Gantt Chart (Gen 2)
Professional Gantt chart with hierarchy roll-ups, milestones, and critical path highlighting.
About Gantt Chart (Gen 2)
A professional-grade Gantt chart renderer supporting WBS hierarchies, task dependencies, and critical path analysis. Ideal for complex project management directly in the browser. All processing is 100% client-side.
How to Use
- Paste comprehensive data — copy Task ID, Name, Start, End, and optional Parent ID/Successors from Excel.
- Enable Hierarchy — the tool auto-indents tasks and creates summary roll-up bars based on Parent relationships.
- Identify Critical Path — toggle the CPM highlighter to instantly see the tasks that drive your project finish date.
- Manage Dependencies — define predecessor/successor relationships for a connected project network.
- Interactive Grid — use the toolbar to Expand or Collapse group tasks for high-level or granular views.
- Export — download your timeline as high-resolution PNG, SVG, or PDF for professional project documentation.
Common Use Cases
- Complex Infrastructure Scheduling — manage hundreds of hierarchical tasks and critical dependencies.
- Large-Scale Software Implementation — track development, testing, and deployment workstreams in a WBS.
- Resource-Constrained Project Planning — identify bottlenecks using critical path methodology (CPM).
- Executive Roadmap Presentations — collapse technical tasks into group roll-up bars for high-level reporting.
- Confidential Strategy Planning — build secure, private roadmaps without cloud-based project software.
Technical Details
Powered by Apache ECharts with a custom tree-grid implementation and client-side Critical Path Method (CPM) calculation. Features high-performance data parsing for large task lists.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I create a parent task?
- Add a 'ParentID' column in your data or indent task names. The tool will automatically roll up sub-task dates into the summary bar.
- What is the Critical Path?
- The Critical Path is the longest sequence of dependent tasks. Delaying any task on this path will delay the entire project.
Recovery Link — Re-edit Your Chart Later
What is the Recovery Link?
Every time you export a PPTX file, an encrypted recovery link is automatically embedded in your PowerPoint slide — hidden below the visible slide area so it never appears during presentations or printing. The recovery link contains your entire chart state: data, settings, colors, and column mapping — all encrypted so the content cannot be read by anyone, including Lokaltools.
Where to find it
Open your exported PPTX file in PowerPoint. In normal view (not presentation mode), scroll down below the slide. You will see a section labeled "Recovery Link" with a clickable URL and a copyable text box.
How to use it
- Copy the recovery link URL from below the slide
- Paste it into your browser address bar and press Enter
- The chart tool opens and your chart restores exactly as you left it — data, settings, and colors all intact
- Make your changes and export again
Is it secure?
Yes. The recovery link uses AES-256-GCM encryption — the same standard used by banks and password managers. The encrypted data is stored entirely in the URL's hash fragment (#...), which is never sent to any server — not even to Lokaltools. Decryption happens entirely in your browser. Your data is mathematically inaccessible to anyone who does not have the exact URL.
Tip: You can toggle the recovery link off using the "Recovery link" checkbox near the export buttons if you want a completely clean PPTX file with no additional content.
Embed URL — Interactive Chart for Presentations
What is the Embed URL?
The Embed URL opens a clean, interactive version of your chart in a browser — showing only the chart with no tool interface, no settings panel, and no export buttons. Tooltips and hover interactions work fully. The chart data is encrypted in the URL, just like the Recovery Link.
Where to find it
- Click the "🔗 Embed URL" button on the chart tool page — it copies the URL to your clipboard instantly
- The embed URL is also saved below the slide boundary in your exported PPTX file, labeled "Embed URL — interactive view"
Using the Embed URL in PowerPoint (Interactive Presentation)
You can embed a live interactive chart directly in a PowerPoint slide using the Microsoft Web Viewer add-in:
- In PowerPoint, go to Insert → Add-ins → Get Add-ins
- Search for "Web Viewer" and install it (free, from Microsoft AppSource)
- Insert the Web Viewer onto your slide
- Paste your Embed URL into the Web Viewer's URL field
- During presentation mode, the chart is fully interactive — hover for tooltips, click elements, and explore the data live
Requirements for PowerPoint interactive embed:
- Microsoft 365 (desktop or web) — required for add-in support
- Internet connection during presentation — the embed URL must be reachable
- For self-hosted deployments: the presenter's device must have access to your company intranet or VPN
If the Web Viewer add-in is not available in your organisation (common in enterprise environments where IT restricts add-ins), use PPTX Exact export instead — it always works without any add-in or internet connection.
Using the Embed URL in Other Tools
The Embed URL works anywhere that supports iframes or URL embeds:
- Notion — paste the URL as an embed block (type /embed in Notion)
- Confluence — use the HTML macro or iframe macro with the embed URL
- SharePoint — embed via the Embed web part
Any website or intranet page — use a standard HTML iframe:
<iframe
src="YOUR_EMBED_URL"
width="800"
height="500"
frameborder="0"
allowfullscreen>
</iframe>Note on self-hosted deployments: If your organisation uses the self-hosted version of Lokaltools on your intranet, embed URLs point to your internal domain. These will only work for viewers on your company network or VPN — which may be exactly what your IT security team requires.
