WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)

Project management made incredibly simple.

Creating a WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) used to require Excel or MS Project. With PinotWalk, it's all done in your browser.
With intuitive drag-and-drop operations, anyone can create a professional project plan in just 5 minutes.

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📊 What is WBS?

Work Breakdown Structure is a methodology for breaking down projects into smaller tasks and managing them hierarchically.

Why Do You Need WBS?

• ✅ Visualize Progress: See task completion status at a glance
• ✅ Prevent Oversights: Breaking down the whole prevents missed tasks
• ✅ Clear Role Assignment: Manage who does what by when in one view
• ✅ Schedule Management: Visualize timelines with Gantt charts

PinotWalk WBS Features

Feature	Description	Difference from Traditional Tools
🚀 Incredibly Easy	Edit cells like Excel	No complex setup like MS Project
💼 Professional Grade	Compliant with enterprise PMO standards	Consultant-quality output
📈 Built-in Gantt Chart	Schedules automatically visualized	Excel requires manual drawing
🌐 Open Format	Saved as .wbs (JSON)	No vendor lock-in
👥 Team Sharing	All Space members can view in real-time	No more email attachments

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🎯 What You Can Do

✅ Basic WBS Functions

• Hierarchical Task Management (Parent Task → Child Task → Grandchild Task...)
• 13 Column Types (Text, Date, User, Status, Progress Rate, Hours, etc.)
• Status Management (Not Started / In Progress / Completed / Blocked)
• Progress Visualization (Progress bar display)
• Assignee Assignment (User selection available)

✅ Gantt Chart (Calendar View)

• Parallel Display of Planned and Actual
• Automatic Calendar Range Calculation (Earliest start to latest end date)
• Two-tier Month/Day Header (YYYY-MMM format)
• Task Bar Visualization (Light blue = Planned, Dark color = Actual)
• Milestone Display (Highlight important milestones)

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📤 Creating a WBS File

• Creating a WBS means you probably have a project and are involved in its management.
• You'll likely create a Team to centrally manage the project and a Space for planning and managing the WBS and other project activities.
• On the Space screen, you'll find the [+WBS] button right next to the Files title on the left side.
• This button opens up the world of WBS!

How to: Create a New WBS

1. Navigate to the Space Page

   • Team detail page → Spaces tab → Click on your target Space

2. Open the Files Tab

   • Click on the "Files" tab

3. Click "+WBS"

   • Once the WBS opens, you can start editing in an Excel-like interface.

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📊 How to Use the WBS Viewer

Basic Screen Layout

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  WBS: Project Name                           📊 Stats Panel   │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────┬──────┬──────┬────────┬──────┬─────────────────┐ │
│  │Task Name │Status│Owner │Start   │End   │ Gantt Chart     │ │
│  ├──────────┼──────┼──────┼────────┼──────┼─────────────────┤ │
│  │ ▼ Phase1 │Done  │Yamada│01/15   │02/28 │■■■■■■■■■■│ │
│  │   Req.Def│Done  │Suzuki│01/15   │01/31 │ ■■■■          │ │
│  │   Design │Done  │Sato  │02/01   │02/28 │      ■■■■■■│ │
│  │ ▼ Phase2 │WIP   │Tanaka│03/01   │05/31 │          ████  │ │
│  │   Dev    │WIP   │Takaha│03/01   │04/30 │          ■■■  │ │
│  │   Test   │To Do │Watana│05/01   │05/31 │                │ │
│  └──────────┴──────┴──────┴────────┴──────┴─────────────────┘ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Stats Panel

Displays an overview of the entire WBS:

• Total Tasks: Total number of tasks
• Root Tasks: Number of top-level tasks (tasks without a parent)
• Max Depth: Depth of hierarchy (maximum number of levels)
• Columns: Number of columns

Tree View Operations

Expand/Collapse Tasks

• Click ▼ button → Show/hide child tasks
• Expand All → Click "Expand All" button at the top
• Collapse All → Click "Collapse All" button at the top

Status Badges

Task status is displayed with colors:

Status	Display	Color
Completed	COMPLETED	🟢 Green
In Progress	IN_PROGRESS	🟠 Orange
Not Started	NOT_STARTED	⚪ Gray
Blocked	BLOCKED	🔴 Red

Progress Bar

Task progress is displayed visually:

0%    ░░░░░░░░░░ (empty)
25%   ██░░░░░░░░ (light blue bar)
50%   █████░░░░░
75%   ███████░░░
100%  ██████████ (dark bar)

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📅 Gantt Chart Features

Calendar View

Two-Row Header Structure

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         2026-Jan          │         2026-Feb          │
├──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┼──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┬──┤
│ 1│ 2│ 3│ 4│ 5│...│30│31│ │ 1│ 2│ 3│ 4│...│27│28│ │
└──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┴──┘

• Row 1: Month header (YYYY-MMM format, e.g., 2026-Jan)
• Row 2: Dates (1–31)

Understanding Task Bars

Planned and Actual shown in parallel:

Planned:  ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  (light color, top row)
Actual:       ██████████  (dark color, bottom row)

• Top row (light color): Planned period (Planned Start – Planned Due)
• Bottom row (dark color): Actual period (Actual Start – Actual Due)

Visualizing Delays:

• Actual bar exceeds Planned → Delay detected (shown in red)
• Actual bar within Planned → On track (shown in green)

Zoom Level

Switch the Gantt chart display granularity:

• Day: Daily view (default)
• Week: Weekly aggregated view
• Month: Monthly aggregated view

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🎨 Customizing Columns

Default Columns (13 Types)

PinotWalk WBS comes with 13 standard columns based on project management best practices:

カラム名	型	説明
WBS No.	text	WBS number (e.g., 1.1.1)
Task Name	text	Task name (required)
Status	select	Status (Not Started / In Progress / Completed / Blocked)
Owner	user	Assignee
Team	team	Team in charge
Planned Start	date	Planned start date
Planned Due	date	Planned end date
Actual Start	date	Actual start date
Actual Due	date	Actual end date
Planned Hours	number	Planned hours
Actual Hours	number	Actual hours
Progress	number	Progress (0–100%)
Notes	textarea	Notes/remarks

Adding Columns (Coming Soon)

You can add custom columns:

• Budget column (currency): { type: "currency", currency: "JPY" }
• Priority (select): { type: "select", options: ["High", "Medium", "Low"] }
• URL (url): { type: "url" }
• Email (email): { type: "email" }

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💡 Use Cases

Software Development Project

【Phase 1】Requirements & Design
  ├─ User Interviews
  ├─ Requirements Document
  ├─ System Design
  └─ Database Design
【Phase 2】Development
  ├─ Backend Development
  │   ├─ API Design
  │   ├─ Authentication
  │   └─ Database Setup
  ├─ Frontend Development
  │   ├─ UI/UX Design
  │   ├─ Component Implementation
  │   └─ Screen Navigation
  └─ Infrastructure Setup
【Phase 3】Testing & Release
  ├─ Unit Testing
  ├─ Integration Testing
  ├─ User Acceptance Testing
  └─ Production Release

Construction Project

【Phase 1】Basic Design
  ├─ Geological Survey
  ├─ Architectural Design
  └─ Structural Design
【Phase 2】Construction
  ├─ Foundation Work
  ├─ Structural Work
  ├─ Interior Work
  └─ Facility Installation
【Phase 3】Inspection & Handover
  ├─ Completion Inspection
  ├─ Remediation Work
  └─ Handover

Research Project

【Phase 1】Literature Review
【Phase 2】Experiment Planning
  ├─ Experiment Design
  ├─ Material Procurement
  └─ Preliminary Experiment
【Phase 3】Main Experiment
  ├─ Data Collection
  ├─ Data Analysis
  └─ Result Verification
【Phase 4】Paper Writing
  ├─ First Draft
  ├─ Peer Review Response
  └─ Final Submission

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🚀 Pro Tips

Tip 1: Automatic WBS Numbering

WBS numbers (e.g., 1.1.1) are automatically generated from the hierarchy.

