Project Summary Timeline Software

How do I create a project summary timeline in MS Project?

With OnePager Pro, you can take your typical Microsoft Project file and quickly prepare a timeline view of the project. Once prepared, this timeline view can be updated and used in downstream presentations and schedule conversations as your Microsoft Project file is updated with current status information.

We will illustrate below how Microsoft Project, with OnePager Pro installed as an add-in, can produce a quality timeline project view that can be updated as the project proceeds. You don't need to do anything special in MS Project to make this happen--OnePager Pro does the rest and provides you with a professional timeline presentation report that can be used in PowerPoint presentations, distributed as a PDF, or included in an email message.

If you don’t already have OnePager Pro, you can download a 15-day free trial to see how it works:

1. To illustrate the creation of a summary project timeline we’ll use the following project and create a single project timeline Gantt chart.
   
   
   
   We’ve inserted a flag column into the Microsoft Project file which OnePager Pro will use to know which MS Project tasks should be included in the timeline.
   
   
2. Now let’s make a project view from this Microsoft Project file with OnePager Pro by clicking on the OnePager Pro button on the Microsoft Project toolbar or add-ins tab. When this is done, the following view of the project is created by OnePager Pro:
   
   
   
   
3. Now we’ll use OnePager Pro’s rich editing features to hide all the detail rows and to crop the hidden rows. When we finish, the project view will look like this:
   
   
   
   
4. Again, using OnePager Pro’s editing features from the project view, let’s move the summary rows into a single row, adjust the positions of the task titles, make them a bit bigger, and adjust the size of the milestone marker at the end. When we finish these adjustments, the timeline will look like the one below:
   
   

This article presented an approach for taking Microsoft Project schedule data and creating a summary timeline schedule on one page. In the process, we discussed some of OnePager Pro’s powerful editing capabilities that can be applied to the project view to tailor it specifically to your audience and the points you intend to make in any schedule conversation.

Once created, this project summary timeline Gantt chart is easily inserted into Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, posted to SharePoint or sent as email messages so that others can understand issues and accomplishments.

Using OnePager Pro allows you to create dynamic, informative project presentations with the click of a button, and it eliminates the need to rebuild your presentation by hand every time your project schedule changes.

Get started today by downloading a free trial or attending one of our demonstration webinars.