Chart Colors — Brand-Consistent Palettes in Seconds
Most charting tools give you a fixed color palette you cannot change, or require you to manually pick every color one by one. Lokaltools uses a three-step color system that starts from your company's brand color and builds a complete, harmonious palette automatically.
Step 1 — Brand Anchor
Enter your company's primary brand color as a hex code (e.g. #0066CC) in the Brand Anchor field. This is typically your main logo color, primary button color, or the dominant color from your brand guidelines. The brand anchor color is used as the starting point for all palette generation. Every color in your chart traces back to this single input — so your chart always feels on-brand without manual color selection.
Step 2 — Harmony
The Harmony dropdown selects the color theory rule used to generate the remaining chart colors from your brand anchor. Each harmony produces a different relationship between colors.
| Harmony | What it produces | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Analogous | Colors adjacent on the color wheel — subtle, cohesive | Single-theme data, when colors should feel similar |
| Complementary | Two colors directly opposite — high contrast | Two-series comparisons, positive vs negative |
| Triadic (Balanced) | Three evenly spaced colors — vivid but balanced | Most business charts, 3-6 data series |
| Split Complementary | One anchor + two colors flanking its complement | Good contrast without full complementary tension |
| Tetradic | Four colors forming a rectangle on the wheel — rich | Charts with 4+ series needing maximum distinction |
Triadic (Balanced) is the default and works well for most business presentations. Switch to Analogous for a more subtle, conservative look, or Complementary when you want two data series to visually contrast strongly (e.g. budget vs actual).
Step 3 — Generated Swatches (Manual Override)
Below the harmony selector, the tool displays 5–6 generated color swatches — these are the actual colors that will appear on your chart. If any individual color does not work, click that swatch to open a color picker and replace it with any color you choose. Manual overrides are preserved in the recovery link.
Background mode (Light / Dark toggle): switches the palette lightness to suit your slide background. This adjusts the generated colors automatically so they remain readable.
Tips for Brand Color Usage
- Finding your exact brand hex code: Check your company's brand guidelines PDF, or right-click your company logo on the website → Inspect → find the CSS color value.
- When to use Analogous vs Triadic: Use Analogous when your chart has one dominant message and you want colors to feel unified. Use Triadic when each series represents a genuinely different thing (e.g. Revenue, Cost, Profit).
- Matching exported chart colors to your PowerPoint template: The PPTX Exact export preserves colors pixel-perfectly — what you see in the browser is exactly what appears in your PowerPoint slide.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does this tool work offline?
- Yes — once the page has loaded, the tool works fully without an internet connection. The only exception is the Embed URL interactive view, which requires the chart tool page to be reachable when the embed is displayed.
- Can I use this for confidential or sensitive data?
- Yes. Your data is processed entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. It is never sent to Lokaltools servers or any third party. This makes the tool suitable for financial data, patient data, legal documents, and any other sensitive information.
- What data formats can I paste?
- Copy cells directly from Excel, Google Sheets, or Apple Numbers and paste — the tool auto-detects the format. CSV file upload is also supported. Data copied from web pages or PDFs may not paste correctly — clean it in Excel first.
- How do I find my company's brand hex color?
- Check your company's brand guidelines document or open your company website, right-click the logo or a branded button, select "Inspect", and look for a CSS color value starting with #.
- Can I save my brand color so I don't have to re-enter it every time?
- The brand anchor color is saved in the Recovery Link along with all other chart settings. Export your chart, then use the Recovery Link next time to restore your brand color automatically.
- Why does the PPTX Editable chart look different from the browser preview?
- PowerPoint renders charts using its own engine, which is separate from the browser rendering engine. Fonts, spacing, and grid lines may differ slightly. Use PPTX Exact if you need the chart to look exactly as it does in the browser.
- Is the Recovery Link permanent?
- The Recovery Link works as long as Lokaltools is accessible. The encrypted data is stored in the URL itself — not on any server — so there is no expiry.
- Can I share the Recovery Link with a colleague?
- Yes — anyone with the link can restore the chart. Treat the Recovery Link like a shared document: share only with people who should have access to the underlying data.
- What is the difference between Recovery Link and Embed URL?
- The Recovery Link opens the full chart tool with your data pre-loaded — you can edit and re-export. The Embed URL opens a view-only interactive chart with no editing capability.
Privacy & Security
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your data follows this path: Your spreadsheet → Your browser → Your exported file. Nothing else. No upload step. No server processing. No analytics on your data content.
The recovery link and embed URL use AES-256-GCM encryption. The encryption key and encrypted data are both stored in the URL hash fragment — the part after #. Hash fragments are a browser privacy feature: they are never included in HTTP requests and therefore never appear in any server log, anywhere, ever.
For organisations requiring formal confirmation: Lokaltools cannot read your data, does not store your data, and has no technical mechanism to access your data even if legally compelled to do so. This is not a policy — it is an architectural fact.
Technical Details
Powered by Apache ECharts for high-performance canvas rendering, PapaParse for intelligent CSV and tab-separated data parsing, and PptxGenJS for native OOXML chart objects. Magic link encryption uses the browser's built-in Web Crypto API (AES-256-GCM) with pako compression — no external encryption library required. All processing is 100% client-side. No data is transmitted at any point.
100% Private & Secure
This tool runs entirely in your browser using client-side technology. Your files and data are never sent to a server, ensuring 100% privacy and speed.