Parent Category (required)

Parent Category defines the rows in the Timeline visual. Multiple fields can be used to display a hierarchy. Our example shows: Project Name

From the Excel data file on the Project-Phases table, we will use Project Name.

Here is the field in the Parent Category field well:

In the visual the result is:

Timeline Category (required)

Timeline Category is used to categorize both the Timeline Bars and Milestones and enables the ability to set Timeline Bar color by category, and Milestone color and shape by category. From our sample data we will use the Project Phase field.

Here is the field in the Timeline Category field well:

Milestone/Task (required)

This is a True/False field that delineates between Tasks and Milestones in the data. From our sample data:

Here is the field in the Milestone/Task field well:

Timeline Bar (required)

This field supplies the name for each Timeline bar. In many cases this will be the field used for the lowest level of the Parent Category – as in this case, we will use Top Parent Task. Note that the visual will only use the data from the Project Name field when the Milestone/Task field is False:

Here is the field in the Timeline Bar field well:

Timeline Bar Text (optional)

The Timeline Bar Text field enables the display of text in the Timeline Bar. For this example, we will use Top Parent Task:

Here is the field in the Timeline Bar Text field well:

Timeline Bar Start Date, Timeline Bar Finish Date (optional)

The Timeline Bar Start and Finish dates are used by the Timeline visual to define the Timeline bar display.

From the sample data we will use Project Phase Start Date and Earliest Project Phase Finish Date:

Here is the field in the Timeline Bar Start and Finish Date field wells:

Baseline Bar Start and Finish Dates (optional)

bars. From the sample data, we will use If you have baseline date, these can be used to show baseline Project Baseline Phase Start and Project Baseline Phase Finish.

Here is the field in the Baseline Bar Start and Finish Date field wells:

Milestone

Much like the Timeline Bar field, Milestone is used to name the milestones. Again, in many cases the field in the lowest Parent Category position will be used – as in this case, we use Timeline Milestone. In the example we will not use a milestone, so we leave that field well blank:

Milestone Date

Milestones only need one date, and this is where it’s needed. In the example we will not use a milestone date, so we leave that field well blank:

Data Label

Data labels can be displayed on milestones, timeline bars or both. In the example we will not use a data label, so we leave that field well blank:

Sort By

Sort By allows for custom sorting of your data. In the example we will not use a custom sort, so we leave that field well blank:

% Completion

Percent completion will display a progress bar inside a timeline bar. From our sample data we will use the Task Percent Completed field:

Here is the field in the % Completion field well:

Timeline Bar and Milestone Tooltips

The Tooltips field wells allow you to add one or more fields to be displayed for either Timeline Bars or Milestones. For this example, we will leave them blank: