Plan dates on the timeline

See cards as bars between their start and due days, grouped under their parent, and move them by dragging.

In short

The timeline draws each dated card as a bar from its start day to its due day, grouped under its parent if you like. Drag a bar to move the card, or drag an end to change one date. Arrows show which cards block others.

Before you start

• Who: anyone who can open the board can read the timeline. Moving a bar or changing an end needs "Change cards"; a Viewer reads only.
• Plan: every plan.
• First: give cards a start day, a due day or both. A card with no dates is not drawn.
• Defaults: "Weeks" and "By parent". Your choice is remembered in this browser, not for other people.

Steps

1. Open the board and choose "Timeline" from the Layout menu at the right end of the tools row.
2. Under "Zoom" choose "Weeks", "Months" or "Quarters". "Earlier" and "Later" step through time; "Today" brings you back.
3. Under "Group cards" choose "By parent", to see the cards of an epic or other parent under it, or "One list".
4. Drag a bar to move the card; its length stays the same. Drag either end to change that day only.

Result: a message such as Moved "Write the launch post" to 3 Nov - 7 Nov appears, with "Undo", and the card's History shows the change.

Good to know

• A card with only a start day or only a due day is a one-day bar. A line marks today. A group shows the span of the dated cards under its parent. Done cards look done.
• Cards with no dates are not on the timeline. The count says how many cards have no dates, and "Show in list" lists them so you can date them.
• A parent on a board you cannot open shows as "A parent you cannot open".
• With the keyboard, focus a bar: the arrow keys move the card a day, Shift with the arrow keys changes its due day, and Enter opens it.
• Search and filters apply as in every layout. A saved view remembers the Timeline layout.
• On a phone the timeline is a list by week. Open a card to change its dates.
• What happens next: the change is saved at once, shows in the card's History and appears on other people's screens within a moment. Use "Undo" in the message to put the card back.

Dependencies

The arrows come from Blocks links between cards of this board (see /help/boards/links-and-checks). The timeline does not change dates for you: if a blocked card starts before the card that blocks it finishes, you see the arrow and decide what to move.

Compare with the plan (baseline)

A baseline keeps every dated card's start and due day as they are when it is set. From then on the timeline says what moved: how many cards now end later or earlier, how many dated cards were added since, and how many are gone or lost their dates - always for the whole board, whatever filter is on.

1. Open the board's timeline. You need to manage the board.
2. Press "Set baseline". To start again later, choose "Baseline" › "Set baseline again"; the old baseline is replaced. "Clear baseline" removes it; the cards keep their days.
3. Tick "Show baseline" to see a thin bar under each card for its planned days. Beside the title, "+3 days" means the card now ends three days later than planned, and "New" that it was added after the baseline.

• A baseline holds up to 5,000 cards with days. A board with more is refused; archive finished cards first.
• A card moved to another board counts as gone from this board's baseline.

Every board on one timeline

On the Boards list, open "All cards" and choose "Timeline" beside "Show finished". The cards of every board you can open in the workspace - or, with a team picked, of that team's boards - sit on one timeline, each board's cards under its name, with arrows between cards that block each other across boards. The same search and filters apply. It only reads: open a card to change its days. A card on a board with a baseline shows how it moved against that board's plan.

If something goes wrong

• You cannot move bars: changing dates needs permission to change cards. Viewers can read the timeline only.
• "The start date cannot be after the due date.": an end never passes the other; move the other end first.
• A card is missing: it has no dates. Use "Show in list" to date it.
• "A timeline runs forward and covers at most 366 days.": choose a closer span with "Earlier" and "Later".

Related

• /help/boards/board-views
• /help/boards/parent-and-child-cards
• /help/boards/links-and-checks