We are happy to continue sharing our users’ experience in implementing DHTMLX components in their projects. And this time we would like to introduce a project management add-on for vTiger CRM that was built by VGS Global using dhtmlxGantt.
vTiger CRM is an Open Source CRM software built in PHP and Mysql, used mainly by small and medium-sized businesses. Vtiger CRM can be used to manage your company’s customer related data, inventory, support and project managements activities.
Using the Gantt Chart library, VGS team managed to develop a new extension module that improves vtiger’s project management capabilities by adding a full drag and drop gantt chart, on top of the CRM project module.
One of the most useful features of the dhtmlxGantt library is the ability to move, resize and set the progress for each task directly in the gantt chart. This information will be updated in vtiger database. This means that without leaving the screen, the user can re-schedule, update the progress, change the start date or length of each task. It is also possible to create new tasks by using the DHTMLX built in form.
The Challenge
The challenge of the project was to create an easy way to manage the projects and daily tasks, without changing the vtiger source code and being full browser compatible. Also, VGS needed to provide the users with editing capabilities. These two necessities required a fully feature gantt library that allows to easily create callbacks and not only create an image of the project tasks.
Why DHTMLX
The development team has been familiar with DHTMLX component Suite on numerous projects. The most appreciated features of the DHTMLX library are the perfectly integrated set of standard user interface components, a well designed API easy to understand and the really extensive documentation that really speeds up the development.
For this particular project, all they needed to do was to build a json array with the project information, and the gantt was already there. Using the big list of available events, the team manages to easily update vtiger database with the DHTMLX callbacks, providing a seamless experience to the final user.
Ready to share your projects? Contact us to get the details.