Create Your First Project

This guide walks you through creating a project from scratch — including phases, tasks, milestones, and scheduling settings.

1. Start from the dashboard

After signing in, you land on the project dashboard. Click New Project. Fill in:

  • Project name — visible throughout the app and on exports.
  • Start date — LoopGantt schedules forward from this date using working days.
  • Target end date (optional) — shown as a visual deadline marker on the Gantt.

2. Set your working calendar (Pro plan)

By default, the scheduler uses a Mon–Fri working week. To configure holidays or custom working days, open the Calendar panel (eye icon → Calendar). Right-click any date column in the Gantt to toggle it as a holiday or working day.

Note: Custom work calendars require the Pro plan. Free users use the default Mon–Fri schedule.

3. Add phases

Phases are grouping containers that span their child tasks. To add a phase, click + Add Phase in the task list sidebar. Good phase names reflect your project's major stages: Discovery, Design, Development, Launch.

Important: Phases cannot have dependencies. Only tasks and milestones can be linked. Phases automatically span from their earliest child start to their latest child end.

4. Add tasks inside phases

Click inside a phase and press Tab or click + Add Task. Enter a name, duration (in working days), and optionally a priority and color.

Task fields at a glance:

FieldDescription
Duration (days)How many working days this task takes. Set to 0 for milestones.
Statusnot_started · in_progress · completed · on_hold
Prioritylow · medium · high · critical
Progress0–100% — shown as a fill on the Gantt bar
ColorAccent color for the Gantt bar
ChecklistSub-items within a task (click the checklist icon)
Desired dateRequest a specific start date. Used if no dependencies push the task later.

5. Add milestones

A milestone marks an important event or decision point. It has no duration (0 days) and appears as a diamond on the Gantt. Create one by setting a task duration to 0 or by using the Milestone toggle in the task editor.

6. Link tasks with dependencies

Open a task, go to the Dependencies tab, and click + Add Predecessor. See the dependencies guide for all four types.

7. Save and share

LoopGantt auto-saves every change. To share the plan, use Export → PDF or Export → PNG from the toolbar.

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