Creating a Simple Project Timeline

Using OnePager Pro to create project timelines from Microsoft Project

Simple consist of a number of sequential tasks laid out in a straight line across the page. With Microsoft Project, individual tasks are usually depicted in Gantt chart form associated with the order in which they are defined. OnePager Pro can take your existing Microsoft Project plan and construct a simple timeline in seconds. Don't have OnePager Pro yet? You can download a 15-day free trial to see how it works.

1. Take a sample Microsoft Project file like the one shown below that has 8 tasks all ordered from finish to start over the lifecycle of this example project:
   
   
   
   Note that OnePager Pro gets its instructions from you on which tasks/milestones to bring in from the “Yes” flags you put into “Flag20” as shown above.
   
   
2. Once we have the Microsoft Project file the way we want it, we need to make the project view with OnePager Pro. Just click on the OnePager Pro button on the Microsoft Project tool bar or add-ins tab, and the following wizard will appear:
   
   
   
   This is a new project view, so we typed in the project view name, told OnePager Pro to use “Flag20” to control the input of tasks/milestones from Microsoft Project, and set the snapshot (status) date to 8/15/2011.
   
   
3. By clicking on the Create new project view button we get the following graphic:
   
   
   
   Now we have a project view with two sets of tasks for each of our projects but we want them in two swimlanes to get each project into a simple timeline view.
   
   
4. In OnePager, click on the Project view properties button on the OnePager tool bar, and go to the Rows and Swimlanes to modify it as shown in the figure below:
   
   
   By using the rows and swimlanes features of OnePager Pro, we can tell OnePager Pro to make two rows, group the rows into swimlanes by the outline level of the WBS (tasks), and control borders and background of the swimlanes. We can also go to the Main tab to resize our project view since it will have fewer rows, and doesn't need as much space on the page. When we click OK the following final project timeline is produced:
   
   
   
   
5. You can edit the timeline more from here if you want, or you can copy and paste the timeline into PowerPoint, Outlook, or send it to SharePoint.

This article has discussed how to take a Microsoft Project file with a set of consecutive tasks and represent them with OnePager Pro as a simple timeline with easy to use Chronicle Graphics, Inc. software.

Using OnePager Pro will allow 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.