Adding tasks to a project timeline

You can add tasks, expanded tasks, summary tasks, hammock tasks and milestones to a project timeline. Think carefully about which tasks to add to a project timeline: add those tasks and milestones that give a good overall picture of the project. For example, adding key summary tasks and milestones to the timeline can be a good approach. Try not to add so many tasks that the timeline becomes crowded.

To add a task or milestone to the timeline, either:

Right-click the task and select Show in timeline. You can CTRL-select multiple tasks to add them all to the timeline at once. For example, you may want to CTRL-select all summary tasks at the top level of the project hierarchy and add them all to the timeline in one step.
Select the Show in timeline check box, in the Details group of fields, on the Task tab of the Bar and Task Properties dialog.
Click and drag the task from the bar chart into the timeline pane.

When you add a task to the timeline, it appears initially as a simple bar, with a default colour of blue, which you can change. The task is drawn from the start date of the task to the finish date of the task - even if the task has been split by progress. The task name and start and finish dates are displayed in the bar. Here, an 'Initiation' task has been added to the timeline:

An 'Initiation' task that has been added to the timeline

If the task name or dates are too long to be displayed, they are truncated. Hover over the bar in the timeline to display the full name and dates in a tooltip, along with the task's percentage complete value:

The full name, dates and percentage complete displayed in a tooltip

When you add a milestone to the timeline, it is displayed on the timeline's bottom line. All milestones are displayed as diamonds - the timeline does not display different milestone appearances:

A 'Planning Start' milestone that has been added to the timeline

Configuring the appearance of tasks

You can change the background colour and font colour of tasks in the project timeline. You may want to apply different colours to tasks to help differentiate between them in the timeline.

To change the background colour and font colour of a task in the timeline:

In the timeline pane, click the task to select it.
On the Format tab, in the Style group, use the Background colour and Font colour dropdown controls to specify colours for the selected task.

You can specify whether to display tasks as bars or as callouts.

In the following illustration, two tasks are displayed as bars:

Two tasks displayed as bars in the timeline

In the following illustration, the tasks are displayed as callouts:

Two tasks displayed as callouts in the timeline

If you display a task as a callout, progress is not displayed against it, even if you select the Task Progress check box.

To specify whether a task should be displayed as a bar or as a callout in the timeline:

In the timeline pane, click the task to select it.
On the Format tab, in the Current Selection group, click Display as Bar to display the task as a bar, or click Display as Callout to display it as a callout.

Displaying progress on tasks in the timeline

You can indicate the percentage complete of each task in the timeline by applying shading to the top half of the tasks. Progress is indicated on tasks when they are displayed as bars, but not when they are displayed as callouts.

In the following illustration, the 'Initiation' task is shown to be 100% complete and the 'Planning' task is shown to be 50% complete:

Two tasks in the timeline with progress indicated

To specify whether progress should be displayed on tasks in the timeline:

Click in the timeline pane.
On the Format tab, in the Show/Hide group, select the Task Progress check box to indicate the percentage complete of each task in the timeline by applying shading to the top half of the tasks, or clear the check box to omit the progress indicator from tasks in the timeline.

Specifying how overlapping tasks are displayed

If tasks in the timeline overlap each other, by default, the timeline height is increased and tasks are displayed on multiple rows to separate them. Tasks are displayed on as few rows as possible. If you prefer, you can configure the timeline to display all tasks in a single row, even if they overlap.

In the following illustration, two overlapping tasks are displayed on the same row:

Two overlapping tasks displayed on the same row in the timeline

In the following illustration, the two overlapping tasks are displayed on multiple rows:

Two overlapping tasks displayed on separate rows in the timeline

To specify whether overlapping tasks should be displayed on a single row or on multiple rows in the timeline:

Click in the timeline pane.
On the Format tab, in the Show/Hide group, select the Multiple Rows check box to display tasks that overlap each other on separate rows in the timeline, or clear the check box to display tasks on a single row even if they overlap each other.

Removing tasks from the project timeline

To remove a task from the project timeline, either:

Right-click the task in the timeline and select Remove from Timeline.
Clear the Show in timeline check box, in the Details group of fields, on the Task tab of the Bar and Task Properties dialog.