Tom’s Planner: Gantt Charts for Everyone

Gantt charts are incredibly helpful scheduling tools, but the problem is making them. Programs like Microsoft Project tend to be clunky and ugly. Tom’s Planner aims to solve that problem by being colorful and easy to use.

Ease of Use

Tom’s Planner is super-easy to use. I know just about any app will tell you that it is “easy to use,” but Tom’s Planner means it. With Tom’s Planner, there are two main things you need to know in order to use it:

• Drag and Drop Simplicity
• “The Magic is in the Right Click”

Once you get those two concepts down, you’re pretty much ready to go.

There’s a toolbar located above the grid that includes all the main functions, such as adding/removing logos, exporting to Microsoft Project, saving, and sharing.

Collaboration

Collaboration with others using Tom’s Planner is a snap. Go to the “My Schedules” section, select a plan, enter the person you want to share it with, and then you get a unique invite URL. That’s it!

In addition to being able to collaborate with others on schedules, you can publish your charts online, add links to other websites or online documents, embed the schedule in your own website/intranet/other project/task management tool and even export it offline and open it in Microsoft Publisher.

I love this feature. While Gantt Charts are great, they aren’t always enough for a team-by being able to export and embed, you can easily use the features of Tom’s Planner to create a schedule, the use it in whatever app or software your using. Not to mention, making it easy to share in reports, presentations, or with clients.

Templates and Alternative Uses

Tom’s Planner even offers templates, to make using it even easier. The templates aren’t just for web design and personnel schedules either-they have templates for weddings, gardening, Christmas Dinner, the holidays, conferences, and vacation rentals. Most of the templates also include a sample that’s filled in so you have some ideas to work with. Tom’s Planner encourages you to suggest new templates or even send in your own.

Pricing

In keeping with it’s overall theme of being user-friendly, the Pricing Plan is simple too. There are 3 plans-including a free personal plan. Also, if you share a project with someone, that other person doesn’t need to purchase a plan-they can just use the free personal account. Tom’s Planner also offers Payment through just about any payment available including major credit cards, PayPal, and checks.

For More on Tom’s Planner:

• Lifehacker: Tom’s Planner Is an Impressive, Intuitive Project Scheduling Tool
• WebWorkerDaily: WWD Screencast Tour: Tom’s Planner
• WebWorkerDaily: Tom’s Planner Gets Collaborative
• The Next Web: Tom’s Planner: Real-Time Collaboration in a Web-Based Project Manager

For Creative Ways to Use Tom’s Planner, Check Out:

• Lifehacker: Tom’s Planner Dinner Chart Plans Out Your Day for Holiday Cooking
• WebWorkerDaily: Step-By-Step: Creating Your Blogging System

toms planner, tom\s planner review, toms planner alternative, toms planner offline, toms planner review