Help & how to use

A practical guide to building and editing timelines

Project Timeline is chart-first: most work happens on the timeline itself. The side panels and data table back up the chart rather than replace it.

1. Getting started

• Add events with + Add task, milestone, decision, or notice under the data table, or use a template from the side panel.
• Title — click the chart title to rename the project.
• Undo ↶ / Redo ↷ in the toolbar (or Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y) reverse edits.
• Work is auto-saved in this browser. Sign in to sync projects to your account.

2. Editing on the chart

Tasks (bars)

• Move — drag the bar left/right.
• Resize — drag the left or right edge handles.
• Progress — drag the progress handle on the bar.
• Delay — use the delay handle (or set delay in the table/modal).
• Details — double-click a bar (or use the table) for name, links, resources, predecessors, notes.
• Delete — hover a bar and press Delete / Backspace (not while typing in a field).

Milestones, decisions & notices

• Drag to move; double-click for details.
• Notices carry detail text and do not take predecessors like tasks do.

Dependencies (arrows)

• Drag from a connection circle on a bar to another task to set a predecessor.
• With Start-date dependence on (Options), starts can follow predecessors automatically.
• Critical path highlights the longest chain of dependent work.

3. Zoom, pan & fit

• Zoom slider — changes day width.
• Weeks (wk) — set how many whole weeks fit in the viewport (arrow keys step by 1).
• Fit to Tasks — sets the view range around your work.
• Fit to Window — scales the chart so the full span fits the pane width. Row and resource name columns stay pinned on the left while zoomed.
• View range (📅) — pin From/To dates; clear them to auto-fit again.
• Drag empty chart space to pan when the plot is wider than the window. Scroll the resource chart to pan both panes together.

4. Rows & categories

• Rows (left column / chart labels) group tasks vertically. Drag row labels to reorder; double-click to rename; ✕ removes an empty row.
• Double-click the italic rows header in the chart gutter to rename that label.
• Categories (phases) color the bars. Manage names and colors under Graphics → Category colors, or click a legend swatch on the chart.

5. Resources

• Add resources in the left panel or from a task’s Resource(s) field.
• Assign people (or teams) to tasks with a % allocation. Use Variable for day-by-day schedules.
• The heat map under the timeline shows utilisation. Colors go from the Utilization 0% to 100% graphics settings. The same gradient tints Resource(s) chips in the data table (average % if several resources).
• Click a heat cell to edit that day’s allocation or mark a resource day off.
• Company resources (sign-in) are a shared list you can push from a project resource (🏢+) or pull into the current project.

6. Calendar & non-working days

• Toggle weekends, pick a holiday region, and choose date format under Options → Calendar.
• Add custom non-working ranges (e.g. site shutdowns).
• Saved calendars store weekend/holiday/format/custom days for reuse (synced when signed in).
• Shift all dates moves every task by N working days.

7. Graphics & colors

• Adjust corner radii, font scale, day/week lines, background, delay/arrow/today colors, and utilisation gradient.
• Eye icons hide/show some chart elements without losing color settings.
• Reset graphics restores the default graphics options (bottom of the Graphics panel).
• Category palettes (built-in or custom) recolor phases; custom packs can include graphics settings too.

8. Data table

• Edit names, types, rows, categories, dates, delay, progress, and resources in bulk.
• Click column headers to sort; drag headers to reorder columns; drag edges to resize.
• Start dates open a popup for date + optional earliest-begin constraint.

9. Saving, export & cloud

• Local auto-save — state is kept in browser storage.
• Export / Import .json — full project file. CSV for task lists.
• SVG / PNG / PDF — export the chart from the toolbar.
• Sign in — multi-project cloud storage, version history, company resources, and synced palettes/calendars/templates.
• Versions and files live in the Versions, files & templates panel: History and Baselines, Local Import/Export and Templates. Templates load example projects (replace the current one) or your own saved templates.

History & baselines — saved versions are listed under History and Baselines in the Versions, files & templates panel. Save a version saves straight away; click a version's name to rename it, and use the star to pin it so it is never trimmed away — pinned versions are the basis for baselines.

10. Gantt view

The Gantt view button in the toolbar switches between the compact timeline (several items share a row) and a traditional chart where every task, milestone, decision and notice gets its own row. The button always names the view you would switch to, so it reads “Timeline view” while you are in Gantt.

• Rows/categories are not used here — the left gutter simply lists item names, ordered by start date. Row reordering and the add-row button are hidden.
• Row height — the box beside the toggle sets the height of every row. Dragging the handle at the bottom of the chart overrides it and updates the box.
• Scrolling — past 750 px tall the chart area scrolls vertically instead of growing without limit. The date header stays put.
• Indent & group — the small arrow to the left of an item indents it by one level under the item above. The parent then shows a caret you can click to collapse the group; collapsed parents are drawn with a thick outline and span the full date range of their children, and their title gains (group).
• Dependencies pointing into or out of a collapsed group are redrawn to the folded parent, so no link disappears when you collapse.

11. AI assistant

The ✨ panel at the bottom-left edits your plan from plain English, and answers questions about it. Signing in is required, and each exchange appears in a scrollable conversation above the input box.

• Editing — “Shift PCB Layout 3 days later”, “Add resource QA team”, “Make Design category blue”, “Assign the QA team at 60%”.
• Asking — “When does this project finish?”, “Who is over-allocated?”, “What is on the critical path?” Questions change nothing.
• The whole batch is one undo step (Ctrl+Z).
• Anything that deletes data is previewed first with the affected items flagged, and only applied when you press Apply changes.
• If a shift appears to do nothing, the reply will say so — a task set to follow its predecessor is put back by auto-schedule. Shift the predecessor instead, or untick Start date follows predecessors.
• Your API key never reaches the browser; requests go through a server-side function.

12. Free & Pro

Everything on this page works on the free plan. Pro raises the limits — see the Pro page for the full comparison.

• Free — 4 chart rows, 3 resources, 2 saved projects, the first 10 tasks in the data table, 3 saved versions per project, and 2 AI requests a day.
• Pro — up to 20 rows, 50 resources, 50 saved projects, 100 table rows, 50 AI requests a day, 15 saved versions per project, a removable watermark, and saved templates, calendars, color palettes and a company resource list.
• Nothing is deleted if a subscription lapses; saved items stay readable, you just cannot add new ones.

13. Tips & shortcuts

• Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y — undo / redo
• Delete — remove the hovered chart item
• F — fit the view range to your tasks (not while typing in a field)
• S — show or hide the summary column
• P — collapse or expand the four settings panels
• R — show or hide the resource chart
• D — collapse or expand the data table
• G — switch between timeline and Gantt view
• C — show or hide the critical path
• W — fit the timeline to the window width
• A — open or close Timeline AI
• Wheel over the chart — zoom behaviour depends on focus; use the zoom controls for precise week counts
• If labels look misaligned after zooming, press Fit to Window again (it resets horizontal scroll)
• Collapse side panels and the table for more chart space

Still stuck? Use Give feedback at the foot of the app, or read About for product background.