Overview of ProjectLibre

ProjectLibre is an open source and Cloud company led by Marc O’Brien and Laurent Chretienneau intended as an alternative to commercial software like Microsoft Project. It is free software, just as the name implies, but it is also compatible with any other project management software that can read and write xml-formatted documents. Obviously, that includes MS Project, as well as several other such software products. Join the Community:

• Global User Group
• Facebook Community
• YouTube Channel
• Twitter

ProjectLibre features include: task management, work breakdown structure generation (a list and a graphical representation), resource allocation and tracking, and Gantt charts that provide a clear view of the critical path elements of the schedule. Obviously, this list of features is not intended to be comprehensive and there is nothing remarkably unique about this list. Indeed it is appropriate to carefully define some of the terminology frequently used in project management before elaborating on the capabilities of ProjectLibre, since the use of these terms is not completely uniform, neither in project management software nor in organizational usage.

Installing and Running ProjectLibre

Installing ProjectLibre on a single computer is quite straightforward. For Windows systems, go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/projectlibre/, download the Windows .msi file (currently about 12.1 Mb in size. When the download is complete, double click on the file to open it and follow the instructions from the installer, that are initiated from the installation wizard shown in figure 2. Then, simply complete the installation following the directions on the screen.

Figure 2. Installer opening dialog box for setup wizard

If ProjectLibre is downloaded from the Sourceforge site listed above logged into a Linux machine, projectlibre .tar.gz is the downloaded file. This file is a compressed file containing the usable files that must be extracted into a convenient folder on your machine. The notes file in this archive, “readme.html” contains the instructions for installing on both Windows and on Linux:

Running ProjectLibre 1.98

Requirements:

ProjectLibre uses Java version 6 or later.; for now, the 32-bit version is required.

To see what version you have, check out this page:

http://www.java.com/en/download/help/testvm.xml

You can download java here:

http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

Installation:

Unzip the files to the folder of your choice.

Windows: The installer creates shortcuts for you. Alternatively, click on projectlibre.jar (or projectlibre.bat)** Mac**: Click on projectlibre.jar** Linux**: Open a terminal, go to the ProjectLibre folder and run ./projectlibre.sh (assuming you downloaded the tar.gz archive). If you get a permission denied message, do “chmod +x projectlibre.sh”, this will let you run the shell script. You can also run with the command “sh projectlibre.sh”, projectlibre.sh will report an error if it doesn’t find a valid Java installation on your system.

On some distributions Java Runtime Environment (JRE) isn’t installed by default, but it’s often provided as an optional package.

This sequence of commands might look like this: (You do not need to be root.)

Figure 3. Running ProjectLibre in Linux

Starting and Saving Projects

After starting the ProjectLibre program, a window opens and asks whether to open an existing project or to create a new project, see figure below.

Figure. Welcome window

Alternatively you may open an existing .pod or .xml file or create a new one, use the commands on the top left of the redesigned ProjectLibre page (magenta rectangle below). Left click on either “Open” or “New” to start this process.

Figure 4. First step in opening or creating a project management file

Selecting “New” in the dialog box pops up another dialogue box (figure 5); its primary purpose is to name the new project. The only entry that must be filled in is the name (if you fail to name the new project, a “Nag” box (also shown in figure 5) pops up. You may want to list the manager’s name, change the date or add notes in the provided spaces. Once you have made the desired entries, click “ok” to proceed. The “Forward scheduled” box can be unchecked if you do not wish to use a fixed Finish Date. Unchecking the “Forward scheduled” box changes the date entry box to “Finish Date:” which specifies the fixed Finish Date for your project. Selecting “Help” in the bottom right box invokes the online help Once you have completed your entries and chosen “ok”, the program takes you directly to the screen for starting your work plan (figure 6). This screen is the one to which you are directed if you choose “Open” (in figure 4) rather than “New”. Now, new project task entry lines are blank as in figure

Figure 5. Naming and defining a new project

Notice that this blank file is very similar to most other project planning file templates and is ready for you to begin entering tasks, resources, and schedule information. The right half of the window is the space where the Gantt schedule and its various entries will appear as you define the schedule. The calendar is set to the default at this point (more on altering the calendar later.)

Figure 6. A new project ready for the user to make entries

Saving a project in the native format for ProjectLibre is extremely simple. Looking at figure 6, clicking on the “Save” tag or clicking on File menu then Save icon, saves this example as a “Example.pod” file. That type of file is native to ProjectLibre and gives the highest reliability for capturing and retaining all the information you have entered.

Figure 7. Use of “Save as” under the “File” button

Alternatively, clicking on “Save as” allows you to save your work in the alternative Microsoft Project .xml format, after popping up a dialog box like the one shown in figure 7. Of course, you can also change the name of the file by typing in your choice of names in the “File Name” box. If you leave the .pod extension as part of the name, ProjectLibre appends the .xml suffix to the name typed. For example, selecting “Save” in figure 7 creates a new file named AFE61_DTW_mini_PRA_subtask_Rev-1.pod.xml.

Finally, “Close” is the last of the choices under this left-hand block of functions. Selecting “Close” does just what the name implies. The file that is open is closed, retaining the name, which it is currently carrying. If the file has not been saved with a file name before this closure, a window pops up to remind the user to name the file (figure 8). If “No” is selected here, the file closes with the name assigned when it was opened, discarding any modifications made after the file was last saved. Choosing “Cancel” simply puts you back into the editing mode and closes the dialog box.

Figure 8. Warning regarding saving changes made to a file

All in all, these file opening and saving functions under the primary “File” button on the upper command bar are quite intuitive to use; there are no surprises.

Resources and community

▶️ Video Introduction: Watch on YouTube

📺 YouTube Channel: ProjectLibre YouTube

🐦 Follow Us on Twitter: @ProjectLibre

📘 Join the Facebook Group: ProjectLibre Community

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