How to Use All 8 Views in Odoo 18 Project: Complete Guide
By Braincuber Team
Published on February 27, 2026
Your project manager opens Odoo, stares at the Kanban board, and says "we have 83 tasks, I think we're fine." Meanwhile, 14 of those tasks are overdue, 3 team members have zero assignments, and someone added tasks to a stage that doesn't exist in the workflow. The Kanban board didn't tell them any of that. Odoo 18's Project module ships with 8 distinct views—each one designed to answer a different question about your project. Using only one is like reading a P&L statement and ignoring the balance sheet. This beginner guide is the complete tutorial on all 8.
What You'll Learn:
- How to navigate between all 8 project views in Odoo 18
- When to use Kanban vs. List vs. Gantt for task management
- Calendar and Map views for scheduling and field operations
- Pivot and Graph views for deep reporting and analytics
- Activity view for tracking follow-ups, calls, and deadlines
- Which view answers which management question
Kanban View: Visual Drag-and-Drop Task Flow
The default view. Tasks appear as cards grouped into columns that represent stages—"To Do," "In Progress," "Done," or whatever custom stages you've built. Drag a card from one column to the next to update its status. Each card shows the task title, assignee, deadline, priority tag, and progress indicator.
Open the Kanban View
Navigate to Project from the main dashboard, open any project. The Kanban view loads by default. Tasks are arranged as cards in stage columns. Drag cards between columns to update status. Click New to create a task directly in any stage.
Title = Task name displayed on the card
Assignee = Team member responsible for the task
Deadline = Due date shown with color urgency
Priority = Star rating (low, medium, high, urgent)
Progress = Visual indicator of task completion
Kanban Is Not Your Only View
We see teams using only Kanban for everything. It's great for workflow transitions, but it hides deadlines, timelines, and workload distribution. If you're running a project with more than 30 tasks, switch to List or Gantt for the details Kanban doesn't show.
List View: Structured Row-by-Row Task Tracking
List view is the spreadsheet people's happy place. Every task is one row with sortable, filterable columns. Title, status, date, assigned user, activity type, time spent—all visible without clicking into anything.
Switch to List View
Click the List view icon in the top-right view switcher. Tasks appear as rows with columns for Title, Status, Date, Assigned User, Activity, and Time Spent. Click any column header to sort. Use the search bar to filter by keyword, apply custom filters, or group by assignee, stage, or priority.
Perform Mass Actions
Use the toggle checkbox on the left to select multiple tasks. Then perform bulk operations: delete, export, archive, or change assignees in one shot. Customize which columns display by clicking the columns dropdown—add or remove fields to match your reporting needs.
Gantt View: Timeline-Based Task Scheduling
The Gantt view turns your task list into a horizontal timeline. Each task is a bar stretching from its start date to its end date. Tasks are grouped by project or assigned user, so you can see who's doing what and when. Overlaps and gaps jump out instantly—things that are invisible in Kanban.
Open the Gantt View
Click the Gantt view icon in the view switcher. Tasks display as horizontal bars on a calendar timeline. Drag bars to reschedule tasks. Extend bar edges to change deadlines. Switch the time scale between Day, Week, Month, Year, or set a custom date range for zooming in or out.
| Gantt Feature | What It Does | Why You Need It |
|---|---|---|
| Drag to Reschedule | Move a task bar left/right to change dates | Reschedule without opening the task form |
| Extend to Change Deadline | Pull the edge of a bar to extend or shorten | Adjust deadlines visually in 2 seconds |
| Overlap Detection | Highlights when tasks conflict on the timeline | Catch double-booked team members instantly |
| Time Scale Toggle | Switch between day, week, month, year | Zoom out for roadmap, zoom in for sprint |
| Group By User/Project | Rows grouped by assignee or project | See workload distribution at a glance |
Calendar View: Time-Based Task Planning
Calendar view maps every task against its deadline or planned date. Flip between daily, weekly, and monthly layouts. Tasks are color-coded by project or assignee, so spotting overloaded days takes one glance.
Use the Calendar View
Switch to Calendar view from the view icons. Tasks appear on their deadline dates. Click any empty date slot to create a new task. Drag and drop existing tasks to reschedule. Filter by user to see individual workloads. Meetings and follow-ups linked to tasks also appear on the calendar.
Map View: Location-Based Task Tracking
If your team handles field work, on-site services, or location-specific projects, the Map view shows every task as a pin on a geographical map. Integrated with Google Maps, it displays task clusters by region so you can plan routes, schedule site visits, and allocate field staff without switching to a separate tool.
Use the Map View for Field Operations
Switch to Map view. Tasks with location data (customer addresses, work sites) appear as pins on the map. Click a pin to see the task name, assignee, and status. Apply filters by project, user, or stage to narrow the display. Use this to identify regional task clusters and optimize field visit planning.
