Project Timeline Activity Center

The project timeline enables all Project Center users to view, add, track, and manage project phases, milestones, holidays, and meetings  in a calendar, journal, or log. You can also use it to generate . ICS files to integrate the Project Center project timeline calendar with Microsoft Outlook 2007, as well as import timeline items from a spreadsheet or from Microsoft Project.

Meetings added to this activity center are automatically added to the Meeting Minutes activity center, and vice-versa.

Related Topics

 

The following list shows all available tasks. The tasks that appear depend on the type of item selected and which view you are in.

Timeline Items

       Add > Milestone

Click to open the Create Milestone dialog box to add a new project milestone to the project timeline calendar.

You must be Project Center administrator to add milestones.

       Add > Meeting Type

Meeting can be any item from the list (phone call, site visit, conversation, etc.) other than milestones, phases, and holidays.

The meetings types that are available are set in the Timeline tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box.

Click to open the Create Meeting dialog box to add a meeting  (or recurring meeting) of the type selected from the list to the project timeline.

       Add > Phase

Click to open the Create Phase dialog box to add a new project phase to the project timeline calendar.

You must be a Project Center administrator to add phases.

       Add > Holiday

Click to open the Create Holiday dialog box to add a holiday to the project timeline calendar.

You must be a Project Center administrator to add holidays.

       Split Weekends/Display Weekends on Right

These two tasks appear only if you are in Calendar view.

Click the first option to place Saturday and Sunday on each side of the calendar.

Click the second option to combine Saturday and Sunday in one column on the right side of the calendar.

       Print

This task only appears if you are in the Calendar view.

Click to print the calendar.

       Export to Image

This task appears only if you are in the Journal view.

Click to choose a date range, then open an image of the calendar that you can then print.

       Create Project Activity Report

This task appears only if you are in the Journal view.

Click to open the Create a Report dialog box to select the type of timeline report to create. The report contains the contents of the Project Items section at the bottom of the Journal view.

       Create Report

This task appears only if you are in the Log view.

Click to open the Create Report dialog box to select the type of event log report to create. The report contains the contents of the Log view.

       Timeline Utilities > Send Calendar Via Email

Click to open an email message in Microsoft Outlook containing the project timeline's . ICS file as an attachment that the recipient can click on to open in Microsoft Outlook. The .ICS file will contain all timeline events.

.ICS files created using this task store project calendar information for the entire project.

The recipient must have Outlook 2007 or later.

       Timeline Utilities > Import > Meetings from Spreadsheet

This task appears only for Project Center administrators.

Click to open the Select Spreadsheet dialog box to select a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (.XLS) file to import and open in this activity center.

       Timeline Utilities > Import > Items from Microsoft Project

This task appears only if Microsoft Project is installed on the same machine as Project Center. You must also be a Project Center administrator.

Click to open the Choose Import File dialog box to select a Microsoft Project (.MPP) file to import into this activity center.

       Timeline Utilities > Add to Microsoft Outlook and Subscribe to Updates

This task only appears if the current project has been posted to Info Exchange, and the project is set to display calendar information on Info Exchange (in the Edit Project settings dialog box). Also, Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later must be installed.

You must be a member of  the project team to use this task.

Click to create a new calendar in Microsoft Outlook containing timeline information from the current project. Project Center automatically updates the information on Info Exchange, and Microsoft Outlook retrieves it every hour.

.ICS files published using this task store project calendar information from only the past three months forward, not for the entire project.

       Timeline Utilities > Synchronize > Project

This task appears only if a Microsoft Project (.mpp) file has been imported into this project.

Click to update the project timeline with the latest version of the imported Microsoft Project (.MPP) file. If the selected .MPP file has been removed, the Choose Import File dialog box opens, from which you can select a different file.

       Timeline Utilities > Remove Timeline Items for > Project

This task appears only if a Microsoft Project (.mpp) file has been imported into this project.

Click to remove all items from the project timeline that were imported from the selected  Microsoft Project (.MPP) file

       Timeline Utilities > Export to Outlook Calendar

This task only appears if the current project has not been posted to Info Exchange. Also, Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later must be installed.

