Getting Started in the Timeline View

A Timeline is a time-oriented visualization of a roadmap that uses item dates to plot (pivot) roadmap data along a timeline. The other type of roadmap visualization is a Swimlane, which provides a theme-based visualization (see Add a Swimlane to a view).

Adding a Timeline

To create a new Timeline visualization of a roadmap, you start by creating a new roadmap view for the Timeline and adding filters to determine which items and milestones you want to appear on the Timeline. After you add the Timeline, you can customize the data pivot, add pivot headers, and format the layout and colors.

Open

1. In the View dropdown on the Roadmap navbar, select the view you want to visualize.

2. On the View navbar, click the Visualize button.
TIP: If you see a Timeline or Swimlane icon on the navbar instead of the button, the view already has a visualization.

Open

3. In the New Visualization dialog, select Timeline.

4. Click Create.

Here's a snapshot of what the new Timeline might look like before you customize and format it. Only items and milestones that meet the filter criteria are visible on the Timeline (a blue Filter icon on the View navbar lets you know the view has filters).

1. Timeline icon - The Visualize button on the View navbar is replaced by a Timeline icon. To the left are icons to open the Items Table and Milestones Table.

2. Timeline (time pivot) - The time pivot is represented by a timeline. You can customize the timeline by adjusting the scale and the time range and scale, selecting the time periods to display, and setting date preferences. To see how, go to Customize the time pivot in a Timeline.

3. Pivot headers - The horizontal pivot on the Timeline is blank and ready for you to add theme-based data pivots by selecting the roadmap fields to use as headers. You can add a single header or a header and subheader to further group the items. To see how, go to Add them-based data pivots to a Timeline.

4. Items and milestones - The view's items and milestones are plotted in the Timeline on streams in alignment with the horizontal time pivot. Items are labelled by their name and milestones appear as icons according to their type. You can add more data pivots to the Timeline by changing items labels, using color, and more. To see how, go to Format a Timeline's layout and colors. 

Adding and editing items in the Timeline

You can edit the items in a Timeline as well as add new items without going back to the Items Table. To see how, go to View and edit item details.

Why don't I see any items or milestones on my Timeline?

If you don't see any items or milestones in your Timeline, it's most likely because of the view's filters. You can check a view's filters by clicking the Filter icon on the View navbar to open the Filter panel. 

To make sure the items you want appear in the Timeline, you can edit the view's filters to match the items, or you can edit the items so they match the filters.

You may find this happens more often with milestones, especially if you add filters to a view after you create the milestones. To make sure the milestones you want appear in the Timeline, you can go back to the Milestones Table to add the filter fields to the table and select the values that match the filters. You do this the same way you add fields to the Items Table.

Who can add a Timeline to a view?

Adding a Timeline to a view is the same as adding a view to a roadmap. You can a a Timeline to a view if you are the roadmap Owner or the roadmap has been shared with you as an Editor. If you share the roadmap as a Viewer, you can't add Timelines to any of its views.

Avoid Overlapping Text in the Timeline View

Sometimes, the layout of a Timeline view causes item labels to overlap. There are a few ways to avoid this.

Switching the layout theme

If you've selected the Condensed theme for your Timeline, switch back to the Original theme. To see how, go to Format a Timeline's layout and colors.

Adjusting the time pivot's scale

Use the Timeline's time slider to zoom in and adjust the time scale to a shorter range. To see how, go to Customize the time pivot in a Timeline.

Dragging an item to a new stream

Drag an overlapping item up or down in the Timeline and drop it onto the newly created stream. To see how, go to View and edit item details.