1. Phase 1                  → WBS No. = "1"
  1.1 Requirements          → WBS No. = "1.1"
    1.1.1 Interviews        → WBS No. = "1.1.1"
    1.1.2 Spec Document     → WBS No. = "1.1.2"
  1.2 Design              → WBS No. = "1.2"
2. Phase 2              → WBS No. = "2"

No manual setup required.

Tip 2: Identify the Critical Path

Use the Gantt chart to find the sequence of tasks with zero slack.

• Work backwards from the final deadline to identify "if this task slips, the whole project slips"
• Watch for tasks where Actual bar exceeds Planned

Tip 3: Use in Progress Meetings

Share WBS in weekly progress meetings:

1. Completed tasks → Change to ✅ COMPLETED
2. In-progress tasks → 🟠 IN_PROGRESS, update Progress %
3. Delayed tasks → Reset Actual Due, add reason in Notes
4. Blocked tasks → Change to 🔴 BLOCKED, note the cause

Auto-saves after the meeting — no need to write meeting minutes.

Tip 4: Filter by Owner

Coming soon:

• Filter by "Owner = Yamada"
• Display task list per assignee

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🔒 Access Control

Permissions

WBS files are accessible only to Space members.

• Space Member (MEMBER): View & edit
• Space Viewer (VIEWER): View only
• Space Admin (ADMIN): Full access (including delete)

Sharing with Team

1. Go to Space details → "Members" tab
2. Click "Add Member"
3. Select the user to add
4. Choose role (ADMIN / MEMBER / VIEWER)
5. Done

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📊 Why Use PinotWalk WBS?

❌ Problems with Traditional Tools

Tool	Issues
Excel	・Gantt charts require manual drawing ・Version control is chaotic (email attachment hell) ・No simultaneous multi-user editing
MS Project	・Expensive (USD 700+/year) ・Complex UI (steep learning curve) ・Cloud sharing is inconvenient
Asana/Trello	・Not WBS format (Kanban style) ・Weak hierarchical structure ・Gantt charts only in paid plans

✅ PinotWalk WBS Advantages

Feature	Benefit
🆓 Completely Free	No additional charges, all features available
🚀 Ready in 5 Minutes	No complex setup, drag & drop to start immediately
💼 Professional Grade	13 columns compliant with enterprise PMO standards
🌐 Access Anywhere	Works in browser only, no installation required
👥 Real-time Sharing	All team members can view and discuss the same screen
🔓 Open Format	.wbs (JSON) format, easily migrate to other tools in the future
📈 Auto-generated Gantt Chart	Just enter dates, visualization is automatic

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🔧 Troubleshooting

Q1: Gantt Chart Not Displaying

Cause:

• Start date and end date are not entered

Solution:

1. Enter "Planned Start" and "Planned Due" for at least one task
2. Reload the page

Q2: File Size Too Large to Upload

Limit:

• WBS file: Up to 10MB

Solution:

• Delete unnecessary sheets
• Remove images and charts
• Split the project into multiple WBS files

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📚 Related Resources

For Users

• Space Files (File Management)
• Team & Organization Management

For Developers

• WBS JSON Format Specification
• WBS Architecture Design Principles
• Gantt Chart Specification

Open Source

• .wbs Format Specification: To be released under MIT License
• wbs-format Library: To be distributed on PyPI (pip install wbs-format)
• wbs-editor Component: To be distributed on npm (npm install wbs-editor)

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💬 Feedback

If you have any opinions or requests about the WBS feature:

1. Submit via the "Feedback" function within PinotWalk
2. Consult your team administrator

Your feedback will be reflected in future updates.

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最終更新: 2026-02-14

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🎓 Summary

With PinotWalk WBS, project management becomes incredibly simple.

✅ Ready in 5 minutes with intuitive operations
✅ Professional grade 13 columns & Gantt chart
✅ Completely free, no additional charges
✅ Share with your entire team

Let's get started now!

1. Navigate to the Space page
2. Open the "Files" tab
3. Just upload an Excel file — let WBS lead your project to success.