Two Modes, Two Data Models
The fundamental difference is the data source. The Work Items Gantt reads from Polarion work items directly. The Plans Gantt reads from Polarion Plans (releases, iterations, sprints) and optionally displays work items nested within those plans.
Think of it this way: the Work Items Gantt is like scheduling individual deliverables on a timeline, while the Plans Gantt is like scheduling the containers (milestones, releases, sprints) that group those deliverables.
Work Items Gantt
The Work Items Gantt widget (Gantt (Work Items)) is the primary scheduling tool. It displays Polarion work items as task bars on an interactive timeline with full support for:
- Field mappings for start date, end date, duration, and progress via configurable
Start Field, End Field, Duration Field, and Progress Field parameters
- Hierarchical display using
Parent Role to define which Polarion link roles establish parent-child relationships
- Dependency links using
Dependency Role to define which link roles create scheduling dependencies (the first selected role is used when creating new links by dragging)
- Baselines for comparing the current schedule against historical snapshots
- Resource view with capacity planning and multiple load calculation modes
- Working calendars for calendar-aware scheduling
The data source is a standard Polarion dataset configured via the chart parameters. You define which work items appear using queries, collections, or scope filters.
| Aspect | Work Items Gantt |
|---|
| Data source | Polarion work items |
| Hierarchy | Link roles (configurable) |
| Dependencies | Link roles with FS/SS/FF/SF types |
| Date fields | Configurable custom fields |
| Resources | Assignee field or custom field |
| Baselines | Supported |
Plans Gantt
The Plans Gantt widget (Gantt (Plans)) renders Polarion Plans as first-class entities on the Gantt chart. Plans appear as top-level bars, and sub-plans can be loaded to multiple levels using the Load Children parameter.
Key characteristics of the Plans Gantt:
- Plans as bars — Each Polarion Plan (release, iteration, sprint) appears as a task bar with its own start and end dates
- Plan hierarchy — Sub-plans appear as children of their parent plan. The
Load Children parameter controls how many levels deep the hierarchy goes (0 means only top-level plans)
- Optional work items — The
Show Plan Work Item section enables displaying work items within plans, with separate field mappings for Start Field, End Field, Duration Field, Progress Field, Parent Role, and Dependency Role
- Show Unplanned — Plans without dates can optionally appear at today’s date in gray, or be hidden entirely
- Longer timescales — Plans typically use weekly, monthly, or yearly scales rather than the daily scale common in Work Items Gantt
Plans themselves do not support typed dependency links. Only work items displayed within plans can have dependency arrows. Dependency link operations are delegated to the underlying work item relationships.
When to Use Each Mode
| Use case | Recommended mode |
|---|
| Sprint task scheduling | Work Items Gantt |
| Resource capacity planning | Work Items Gantt |
| Release and iteration roadmap | Plans Gantt |
| Cross-team release planning | Plans Gantt |
| Detailed dependency tracking | Work Items Gantt |
| Portfolio-level overview | Plans Gantt |
- Release (Plan) > Iteration (Plan) > Work Package (Work Item) > Task (Work Item)
The Load Children parameter controls how deep into this hierarchy the Gantt loads. Setting it to 3 loads all four levels in this example.
Presentation Modes Apply to Both
Both chart modes support Presentation Modes that control how individual work item types are rendered. A work item can appear as a regular task bar (Item), a summary bracket (Derived Schedule), a diamond milestone (Milestone), or be automatically determined based on whether it has children (Auto-Mode).
Users sometimes expect the Plans Gantt to display full parent-child work item hierarchies within a plan. Currently, plans can show their direct work items, but nested work item hierarchies under those items have limitations. If you need deep work item hierarchy display, use the Work Items Gantt with appropriate Parent Role and Load Children configuration.
Combining Both Views
Many teams use both modes on different Polarion pages. A project manager might use the Plans Gantt for release-level roadmap planning and the Work Items Gantt for detailed sprint scheduling. Since both read from the same Polarion data, changes made in one view are reflected in the other on the next load.
