Hey to all geeks out here. Got a pretty large project coming up involving lots of experimental work (150+ subjects separated into a bunch of groups and time points over several months), and while doing it old school and manually is fun and exciting way of training intuition, I have been looking for some sort of software that would assist with such a task. Unfortunately, Google doesn't really help (I am sure my keyword selection is as bad as always), and all colleagues react to my question along the lines of "Wow, good idea, such a program would be really cool to have". So, anyone knows about scheduling assistant that could use the input information of time points (e.g group 1 with days 1. 7. 14 and 20, group 2 with days 1, 7, 20, 40, 60 etc) to arrage that as efficiently as possible into a calendar (avoiding weekends etc)? Even better, if it would warn about possible overlaps and suggest/have an option of adding flexible margins as +/- certain number of days.
"Wow, good idea, such a program would be really cool to have" Honestly, I haven't seen any program like that, regardless of how much I've looked. I think the issue with finding good time management programs is that everyone wants something different out of it. Perhaps I should make one for my next project...
I use Microsoft Project to do exactly what you want. Though work pays for it, so *shrug* Its expensive, so its best to look at it, then look for freeware or open source alternatives. Its exactly what you need. Maybe if you are in college you can get a student edition? Of course it isn't easy to use, you need to know what you're doing. But its exactly what you want.
Second the MS Project Software. Though it's the only software we've been taught to use in uni to manage projects so take my recommendation with a grain of salt
It sounds to me like you need some project management software. OpenProject is free as long as you host it yourself. If you don't mind paying a bit of money, they'll host your project for you for $5 / month. I don't know if it will do everything you need it to do, but it should do most of it.
The question is how much you want to pay. You can search for free project management tools and get a decent selection. Here's what i found within a minute https://clickup.com/blog/free-project-management-software/ Now, if you running a business, you might want to consider buying a tool. I really like what Atlassin offers. Jira is pretty good when used correctly. Also, if I understood you right, you are looking for a feature that would automatically make optimal schedule? That is called automated planner/scheduler. To be honest i don't know enough about commercial automated project planners, but it seems ms project is the thing for that.