.ICS files published using this task store project calendar information for the entire project.

Click to export the current project timeline to a new calendar and open it Microsoft Outlook.

Selected Milestone/Meeting/Phase Holiday

       Modify

Click to edit the selected timeline item. The dialog box that opens depends on whether you selected a milestone, meeting, phase, or holiday.

       View Form

Click to open the Timeline Item form corresponding to the timeline item.

       Send Email

Click to open an email message containing information about the selected item that you can send to other contacts.

       Related Items >

See the Related Items Tasks topic for information.

       Delete

You must be a Project Center administrator to delete milestones, phases, and holidays. All users can delete meetings .

Click to remove the selected timeline item from the timeline.

       Create Related Items Report

This task appears only if you are in the Log view.

Click to open the Create a Report dialog box to select the type of related items report to create.

       Copy to Outlook Calendar

This task is a menu item and is only available by right-clicking on a timeline item.

Select to open a Microsoft Outlook meeting request for the timeline item, which you can then send to other contacts. If the recipients accept the meeting request, it will be added to their Outlook Calendars.

Selected Meeting Occurrence/Series

The following additional tasks are available when you select a recurring meeting or task.

       Create Meeting Occurrence

Click to open the Create Meeting Occurrence dialog box to modify a single occurrence of a recurring meeting.

       Modify Meeting Occurrence

Click to open the Modify Meeting Occurrence dialog box to edit a single occurrence of a recurring meeting.

       Modify Meeting Series

Click to open the Modify Meeting Series dialog box to edit every occurrence of a recurring meeting.

       View Form

Click to open the Timeline Item form corresponding to the timeline item.

       Send Email

Click to open an email message containing information about the selected item that you can send to other contacts.

       Related Items >

See the Related Items Tasks topic for information.

       Delete

Click to remove the selected item from the timeline. You will be asked whether to delete the selected instance or the entire series.

This panel appears when you select a project item from the Project Items section of the Journal view, or the Related Items tab of the Log view.

       Modify

Click to open the dialog box corresponding to the related item to edit it.

       View Form

Click to open the Transmittal form corresponding to the related item.

       Relate to > Project Item

Click to add the currently selected Project Center item directly to another project item in the list.

No dialog box opens after you select the item.

See Related Items for a list of icon designations.

       Relate to > Another Project Item

Click to open the Select Project Item dialog box to select another project item to add the currently selected item to.

       Select in Log

Click to go the selected item in its activity center.

       Select in Calendar

Click to highlight the item in the top section.

See File Tasks panel.

See Email Tasks panel.

See Related Item Tasks panel.

Project Timeline

Calendar/Journal/Log

You can select which view to use to view, add, and modify your timeline items. You can view the items in a Calendar view, a Journal view, or as a Log, as shown in the examples below.

Calendar view

Journal view

Log view

 

Calendar view

This view lists all project timeline milestones, phases, and holidays in a calendar, as well as the project meetings that are indicated with a Yes under the Show in Calendar column of the Timeline tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box. It also lists the due dates of project items.

Filters

Click on the following filters for descriptions of how they work.

The colors of the timeline items in the following examples were customized in the Edit Project Settings dialog box. You can configure each item type to be whatever color you want. Also, the following example uses the Month scale. You can also view the calendar by Day or Week by clicking the Change the Calendar Scale filter button.

You can move individual instances of a recurring meeting to a different day.

When you modify an instance of a recurring meeting, you will be asked if you want to edit the selected instance or all instances.

 

Journal view

The top section of the Journal view lists all project timeline milestones, phases, and holidays, as well as the project meetings that are indicated with a Yes under the Show in Journal column of the Timeline tab of the Edit Project Settings dialog box. It also lists the due dates of project items.

The bottom section lists all project timeline items as well as Project Center items that are part of the selected date range. Refer to the following four examples for more information.

Filters

Click on the following filters for descriptions of how they work.

The colors of the timeline items in the following examples were customized in the Edit Project Settings dialog box. You can configure each item type to be whatever color you want. The following examples use the Day scale. You can also view the journal by Week, Month, Quarter, or Year by clicking the Change the Calendar Scale filter button.

