In the attention economy of modern web applications, clarity is a currency. Whether you’re building tools for startups racing toward MVPs or managing construction timelines for billion-dollar infrastructure, showing project timelines visually with all their shifting parts and dependencies isn’t a luxury. It’s essential.
While full-scale project management suites abound, developers often seek something simpler: an embeddable, highly customizable open-source JavaScript Gantt chart they can plug into their own applications.
This article focuses on how and why to do just that, with an emphasis on the open-source edition of DHTMLX Gantt, one of the most mature and feature-rich options available to developers today.
Why Add a Gantt Chart to Your Web App?
From internal dashboards and product roadmaps to civil engineering software, Gantt charts are indispensable wherever teams need to see what’s happening, what’s next, and what depends on what. Their clarity transforms spreadsheets into strategy. They make complexity legible.
In web apps, embedding such visual tools empowers users to manage tasks, visualize dependencies, and adjust plans dynamically – all in-browser. And when done well, they feel less like widgets and more like windows into real-world workflows.
What to Look for in an Open-Source Gantt Library
A robust Gantt library should offer core features out of the box, including:
- draggable task bars,
- dependency lines,
- zoom controls,
- responsive layout, and more.
But developers also need an extensible API and integration flexibility to work with React, Angular, and Vue. Performance matters, too, especially when charts grow to hundreds or thousands of tasks.
Bonus points go to libraries offering critical path calculation, export options, or resource tracking – all of which DHTMLX Gantt supports in various editions. The library is part of a broader suite of JavaScript components designed to handle complex UI challenges, from calendars and charts to complex data grids and kanban boards.
Step-by-Step: Adding DHTMLX Gantt to a Web App
Adding a Gantt chart to your web application doesn’t have to mean wrestling with bloated toolkits or locked-down SaaS APIs. With DHTMLX Gantt, you can embed an interactive, customizable timeline into your project using several straightforward methods – all with the open-source Standard edition.
Here’s how to get started:
1. Install via npm.
npm install dhtmlx-ganttThis brings the GPL-licensed Standard version directly into your project. After installation, include the JavaScript and CSS in your app’s build process or link them manually.
2. Use a CDN.
Prefer not to install anything? You can link DHTMLX Gantt directly from their CDN:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://cdn.dhtmlx.com/gantt/edge/dhtmlxgantt.css" type="text/css">
<script src="http://cdn.dhtmlx.com/gantt/edge/dhtmlxgantt.js"></script>
This is the quickest way to prototype or add Gantt functionality to a static HTML page.
3. Install via Bower or NuGet.
bower install ganttnuget install DHTMLX.Ganttinstall-package DHTMLX.Gantt4. Download the GPL Package Manually.
<script type="text/javascript" src="codebase/dhtmlxgantt.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="codebase/dhtmlxgantt.css">
<div id="gantt_here" style='width:1000px; height:400px;'></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
gantt.init("gantt_here");
</script>
