Getting started

Ten minutes from opening the Planner to a scheduled, resource-loaded project with a baseline. No installation; a current browser is enough.

Open the apps

The Planner is at /planner/ and the Estimator at /estimator/. Both work in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on a desktop or laptop. A phone can read a project but is not a planning surface.

Without an account you can browse the demo but not change it. Create a free account (Sign in in the header) to plan your own projects; it takes a minute and works across the Planner, the Estimator and Time Control. Your projects are kept in the browser you are using and, if you choose a folder, in files on your disk; a cloud workspace shares them with other people.

Load the demo workspace

The fastest way to see the product is loaded: open /planner/?demo=1, or click Load the demo workspace on the empty portfolio screen. Without an account the demo is read-only; signed in, it is yours to change. Seven illustrative projects across three divisions appear, with an enterprise setup, baselines, recorded progress, actuals, risk analysis, change requests and scenarios. The outage project U2-PO26 has every feature in use. The figures are synthetic; delete the projects when you are done with them (Projects view, or the Project panel's Delete).

Your first project in the Planner

1. New project. On the portfolio screen click + New project. Give it a code and a name, the planned start, the working calendar (hours a day and days a week), and, if you have them, the division, OBS, portfolio and client from the enterprise lists. Pick a WBS template if one exists.
2. Build the WBS. The rail's WBS button adds a node under the selected one. Rename it in the Details pane.
3. Add activities. Select a WBS node and click Activity. Type the name and the duration in the table. Enter moves down a row; Tab moves across.
4. Link them. In the Details pane's Relationships tab, add predecessors by ID with the type (FS, SS, FF, SF) and any lag. The chart redraws and reschedules after every change.
5. Load resources. Open the Resources panel. Add resources by code with a limit (units at a time) and a rate per hour, or build the rate up from a wage and a rate set. Assign them to activities in the Details pane with a crew size.
6. Keep a baseline. Open the Project panel and click Keep as baseline. The first baseline becomes the active one; progress and earned value are measured against it.
7. Save. Save writes a .planner.json file. Better: choose an autosave folder (Projects view) and every project is written there as you work, with daily backups.

Or start from a file

Open a file… accepts a Planner file or an XER from the industry-standard enterprise scheduler. An XER brings the projects, calendars, WBS, activities, relationships, resources, assignments, expenses, activity codes and steps; a file with several projects adds all of them, with the cross-project relationships kept.

An estimate made in the Estimator is handed over from its Schedule tab: the Planner opens with the baseline schedule, the resources and their rates, the quantities and the risk log, and the estimate's class recorded on the project.

Create a cloud workspace

1. Sign up. Click Sign in in the header and create an account with your work email. A workspace named after you is created; rename it to your organization.
2. Invite. In the cloud panel, invite members by email. They join when they sign up with that address. Owners can invite, remove and change roles; members read and change projects.
3. Push projects. Projects already in your browser can be pushed to the workspace. From then on every save syncs. If someone else saved a newer version, you are told and your copy is kept beside it rather than overwritten.

Your first estimate

Open the Estimator. It starts with a sample heat exchanger estimate so every tab has something in it; click New for an empty one. Set the class, the cost basis date and the currency in the header, build the WBS, then add lines by assembly (quantity times a norm), by quote or as an allowance. The Totals tab shows the build-up from direct cost to the total with contingency; Basis holds the basis of estimate; Schedule hands the estimate to the Planner.

Where to go next