives the Start Var and Finish Var columns and the gray bars drawn under the live bars on the Gantt. See Baselines and variance.

Company#

Your organization's account in Ganttry: its people, projects, groups and licenses. Company admins run it from the Company page in the sidebar. See Companies, groups and roles.

Contract day#

A working day charged against the working days your contract allows. The Contract-day ledger counts every working day of the project's calendar through today as charged unless you mark it as an exception, such as a weather day, and forecasts whether the schedule finishes over or inside contract time. See Contract days and weather days.

Coverage set#

Tasks in one project that share the same crew or machine, joined by hand with Shared coverage… so the people and machines they share are counted once. Each working day the set needs the highest requirement among its own tasks, or your own number for a trade, and it never changes dates or links. See Shared coverage.

Crew handout#

The printed sheet a crew takes to site: Print crew handout, at the foot of a crew link or in its preview, prints the week on screen, cut to what the link shows, and can be limited to one trade. See Crew paper.

Crew link#

A link a crew opens on a phone with no sign-in, made in the Crew links section of a project's Share… dialog. It shows the whole project or a date window, from the plan crews were last published — the live plan when the project isn't a Draft — and never shows costs. See Crew links and itineraries.

Critical path#

The chain of tasks with no room to slip: delay any one of them and the project finish slips, or a deadline or constraint is missed. A task is critical when its Total Float is at or below the critical threshold, which is 0 by default, and never once it has an actual finish; the toolbar's Critical button highlights critical tasks in red. See Scheduling.

Critical threshold#

How much Total Float a task can have and still count as critical, in working days, set in Project settings under Critical total float (working days). At 0, the default, you see the classic critical path; a higher number also highlights near-critical work that still has some float, so you see trouble coming. See Scheduling.

Data date#

The "as of" date progress is measured against, set in Tools ▾ → Update progress… when you record what actually happened. Recorded actuals stay where they happened, unstarted work schedules from the data date, and a blue line marks it on the Gantt. See Progress tracking and the Projects page; to do it, Update progress and the data date.

Day plan#

Your own work day by day on every project you're on, opened from My tasks → Day plan, for Field users and planners alike. It shows what crews see — a Draft project's published plan — and prints your week with Print my week. See The Day plan.

Draft and Publish#

How someone with the Master planning capability decides what crews see. Every project starts Live, so crews see each save as it lands; put it in Draft from Tools ▾ → What crews see… and you keep saving while crews keep the plan from your last publish, until you publish again with Publish…. See Draft and Publish.

Employee number#

A person's number from your payroll or HR system, kept as Employee # in their pane on the Roster & equipment page and seen only by company admins. It is unique in the company, retired people included, and it is how Import file… recognises a person when their name is spelled differently in the file.

Equipment type and unit#

A machine type, such as "135 Excavator", is what a task asks for, with a quantity (2x 135 Excavator); a unit is one real machine in your company's fleet, with its own unit number, that you assign to fill that need. The fleet and the list of machine types live on the Roster & equipment page, and a task's needs in its Equipment column. See Equipment on tasks.

Group#

A part of a company, such as a region or a division. Every project belongs to exactly one company or group, and a membership in a group lets you open that group's projects. See Companies, groups and roles.

Itinerary#

One person's plan across every project they're on, as a link they open with no sign-in: last week through eight weeks ahead, day by day, each project with its site address. A company admin makes it from Roster & equipment → the person → Itinerary, and it prints as a sheet too. See Crew links and itineraries.

Lag#

A wait between two linked tasks, in working days, typed after the link in the Predecessors column: 12FS+3d starts this task 3 days after task 12 finishes. A negative lag is a lead: 14SS-2d starts this task 2 days before task 14 starts. See Scheduling.

License#

What each person with access to your company uses: every user who isn't disabled and belongs to the company or any of its groups uses one, counted once, Field users included, and a pending invitation holds one. Partner staff use none. Company admins see the count and buy more in Company › Billing & licenses (a partner adds them for the companies it looks after); see Licenses and billing.

Link types (FS, SS, FF, SF)#

The four ways one task can depend on another, typed in the Predecessors column. FS, finish-to-start, is the normal case — a bare 12 means task 12 finishes, then this one starts; SS, start-to-start, lets this task start once 12 starts; FF, finish-to-finish, means it can't finish until 12 finishes; SF, start-to-finish, is rare. See Scheduling.

Lookahead (3-week)#

The superintendent's view: Views → 3-week lookahead shows only the incomplete work that overlaps the next 21 days, for you alone, and the PDF export prints it as a one-page lookahead sheet. Reports also has a Crew & equipment lookahead across projects. See Filters, saved views and the 3-week lookahead.

Master plan#

Several projects on one date axis — up to 8 at a time, or 15 if a company admin allows it — seen By project or By resource, and published together. Open it from the sidebar, Tools ▾ or Ctrl+M; it needs the Master planning capability and a wide screen. See The master plan.