Example 1

This example shows what happens when a date range is selected.

 

Example 2

This example shows what happens when a timeline item that has related items is selected.

 

Example 3

This example shows what happens when a project item such as a submittal, RFI, or action item is selected.

 

Example 4

This example shows what happens when a date is selected that doesn't have any items in the timeline.

You can add Project Center items to existing project timeline milestones, meetings, phases, and holidays in the Journal view. To do this, just select the Project Center items you want to add to a timeline item from the Project Items section (at the bottom), then click Add to > Another Project Item from the Project Item Tasks panel.

If there are expected contract management items, they will appear in the bottom of the Journal view on their expected date.

Record copy .ZIP files and transmittal form .PDFs do not show up in this list.

Project Items columns

All columns are listed here. Right-click on any column header to add and remove columns.

Subject

The subject of the project item.

ID

The identification number of the item.

Type

The project item's type.

Workflow

The step the item is in in the workflow.

Team Members

The team members assigned to the item. The context depends on the item.

Date

The item's date. It is usually the date the item was created, but it depends on the item.

Total Days

The number of days to process the project item. The count starts from the start date, which is either when the item was created or the received date, and ends either now or when it was closed if a closed date was entered. If it is re-opened, it displays the count from when the proposal request was created. It's based on calendar days (not business days) and does not consider holidays in its calculations.

Due Date

The date the item is due.

Status

The project item's status.

Keywords

Any keywords applied to the project item.

Source

Shows whether the item is in the list is because it falls in the currently selected date range or because it is related to the currently selected item.

 

Log view

The Log lists all phases, milestones, and holidays that have been added to the project timeline. This view is similar to the logs of the Submittals activity center, RFIs activity center, etc.

Filter All Columns

You can filter by any text that appears in any of the columns. For example, if you know the subject (or part of the subject) of the milestone that you are searching for (or the type, team members, etc), enter at least part of the text in this field. The list updates automatically as you type. For example, if the team member you are searching for has the letter j somewhere in one of the columns, enter j in this field. The list will be narrowed down to only team members that have the letter j somewhere in one of the columns.

You can also filter by any text that appears in any of the columns. For example, if you know the subject (or part of the subject ) of the milestone you are searching for, enter at least part of the subject in the Subject column filter field. The list updates automatically as you type. The list will be narrowed down to only milestones with subjects containing the text you entered.

If you are filtering by the Team Members column, be aware that if Entire Project Team is listed for a row, anything you type in the filter field will return a match for that row. Entire Project Team"will always be listed, and that row will always appear, no matter what you type in the filter field, as Entire Project Team incudes everyone on the project team.

As of Eighth Edition, events are called meetings, and are not shown in the Log view.

Columns

All columns are listed here. Right-click on any column header to list and de-list columns. Click the icons for more filtering options.

Subject

The project timeline item's subject.

Type

The project timeline item's type.

Start Date

The project timeline item's start date

End Date

The project timeline item's end date.

Created By

The team member who created the timeline item.

Team Members

Team members associated with the timeline item.

Related Items

This column lists any Project Center items linked to the timeline item.

Keywords

Any keywords assigned to the timeline item.

 

Other features

You can drag and drop items as well as copy and paste items from Microsoft Outlook into Project Center, from Project Center into Microsoft Outlook, and from one instance of Project Center into another instance of Project Center. The following  table shows what happens when you perform each of these actions.

Action

Project Timeline Item Type

Project Timeline Event Type

Drag and drop from Outlook to Project Center

Meeting

Blank

Copy and paste from Outlook to Project Center

Meeting

Blank

Drag and drop from timeline to same timeline (move)

Same as source

Same as source

Copy and paste from timeline to same timeline

Same as source

Same as source

Drag from one Project Center to another Project Center

Not supported

N/A

Copy and paste from one Project Center to another Project Center

Same as source

Blank

Drag and drop from Project Center to Outlook

Not supported

N/A

 

 

To access this activity center

Click Project Timeline from the Activities list or from the Project Home activity center.

 

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