PlantUML is usually seen as a UML-only tool, but it also draws three scheduling views every PM uses: timeline, Gantt, WBS. This article covers all three.
@startuml title Q3 2026 launch cadence concise "Mon" as M concise "Wed" as W concise "Fri" as F
@0 M is Jun 21 @30 W is Jun 30 [v0 spec review passed] @50 F is Jul 10 [code review] @70 M is Jul 20 [dev kickoff] @80 W is Aug 1 [staging validation] @100 F is Aug 10 [production launch]
@startuml title One-month dev schedule concise "Mon" as Mon concise "Tue" as Tue concise "Wed" as Wed concise "Thu" as Thu concise "Fri" as Fri concise "Sat" as Sat concise "Sun" as Sun
@0 Mon is [<start> 7/1] design Sat is [7/3] req complete
@5 Wed is [<start> design] api
@10 Fri is [<start> api] integration
@15 Sun is [release]
@20 @enduml
Gantt
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@startuml projectscale daily
title Launch timeline hide resources
[Requirements] lasts 2 days [Design] lasts 3 days [Development] lasts 14 days [QA] lasts 7 days [Integration] lasts 3 days [Launch] lasts 1 day
@enduml
projectscale daily sets the time unit to days.
Dependencies
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@startuml projectscale daily title Task dependencies
[Design] as [D] lasts 3 days [Code] as [C] lasts 5 days [QA] as [T] lasts 3 days
[Design done] happens at [D]'s end [Code done] happens at [C]'s end [Code done] -> [QA start] @enduml
-> describes a prerequisite link.
Milestones
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@startuml projectscale monthly title Release planning
[Alpha] lasts 14 days [Beta] lasts 14 days [GA] lasts 14 days
[Alpha launch] happens 1 days after [Alpha]'s end [Beta launch] happens 1 days after [Beta]'s end [GA launch] happens 1 days after [GA]'s end
@enduml
Calendar dates
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@startuml projectscale weekly
[Project kickoff] starts 2026-08-01 [Requirements] lasts 14 days [Design] lasts 14 days [Sprint 1] lasts 21 days [Sprint 2] lasts 21 days [Regression] lasts 7 days
@enduml
starts <date> aligns to a real calendar.
WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
WBS uses tree syntax to decompose a project into sub-tasks.
@startuml title Sprint 12 plan (Aug 1-14, 2026) projectscale daily hide resources
[Requirements review] lasts 2 days [Design] lasts 3 days then [Development] [Backend dev] as [BE] lasts 9 days [Frontend dev] as [FE] lasts 9 days [Integration] as [INT] lasts 3 days [Regression] as [TEST] lasts 3 days
[Dev kickoff] happens at [BE]'s start [Mid-sprint sync] happens at [BE]'s 5 days + [FE]'s 5 days [Integration done] happens at [INT]'s end [Release] happens at [TEST]'s end