Master planning#

The capability that lets someone put a project in Draft, publish plans to crews, restore an earlier version of a Live project, and open the master plan and People. Company admins have it by role, and a company admin can grant it to other members, though not to a Field-only account, on Company › Users & access, in the Master planning card. See Who can see and do what.

Milestone#

A zero-length marker for a moment rather than work, such as "Notice to proceed". Give a task a Duration of 0 and it becomes a milestone, drawn as a diamond on the Gantt. See Scheduling.

My tasks#

The tasks you're assigned to, across every project you can see — the sidebar's My tasks row, and where a Field user lands on signing in. Group them by project or due date, and open the Day plan from there. See Work, My tasks and Calendar.

Partner#

A reseller that sets up and looks after client companies on Ganttry. Partner staff have full admin powers in every company their partner looks after, use no license, and have their own partner dashboard. See The partner program.

Per-day booking#

A booking that puts a person on only some of a task's days, made on the People page. The person counts toward the task's Crew on those days alone, so the Work page reads a crew line by its fewest-staffed day, such as 2 of 3 filled · unfilled on 1 of 5 days, and their Day plan shows the task only on those days. It never moves the task's dates, and keeps its own days if the task moves. + Assign person on the Work page or in Crew & equipment… books the whole task instead. See Book people day by day.

Project#

The thing you plan — its tasks, dates, crews and files — which lives in one company or group. The app calls it a project everywhere: Projects, + New project, Open a project and project templates. See Creating a project.

Project template#

A saved starting point for new projects, made from a project with Save as a project template…: it keeps the outline, durations, links, calendars (without their one-off dates), crew and equipment needs and columns, and clears everything project-specific, such as progress, actuals and baselines. New project offers templates by project type and re-dates everything from the start date you type. See Project types and templates.

Project type#

A way to group a company's project templates. When you pick a type in New project, its default template is offered first; company admins manage types in Company › Standards. See Project types and templates.

Quality check#

One of the 16 checks in Schedule quality checks — an audit adapted from the DCMA 14-point assessment many owners and DOTs hold schedules to — such as missing logic, hard constraints, high float or stale progress. The share that pass is the project's score, which the app calls Schedule checks. See Schedule quality checks.

Saved crew#

A named group of people, usually a foreman and the people who work with them, kept on the Saved crews tab of Roster & equipment so you can book them together: Book crew… on the People page puts each person on the first open line of their trade, one task a day. Projects keep the people, not the crew, so renaming or retiring a crew changes no project. Company admins and holders of Master planning manage crews. See People.

Saved version#

A project's whole plan, kept under a name in the Saved versions list of its History, to look at, compare with today's plan or restore. Make one with Save a version… from the save chip or Tools ▾, or keep an automatic save with Keep this one…. It stays until someone deletes it; a project keeps up to 20, or 5 in this browser without a company account. See Saving, history and opening projects; to do it, Find and restore an earlier version.

Saved view#

A named view you apply in one click: Views → Save current view… keeps the current filter, the visible columns and the Gantt zoom. Signed in to a company account, saved views follow your account to any device; without one, they stay in that browser. A filter only changes what you see, never the project. See Filters, saved views and the 3-week lookahead.

Schedule#

In Ganttry, a project's Gantt view — its first tab, Schedule — and the dates it shows; the thing you plan is a project. To schedule is what Ganttry does with your work: it works out the dates from durations, links and calendars. See Scheduling.

Stay#

A person kept on a project between tasks, made on the People page with Through the end of the project or the foreman's tick when you book a saved crew. It runs to the project's end until someone chooses End stay…, which leaves the bookings as they are. People marks no task on each working day of the stay where they have no task anywhere, and on those days their Day plan and itinerary still show the project and its address, without a publish. See People.

Summary task#

A task with subtasks indented under it (select the rows below it and press Tab). Its dates, progress and cost roll up from its subtasks. See Editing in the grid.

Training course#

A course a company admin runs from Company › Training once training is turned on: each student signs in with their own student account, which uses a license, and practices on their own copy of the course's template, an ordinary project the trainer picks. The trainer can compare every copy with an answer key. See Training.

Unit number#

The number that tells one machine in your fleet from another, such as 412 or EX 12, shown as Unit # on the Roster & equipment page. No two active machines can share one; case and extra spaces don't count as a difference, leading zeros do. A retired machine's number can be used again. See Equipment type and unit.

Weather day#

A day you mark Weather on the Contract-day ledger, with a note, so it isn't charged against contract time — the day-by-day record a time-extension request needs. Ticking Mark as a non-working day also changes the project calendar and reschedules the remaining work. See Contract days and weather days.

Work#

A project's work view — its Work tab — where crews run the project: tasks by phase in a table or on a board, each with a Status tied to % complete, and a side pane for notes, checklists and who is assigned. See Work, My tasks and Calendar.

Working day#

A day a task's calendar works. Durations, lags, float and variance all count working days, so weekends, holidays and shutdowns are skipped — a duration of 5 is five working days — and each task follows the project calendar unless its Calendar column names another. See Scheduling.

