OpenProj - Project Management Reviews

Leaving aside the issue of not being able to print to .pdf there is a real problem with printing gantt charts to a printer. It may be a cut down version of Microsoft Project but why cut out the ability to control the date one wants to print from. even near the end of a project when most tasks are comple it always prints from the start date of the project itself making it an absoluely useless tool for managing a project

Are there any updates available?

I think it's a good app. I like it.

Excelente aplicación. Muy completa. La única pega es que tienen que mejorar mucho la fluidez e intuitividad en el uso

I am unable to enter the three point time estimates in PERT. Anyone please help me by clarifying whether Open Project supports 3 point estimates, slack etc.. If it supports, tell me how to do it.

Available at www.openprojuserguide.com is a 44-page User Guide written in English with illustrations, screenshots and more, instantly downloadable as a PDF. There is also a sample with a full Table of Contents from the guide itself.

If opening serveral times, a nag message appears "try POS SaaS blahblh". Looks like shareware ...

Doesn't work with linux. Requieres "Sun Java" which doesn't exist anymore.

This is a stripped down version, but it does satisfy the "Open Source" test, if they have included ALL of the source code for what you see running. Even this stripped down version is very useful. One workaround for the PDF problem: print to a file, then run a ps2pdf program to convert it. A developer can add the missing functionality. If the owner for this project isn't active, then the code can be copied and start a new project (i.e. a code fork). I happen to have the source code for version 1.1, which does print pdfs, so a good java developer can reverse engineer the 1.1 code and add PDF printing back to the 1.4 code base. I don't know java, but if a developer is interested, then they can create a SF project and I'll upload the files, in the 19MB tarball, to CVS or Subversion.

Most disappointed that a so called "open source" software tries to get me to register for a product (that has ceased to exist, as far as I know) when I try to export to PDF. Thumbs DOWN.

It does have a bunch of useful features, so for free its OK, - worth the purchase price BUT its very obviously a stripped-down freeware version of a commercial product. That product- POD no longer exists, so given that the source code has been opened up it would be really helpful if someone (much cleverer than me ) could go in and enable the various greyed out features. Like others here i find the issues relating to PDF export and scaling quite irritating and have gone out and bought a copy of MS-Project mainly for this, a big part of the function of PM software is communication, and exporting / printing stuff out clearly is a big part of that. Yes there are workarounds. but having to use them detracts from what would otherwise be a decent package. I reject the concept that open source software should be regarded as low-quality crap for people who don't want to pay for real stuff. This package is almost excellent. a bit of work would make it so.

I am working with OpenProj since more than four years. And it is just great. Of course, you need to know how to plan a project and find a way to work around some functions that are not available. But for freeware this is just execllent. And now: An excellent English manual is available for download at www.openprojuserguide.com

I think most of you will get frustrated by this orphan program which has had no support since 2008. One of my project (pod) files opens one the pc at the office but not on the home pc. But other files open on both! And you can't export as a PDF unless yopu buy another version which is no longer available. So load primoPDF and you can make a PDF that way. I just downloaded a trial version of Project 2010 and intend to buy that after the trial. This is a case of "you get what you pay for"

great tool! Never got any problem with ms-project files. Just works fine! Thanks a lt.

Similar to mircosoft project. thanks for sharing this!!

Awesome job, many thanks for discussing

Thank you, thank you a million times. You can't imagine how critical continued support of this project is to my software and my livelihood. Keep up the good work, and kudos.

Of course it is not a perfect app, it hasn´t been updated for years, the intereface is not comfortable and it is difficult to customize, however it is free and multiplatform and by the way works correctly.

The software works quite nicely... must there be a grump in every crowd, really? http://www.pdflite.com/ There you go. I hope this alleviates the pandemonium and apocalyptic hysteria caused by not having one specific button to push for a .pdf export. :)

Does what I need. If you need to print to PDF, I suggest you install something along the lines of CutePDF Writer. You can then 'print' to CutePDF to generate your file. No need to purchase anything this way.

hello! I'm a new user, and I'd like to know if there is any user manual abailable. Thanks a lot

It is o.k.

Let me qualify myself, I am a PMP, and I don't work for Serena. Export to PDF.. Hmmm lets think about this a bit. Does it stop you from planning, assigning, leads and lags, etc.?....No. It gives you the tools that you need to support effective project scheduling. Is it multi-platform?.... Yes.. it runs on Linux and any system that has a JRE, whereas MS Project doesn't. Does it save your work?....Yes... not only to its own format, but to an XML format that may be sucked into other analysis tools. Is a Project Schedule out of date 30 seconds after your print it? ... Absolutely.. printing a "Gantt Wall" is a waste of paper, Gantt Charts have NEVER printed well. Time could be better spent on the front end creating a web site dashboard that sucks in the XML file saved, and places it on the screen via a collaborative software. I have seen several projects where they actually invested in a really expensive printers to print the Gantt Chart. With the kind of project that can afford that, the size of the project will demand a bigger printer, and a bigger wall.. It never works, and is quickly outdated. Is it freely available and usable by multiple members of a project team? Absolutely, I once came across a Program Manager that had to license 1000 copies of MS Project for his project team at significant cost. He nearly cried when I told him about Open Proj. Is the source provided if one desires to modify it? ... Yes it is... it is an open source product. It belongs in SourceForge. It is stupid to think otherwise. Not everything is free that is based on Open Source, Alfresco Enterprise for instance. I refer you back to Richard Stallman... "free as in freedom, not free beer", learn what Open Source is. Is Open Proj injured in such a way that it is unusable? ... No, the PDF aspect is annoying, but it does not prevent one from using it as a tool that may manage a project. Information derived from scheduling tools like Open Proj should be reported via a different media. The Gantt Chart should never be used as that media because it doesn't port well, and never has. Printing the Gantt is not the way a report should be done, and those who think otherwise have no idea as to how the tool should be used. Have Scheduling Tools ever been an effective communications medium? No, they have not. Microsoft built Project Server to supplement MS Project to handle the communication piece. Scheduling tools are outstanding tools to find the answers to scheduling problems, but they have never been intended to be communication tools or support communication via their Gantt Charts. Does Open Proj effectively compete with other scheduling tools out there? Absolutely! I prefer it over MS Project. Does Serena offer additional Project Management Tools that work alongside OpenProj? They do. They have a Program and Portfolio application. Microsoft only provides MS Project, and does not scale to support Programs or Portfolios in the same way that Serena does it. Though this costs money, if you need it, it is quite likely you are making money, and there should be no reason not to pay Serena for helping you be more effective, just as if you are saving money by not buying MS Project licensing, you can spend a little money for the PDF support. Open the walllet... let the moths fly out... and pay Serena so they can justify the business case for making project management software. Does it import MS Project .mpp files and offer comparable functions to MS Project? Yes it does. In short, the PDF function is a nit, not a dealbreaker. I would give this software three thumbs up, but I only have two to offer. If you want a stack of paper that you will throw away in a day, pay Serena and get the function..but don't b**** about it. The alternative in Microsoft is much more expensive over time. Awesome application!

Works as advertised. The export .pdf business is of no consequence to me. I work on a Mac and anything you want to print you can redirect to a .pdf instead. Surely there is software that lets you do that on other OSs?

To all those people who complain that OpenProj is not open source, you are just wrong. You can navigate to the Code menu, select Browse CVS and have a go at the source code to it all you want. You don't like that they include a shareware PDF converter, put in your own. The source is there. It is open. And the license (CPAL) pretty much lets you do what you want. Or if you are using Mac OS X, just print and then use the Save as PDF feature in OS X.