Make Adjustments in Timeline View

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About this lesson

Learn how to view and work with tasks in Timeline view.

Quick reference

Durations and Timeline View

Add durations to tasks and make adjustments in Timeline View. 

When to use

Durations control not only the duration of each task but also the finish date of the entire project. We need to add durations to our tasks so we have an idea of how long each task is going to take and when the project will finish. 

Instructions

Our project start and finish dates won't update until we add durations to the tasks in our plan. Durations are best guess estimates as to how long a task is going to take to complete. Durations are very flexible and can be changed at any time if more or less time is required to complete a task. 

Durations do not have any effect on the start date of a project but do control when a project finishes. 

We can add durations to tasks in Grid view, but one of the best ways to see durations and make modifications is to view our plan in Timeline view. 

Add Task Durations

We can add task duration from Grid view or Timeline view. 

Add Durations in Timeline View
  • Click Timeline. 

Notice that we can't see any bars in Timeline view until we add durations. 

  • Click on Task 2. 
  • Click the 'i' to open the task details pane. 
  • In the Duration field, type '7d'. 

In Project, we simply need to type 'd' for days, 'w' for weeks, 'h' for hours. Notice that the finish date of the project updates as soon as we start adding task durations. 

  • Close the task details pane. 

Now, we can see a blue bar on the timeline that shows the duration of this task. 

Add Durations in Grid View

We can also add task durations in Grid view. 

  • Click Grid. 
  • Click in the Durations column. 
  • Type the duration and press Enter. 

Adjust Task Durations

We can adjust task durations in Timeline view by clicking on the blue bar and dragging the end of the bar in or out. The finish date of the project will update accordingly. 

We can move a task to a completely different start date by clicking on the task and dragging and dropping it to a new location on the timeline. 

Zoom

Once we start adding durations, we may find that the bars in Timeline view go off the page making it hard for us to see an overview of our project. We can adjust the zoom to see more or less of our project tasks. 

  • Use the Zoom slider at the top to adjust the page zoom. 

Go to Date

We can quickly jump to a specific date in our project by clicking Go to date next to the zoom slider. We can enter a date and Project will jump to that part of the project plan. 

Summary Task Durations

When we add durations to subtasks, the summary task will also show with a blue bar next to it. This bar shows the overall duration of all subtasks that belong to the summary task. 

For example, if we have 3 subtasks with durations of 2, 3, and 4 days, the summary task will show a duration of 9 days in the timeline.

Hints & tips

  • Durations do not include weekend days which are considered non-working time. 
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  • 00:04 As we work through our project, we're going to be making adjustments constantly.
  • 00:09 Because when we first create our project,
  • 00:11 we might not know exactly how long specific tasks are going to take.
  • 00:15 Which means when we do have a clearer idea, and it's not just an estimate,
  • 00:19 we need to go back into our project and start to make those adjustments so
  • 00:23 that the project plan accurately reflects reality.
  • 00:26 And of course, we can work in Grid view and
  • 00:28 start to make adjustments to the Duration.
  • 00:31 We can simply update the number in the Duration column.
  • 00:34 But a view that I like to work in when I'm making adjustments to my project is
  • 00:38 Timeline view.
  • 00:39 I find it a lot easier to get an overview of what exactly is going on in my project,
  • 00:45 and how each task duration relates to the one before it and the one after it.
  • 00:50 So let's jump across to Timeline view at the top.
  • 00:53 Now, a couple of notes about working in Timeline view.
  • 00:56 Whenever you go into Timeline view,
  • 00:58 it's always going to jump you to the current day's date.
  • 01:02 So for me right now, it is October 24, and that's what I'm seeing in the schedule.
  • 01:07 And notice that I can't see any of my bars because my project doesn't start until
  • 01:12 February next year.
  • 01:13 Now, at the top here, we have a Zoom slider.
  • 01:15 So this enables us to zoom in or out of our project.
  • 01:19 So if I want to see more of the project, I can bring this Zoom all the way down.
  • 01:24 So now, instead of viewing by individual day,
  • 01:26 I'm now viewing effectively by month, which means that I can now
  • 01:30 see my project just on the end here because it starts in January.
  • 01:34 An alternative way of jumping straight to where you need to be is Go to date,
  • 01:39 and I think we've used this a couple of times already in this course.
  • 01:44 Let's go to February 1, I've gone a little bit too far,
  • 01:48 I can scroll back, and there is the start of my project.
  • 01:52 Now, notice when I hover over the top here,
  • 01:54 I can see all of the individual days in the month.
  • 01:57 And when I hover over any of these bars, it shows me the dates of this task,
  • 02:02 the start, and the finish date, and also the duration.
  • 02:05 I can also see a darker blue bar,
  • 02:08 which shows me the percentage complete of this task.
  • 02:11 Now, one other thing that you'll notice is that where we have these summary tasks at
  • 02:16 the top, we have a long blue bar.
  • 02:18 So this isn't effectively a task that we need to action,
  • 02:21 it's just telling me an overview.
  • 02:23 So I can see by hovering over this bar that PHASE 1,
  • 02:27 the entire planning phase, is going to take 26 days.
  • 02:31 And that is why I really like these summary tasks because it enables you just
  • 02:36 to see how long one chunk of your project is going to take.
  • 02:39 Another thing that's good about working in Timeline view is that we can see when
  • 02:44 one task ends and the next task begins, because this helps you identify any
  • 02:48 overlaps and/or any gaps in your project that need to be filled.
  • 02:52 For example, if I take a look at task 3 here,
  • 02:55 which is Get Inspired on Pinterest, I can see that the next task,
  • 02:59 task number 4, Creating a Mood Board, overlaps this task.
  • 03:03 One ends on the 9, and the other one starts on the 9.
  • 03:06 Now, for me, that is absolutely fine, because getting inspired on Pinterest is
  • 03:10 basically just scrolling through Pinterest and looking at ideas.
  • 03:13 So I can probably start to create my mood board whilst I'm doing this task, so
  • 03:18 that's absolutely fine.
  • 03:19 Now, notice that in between Create a Mood Board and the next task,
  • 03:24 Rough Blueprints and Sketches, I have a gap in here.
  • 03:27 Now, that might be intentional, or I might decide that actually,
  • 03:32 you know what, this task can start as the task before it ends.
  • 03:36 So I can start to make some adjustments here.
  • 03:39 And I always like to make my adjustments in Timeline view,
  • 03:42 I find it a lot easier than working in Grid view.
  • 03:44 So if I want to move this task, I can simply click on it, and
  • 03:48 I can drag it across.
  • 03:50 So I'm going to make this start directly after the task before finishes.
  • 03:54 If I decide that I'm not going to take as long to do this task, I can
  • 03:58 simply click on the end of the bar, and I can drag it in to change that duration.
  • 04:02 And when I hover over, I can see that those dates have been updated, and
  • 04:07 the task is now five days long.
  • 04:09 So in general, what I would do is I would enter in all my tasks into my project
  • 04:12 plan, with some estimated start and finish dates and durations.
  • 04:16 And then I will come to Timeline view, and I'll zoom out a little bit so
  • 04:20 I can get a good overview of all of the tasks on my plan.
  • 04:23 And I'll check to see where there are overlaps, gaps that could be filled, and
  • 04:27 generally, just make my project flow a little bit better.
  • 04:29 So that is Timeline view, the perfect view for making adjustments to your tasks.

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