Getting started with GanttBoard

1. Install GanttBoard

GanttBoard is distributed through the Atlassian Marketplace. Installation takes about 30 seconds and requires Jira admin rights on the target site.

1. Open the Marketplace listing

   Go to the GanttBoard Marketplace page and click Get it now. If you are not logged in, Atlassian will prompt you.

2. Pick your Jira site

   If you admin more than one Jira Cloud site, a dropdown appears. Choose the site you want to install into and click Install app. Atlassian handles the rest.

3. Open any Scrum or Kanban project

   Navigate to any Jira project that uses the Scrum or Kanban template. A new tab labelled GanttBoard appears in the project sidebar.

   

2. Your first Gantt chart

GanttBoard draws bars from the start date and due date fields on your Jira issues. If an issue has both, it appears on the timeline immediately. If an issue is missing one, it shows up in the table but has no bar yet.

1. Add dates to your Jira issues

   Open any issue in your project and fill in the Start date and Due date fields. If Start date is not shown on your issue view, add it via Configure → Project settings → Issue layout.

2. Open the GanttBoard tab

   Click GanttBoard in the Jira project sidebar. The Table + Gantt split view is the default. Your issues appear in the spreadsheet on the left and as bars on the right.

3. Switch layouts and zoom

   Use the toolbar segmented control to toggle Table-only, Gantt-only, or the default split. Use the zoom dropdown (or Ctrl++ / Ctrl+−) to move between Day / Week / Month / Quarter granularity.

4. Edit in place

   Drag any bar horizontally to change its due date. Drag its right edge to change duration. Double-click a status cell in the table to transition the issue. Every change persists to Jira in real time.

   

3. Setting dependencies

Dependencies are drawn with L-shaped arrows between task bars. GanttBoard supports all four project-management dependency types: Finish-to-Start (FS), Start-to-Start (SS), Finish-to-Finish (FF), and Start-to-Finish (SF).

1. Hover over a bar to see the dots

   Every bar has a small dot at its start and end edges. Hovering makes them visible.

2. Drag from one dot to another bar's dot

   Click and hold on a dot, then drag to a dot on another bar. GanttBoard auto-detects the dependency type from the dots you chose — end-to-start is FS, start-to-start is SS, and so on.

   

3. Confirm the type and lag

   The Dependency dialog opens with the detected type pre-selected. You can change the type or add a lag / lead time in days, then click Create. The arrow renders immediately.

4. Turn on critical path

   Once you have dependencies, click the Critical path toggle in the overflow menu. GanttBoard runs CPM (forward pass, backward pass, float calculation) and highlights the longest chain across the project in red.

4. Keyboard shortcuts

Press ? at any time inside GanttBoard to open the full shortcuts panel. Mod means Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows / Linux.