Kanban = Workflow
Best for moving tasks through stages. Drag-and-drop updates status. Great for daily standups and sprint boards where stage transitions matter most.
List = Detail
Best for sorting, filtering, and bulk operations. Every field visible in columns. Use it when you need to export data, reassign 20 tasks, or audit task metadata.
Gantt = Timeline
Best for scheduling and deadline management. See overlaps, gaps, and dependencies on a visual timeline. Critical for projects with hard deadlines and sequenced tasks.
Map = Location
Best for field work and on-site services. Pins on a map show task locations. Plan routes, identify regional clusters, and manage geographically distributed teams.
Pivot View: Deep Data Analysis and Reporting
Pivot view is where project managers who *actually* want to understand their data live. It builds dynamic summary tables that let you slice task data by any dimension—project, user, stage, time period—and measure it against planned hours, effective hours, remaining hours, or task count.
Analyze Data in Pivot View
Switch to Pivot view. Select measures like Planned Hours, Effective Hours, Remaining Hours, or Task Count. Group rows by project, stage, or assignee. Click on any total to drill down into underlying records. Use Insert in Spreadsheet to push pivot data into Odoo's built-in spreadsheet, or Export to download as Excel.
Graph View: Visual Charts and Dashboards
Graph view is the presentation layer. It renders your task data as line, bar, or pie charts with stacked bars, ascending/descending sorting, and color-coded separation. Pick the same measures as Pivot view—Planned Hours, Effective Hours, Remaining Hours, Task Count—but see them as visuals instead of numbers.
Visualize Data in Graph View
Switch to Graph view. Choose between Bar, Line, or Pie chart types. Select measures and group-by dimensions. Enable stacked bars to see stage breakdowns within each group. Apply filters, custom date ranges, and sorting to focus on exactly the slice of data you need for your report or stakeholder meeting.
Activity View: Follow-Ups, Calls, and Deadlines
Activity view is your to-do list on steroids. Every scheduled action—calls, emails, meetings, follow-ups—linked to any task appears here. Color-coded icons show whether an activity is pending, completed, or overdue. This is the view you check at 8 AM before you plan your day.
Track and Schedule Activities
Switch to Activity view. Each task's scheduled activities appear as color-coded icons—green (on time), orange (due today), red (overdue). Click Schedule Activity on any task record to add a call, email, meeting, or custom follow-up. Use the Measure button to sort by activity type or due date.
Activity View Works Across Modules
Activity view isn't limited to the Project module. The same interface works in CRM, Sales, and other modules. If you schedule a follow-up call on a CRM lead, it shows up in Activity view too. Think of it as a unified action queue across your entire Odoo instance.
Which View Answers Which Question
Stop using one view for everything. Each view answers a different management question. Here's the cheat sheet we give every client.
| Question | Best View | Why |
|---|---|---|
| What stage is each task in? | Kanban | Visual columns map directly to stages |
| Which tasks are overdue? | List (sorted by date) | Sort descending by deadline, filter past dates |
| Will we hit our deadline? | Gantt | Timeline shows remaining work vs. time left |
| Is anyone overbooked this week? | Calendar | Filter by user, check daily task density |
| Where are our field tasks? | Map | Geographical pins show task locations |
| How many hours are left? | Pivot | Measures show Planned vs. Effective vs. Remaining |
| Show me the trend. | Graph | Line/bar/pie charts for visual storytelling |
| What do I need to follow up on? | Activity | Color-coded action queue across all tasks |
Switch Views Instantly
All 8 views are accessible from the view switcher icons in the top-right corner of the project task list. Click any icon to switch without losing your filters or search criteria. Your active filters carry over between views, so switching from Kanban to Gantt still shows the same filtered task set.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many views does Odoo 18 Project module have?
Odoo 18 Project offers 8 views: Kanban, List, Gantt, Calendar, Map, Pivot, Graph, and Activity. Each serves a different management purpose and all are accessible from the view switcher icons.
Can I drag and drop tasks to reschedule them in Odoo 18 Gantt view?
Yes. In Gantt view, drag a task bar left or right to change its dates, or pull the edge of the bar to extend or shorten the deadline. Changes save automatically.
How do I export project data from Pivot view in Odoo 18?
In Pivot view, configure your measures and groupings, then click the Export button to download as Excel. You can also use Insert in Spreadsheet to push data into Odoo's built-in spreadsheet tool.
What is the Map view used for in Odoo 18 Project?
Map view shows tasks as pins on a geographical map using Google Maps integration. It's designed for teams managing field work, on-site services, or location-based projects where routing and regional planning matter.
Do filters carry over when switching views in Odoo 18 Project?
Yes. Active filters and search criteria persist when you switch between views. If you filter tasks by a specific assignee in List view and switch to Gantt, the same filter applies to the Gantt timeline.
Need Help Configuring Odoo 18 Project Views?
Our team can set up your project stages, configure task views for your workflow, build custom reports, and make sure your team actually uses the right view for the right job.