Gantt LWC - Set Project Baseline

Last Modified On: February 12, 2025

Inspire Planner provides you with the ability to set your project baselines. A project baseline is a reference point that captures the original plan for the project schedule. It's used to compare the project's current progress against the plan, and to help identify issues and areas for improvement. 

You can set up to five (5) baselines in Inspire Planner.

Please note:

This help article has been updated to include support for multiple baselines. Support for multiple baselines (up to 5 baselines) will be available with the FEB 2025 Major Release which will be available in Production environments on March 4, 2025. 

Set the Project Baseline

The best time to set the baseline is after the initial planning is done for your project. To set the baseline, click on the Set New Baseline icon within the Project Toolbar on the left.

Select which baseline you are setting (choose from baseline 1 to 5).

If a baseline has not been set for the project, select "All Tasks". This will set the baseline for all tasks within the project. If you've previously set the baseline, and have added new tasks since, you will then select "New tasks only". Click on Ok to continue setting the baseline.

Please note:

If there is already an existing baseline, setting the baseline again for all tasks will overwrite it.

The project will display an "Unsaved changes detected" message. You will need to save the project to save the baselines. If you leave the project without saving, the project baseline is not saved.

Show Baseline Columns in the Project Schedule

To see the baseline fields (1-5) in the project schedule, simply right-click on any column heading, go to Columns, and select the baselines you would like to see (baseline 1-5).

Each baseline is automatically collapsed by default to provide a cleaner project view.

Click on the arrow to expand each baseline.

When you expand, all baseline fields will be displayed.

Click on the arrow to collapse.

Show Baseline Task Bars in Gantt Chart

You can view the baseline task bars within the Gantt chart once you've established a baseline for your project. To view the baseline task bars, click on the Show Baseline Task Bars icon within the Project Toolbar on the left.

Select which baselines you would like to display.

The baseline task bars will be displayed in red if there is variance between the baseline and the current schedule. 

If you hover over the baseline task bar, it will display the baseline number (1-5), baseline start date, baseline finish date, and baseline duration for the task. It will also tell you if the task is delayed and by how many days.

To hide the baseline task bars, click on the Show Baseline Task Bars icon within the Project Toolbar on the left.

Then, de-select the baselines to hide them.

Viewing Project Dates

To see project dates such as project start date, finish date, duration, and baseline dates, navigate to the Details Tab.

Scroll through the page. Look for the section labeled "Project Dates".

• Start Date - This is the current project start date. This value is a rollup of the earliest task start date.
   
• Finish Date - This is the current project finish date. This value is a rollup of the latest task finish date.
   
• Actual Duration - This is the current number of days the project will take based on project start and finish dates.
   
• Baseline Start Date - This is the original planned start date of the project, which is baseline 1 for project tasks.
   
• Baseline Finish Date - This is the original planned finish date of the project, which is baseline 1 for project tasks.
   
• Baseline Duration - This is the original number of days the project will take based on project baseline 1 start and finish dates.
   
• Start Variance (calculated by taking the difference between Project Start Date and Project Baseline Start Date) - Represents the difference between the baseline start date of the project and its currently scheduled start date.
   
• Finish Variance (calculated by taking the difference between Project Finish Date and Project Baseline Finish Date) - Represents the difference between the baseline finish date of the project and its currently scheduled finish date.
   
• Slippage - The number of days the project has slipped against the baseline. This is the difference between the actual duration and the baseline duration. A negative value means that the project was completed ahead of schedule.
   
• % Slippage - defines the percentage the project has slipped against the baseline. A negative value means that the project was completed ahead of schedule.

Please note:

• The Baseline Start Date, Baseline Finish Date and Baseline Duration of the project are rolled up from baseline 1 of project tasks.
   
• For each project task, you are able to see the project task baseline start date (for baseline 1-5), baseline finish date (for baseline 1-5), baseline duration (for baseline 1-5), start variance (difference between current project task start date and baseline start date) for baselines 1-5, and finish variance (difference between current project finish date and baseline finish date) for baselines 1-5.