TotalApp Docs

Timeline

Gantt-style project timeline with zoom controls and multi-project tab navigation.

Overview

The Timeline screen renders all tasks in a project as horizontal Gantt bars on a time axis. Unlike the Kanban board which focuses on status, the Timeline focuses on time — when tasks start, how long they run, and whether they overlap or conflict with each other.

The same projects and tasks you manage on the Kanban board appear here automatically. There is no separate data import step.

Task
May                    Jun                    Jul
Auth redesign
Critical
Mobile nav
High
API docs
Medium
Design audit
Low
Unit tests
Medium

Tab Navigation

The Timeline uses the exact same project tab bar as the Kanban Board. The active project tab is shared between both views — switching from Kanban to Timeline preserves which project you were looking at.

Switching Projects

Click any project tab at the top of the Timeline screen to view that project's tasks on the Gantt chart. The time axis adjusts to span the date range covered by that project's tasks.

Adding a Project

Click the "+" button at the right end of the tab bar. Projects can be created from either the Kanban Board or the Timeline — both create the same project in the shared data model.

Live Sync with Kanban

Any change made on the Kanban board — adding a task, editing a due date, changing a priority — is reflected on the Timeline the next time you view it. There is no manual refresh button; the data is always current.

Task Bars

Each task in the project is rendered as a coloured horizontal bar on the Gantt chart.

Bar Width = Duration

The left edge of the bar corresponds to the task's start date (or creation date if no start date is set). The right edge corresponds to the due date. A task without a due date is rendered as a narrow marker on its start date.

Bar Colour = Priority

  • Critical — red
  • High — orange
  • Medium — amber
  • Low — green
  • No priority set — indigo

Clicking a Bar

Click any task bar to open its detail panel. From here you can edit the title, description, assignee, priority, and dates. Changes save immediately and the bar updates its position and colour to reflect any date changes.

Zoom & Navigation

The time axis can be zoomed and panned to find the right level of detail for your planning session.

Zoom In

Increase zoom to show individual days. Useful for planning the current week or spotting same-day conflicts between tasks.

Zoom Out

Decrease zoom to show weeks or months. Useful for a high-level quarter or year view to check milestone spacing.

Pan Horizontally

Scroll left and right within the Gantt chart area to move through time. The task label column on the left stays fixed so you always know which row you are looking at.

Today Line

A vertical red line marks today's date on the time axis, making it easy to see which tasks are overdue (bars ending to the left of today) and which are upcoming.

Zoom Levels

The zoom slider in the screen toolbar steps through: Day → Week → 2 Weeks → Month → Quarter → Year. At the Day level each column represents one day. At the Year level each column represents approximately one month.

Scroll with the Mouse Wheel

Use your mouse wheel while hovering over the Gantt chart area to scroll horizontally. Hold Ctrl and scroll to zoom in/out without reaching for the slider.

AI Assistant

The Timeline has the same right-edge AI assistant panel as the Kanban board. Because it shares the same project data, the assistant can answer timing-specific questions about the Gantt chart.

Useful Timeline Prompts

  • "Which tasks overlap in June?"
  • "Is the project on schedule for the Q3 deadline?"
  • "How many days until the release milestone?"
  • "List tasks whose due date has passed"
  • "Which team members have the most tasks due this week?"

The assistant can also save its analysis as a report that you can share with stakeholders directly from the My Reports screen.

Tips for Effective Use

Kanban for Execution, Timeline for Planning

Use the Kanban Board for your daily stand-up — drag cards, update statuses. Use the Timeline for sprint planning and manager reviews — check date coverage and spot capacity conflicts.

Always Set Due Dates

Tasks without due dates appear as thin markers on the timeline and give no useful scheduling information. Make it a team norm to always set a due date when creating a task.

Share the Timeline

Take a screenshot of the Timeline view for stakeholder updates. The today line, colour-coded priorities, and project name in the tab make the screenshot self-explanatory without extra annotation.

Tab Style Setting

If you have many projects open at once, switch to icon-only tab style in Settings → Appearance → Project Tab Style to fit more tabs on screen without the bar overflowing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to set up the Timeline separately from the Kanban Board?
No. The Timeline reads the exact same projects and tasks you already manage on the Kanban Board — there is no separate data import step. Any task, due date, or priority change made on Kanban appears on the Timeline the next time you view it, with no manual refresh required.
Why is a task showing as just a thin marker instead of a bar?
A task without a due date has no way to calculate bar width, so it renders as a narrow marker on its start date (or creation date if no start date is set either) instead of a full Gantt bar. Set a due date on the task to give it a proper duration bar on the timeline.
What do the colours on the Gantt bars mean?
Bar colour reflects task priority: red for Critical, orange for High, amber for Medium, green for Low, and indigo for tasks with no priority set. This lets you scan the whole timeline for urgent work without opening each task individually.
Can I use the AI Assistant to check for scheduling conflicts?
Yes. Because the Timeline's AI Assistant panel shares the same project data as Kanban, you can ask timing-specific questions like "Which tasks overlap in June?" or "List tasks whose due date has passed." You can also save the assistant's analysis as a report from the My Reports screen to share with stakeholders.