Columns

Identity

WBS Set by Ganttry

Shows the task’s place in the outline — Ganttry sets this number automatically when you indent or outdent tasks.

e.g. 1.3.2

Activity ID

Short code for calling out activities in the field or matching a P6 schedule; renumber the whole column from its header menu.

e.g. A1030

Task Name

Describes the work — this is what shows for the task in every other view.

e.g. Pour footings — east wing

Dates

Start

Scheduled start date. Entering one sets the earliest allowed start (Start No Earlier Than) on a leaf task — a floor, not a pin. An existing Must Start On date moves there instead. Read-only on summary rows; refused once actual dates are recorded.

e.g. Mar 3, 2026

Finish

Scheduled finish date; entering one changes the duration — longer or shorter — so the task ends that day.

e.g. Mar 12, 2026

Constraint

The date pin on the task (start-no-earlier, must-start-on, finish-no-later, must-finish-on) — set through the Constraint & deadline dialog.

e.g. SNET Mar 3

Deadline

A finish target that never moves the schedule — a task landing past it shows negative float instead.

e.g. Jun 30, 2026

Actual Start

The day work really began. Recording one takes priority over constraints and planned start edits. Clear it only if it was entered by mistake.

e.g. Mar 4, 2026

Actual Finish

The day work really finished — recording one marks the task done. Clear it only if it was entered by mistake.

e.g. Mar 15, 2026

Progress & tracking

% Comp.

How far along your team reports the work is, 0–100. Summary rows combine their subtasks’ progress; longer tasks count more.

e.g. 60

Status

Field status of the task: To do, In progress, Blocked or Done.

e.g. In progress

Remaining

Working days of work left on a started task. Entering a number replaces the estimate that % complete alone would imply.

e.g. 3d

Start Var Set by Ganttry

Working days the current start has slipped past the active baseline; negative means ahead of plan.

e.g. 2

Finish Var Set by Ganttry

Working days the current finish has slipped past the active baseline; negative means ahead of plan.

e.g. -1

Notes

Free-form notes on the task — RFIs, hold reasons, whatever the field needs to know.

e.g. Waiting on rebar delivery

Scheduling & logic

Duration

Working days the task takes; 0 makes it a milestone.

e.g. 5d or 2w

Hours

The same duration expressed as work-hours, converted through the calendar’s hours per day.

e.g. 36h

Predecessors

Which tasks must happen first, with the link type and any lag.

e.g. 12FS+2d

Successors

Which tasks follow this one — the same links seen from the other end.

e.g. 14SS

Late Start Set by Ganttry

The latest the task could start without delaying the project — computed by the scheduler.

e.g. Mar 6, 2026

Late Finish Set by Ganttry

The latest the task could finish without delaying the project — computed by the scheduler.

e.g. Mar 17, 2026

Total Float Set by Ganttry

Working days of slack before this task delays the project — 0 means it’s on the critical path.

e.g. 0

Free Float Set by Ganttry

Working days this task can slip before it delays the next task.

e.g. 2

Calendar

Which named work calendar the task follows; blank means the project default.

e.g. 6-day paving crew

Work Pattern

Choose specific workdays or a number of working days per week for this task — set it from the task’s right-click menu.

e.g. Mon+Wed+Fri

Costs & quantities

Quantity

How much of the work there is, in whatever unit you type.

e.g. 1,500 SF

Cost

Money against the task; summary rows roll up their subtasks.

e.g. $12,500

Crew, people & equipment

Crew

The crew you plan to put on it — roles and head-counts; feeds the crew loading band under the Gantt.

e.g. foreman, 3 laborer

Assigned To

The actual people on the task — linked names show it on their My tasks list.

e.g. J. Alvarez

Booked

The people and machines booked on the task, with their days. You can’t type here: book people in People or with Shift+F2.

e.g. Laborer: Sal Rinaldi, Worker 014

Equipment

Machine types this task needs, with how many — a model number like "135 Excavator" is the machine, so write "2x" in front when you need more than one; pick types and assign machines with Shift+F2.

e.g. 2x 135 Excavator, Roller

Tools

Tools the crew should bring. Printed on the handout, not tracked.

e.g. Level, String line, Form oil

History

Created Set by Ganttry

When the row was added, stamped automatically. Blank for older rows created before Ganttry tracked this date.

e.g. Aug 28, 2026

Created by Set by Ganttry

Who added the row. Blank when working without signing in.

e.g. R. Alvarez

Modified Set by Ganttry

When the row’s content last changed. Layout changes, such as column width, do not count.

e.g. Aug 28, 2026

Modified by Set by Ganttry

Who last changed the row’s content.

e.g. R. Alvarez

Custom column types

Add your own columns from the grid header menu → Add or show columns…

Text

Type task details — free-form text, like a Notes column of your own.

Checkbox

Mark yes or no for each task.

Dropdown list

Choose one option from a list you create — you can edit the list later. If you remove an option, tasks that used it keep showing it until you edit them.

Symbols

Choose a check, cross, warning, flag or other symbol. Exports show its name.