The Job Timeline is the best way to see the bigger picture of a job. This article will guide you through all of the Timeline's handy features, including how to add and change dates for items and set milestones for key project events.

Watch our 5-min overview on the timeline below, or read on.

Want more and a peek behind the scenes? Head here to watch a full overview of the Timeline capabilities in our most recent webinar with Isobel, Poli and Jake 👫

To access the Job Timeline, just click "Timeline" from the job screen.

Down the left you can see all your Items and Phases within the Job. By default, the sorting option within the Timeline is based on what you've set-up on the job plan, however, you may change it based on how you'd like to view or share the job dates with the team or client. The sorting options are:

Once changed, we will remember your sorting preferred sorting for ease 😉

Scroll the Timeline using the Trackpad, Mouse or the Keyboard Shortcuts (Scroll + Shift - horizontal scrolling). You can also use the date-picker and the <> icons within the Timeline header to navigate to the desired date range. Use the Date, Week, Month or Year options to zoom in or out, alternatively use the Scroll + Ctrl keyboard shortcut to achieve the same result.

Milestones can be created directly within the timeline by clicking on the Milestone icon. You may choose to link a Milestone to an Item or keep it separate from the job plan and its deliverables (standalone). If Milestones aren't link to Items, they will be shown against their own toggle. If the Milestones are linked to the items on the Job Plan, they will be visible against their dedicated Phases.

Timeline is the perfect area to make changes to the existing job plan or even, plan the job from scratch! Think of it as the job plan excluding the financials and time, at times its useful to start there and after the rough plan is ready, look at how much time it'll take and how much it'll cost the client.

A new item can be added directly to the Timeline by clicking "New Item" or using the keyboard shortcut "N". Dates can be mapped by editing the Start and End dates on the sidebar or by dragging across the timeline. Existing dates can be edited the same way.
​

Timeline dependencies are relationships between items where one must start or finish before another can begin. They ensure items are performed in a logical order, such as "design must be completed before development can start". These relationships are crucial for scheduling, resource allocation, and keeping a project on track by showing how changes to one task affect others. Once your Items, Phases and key dates are added, link them up to create date dependencies - this will help you plan your timelines, and shift them when things inevitably change.

Streamtime supports two kinds of dependencies. Fixed (also called lead/lag) and Minimum (also called float)

When an event needs to start an exact number of days before or after its parent start or end date.
​

When an event needs to start at least a number of days before or after its predecessor starts or finishes. This is used when the break between events doesn’t need to be exact. If you move an event with a float dependency, its linked event won’t move along with it until it hits the minimum number of days.
​

You’ll see that the fixed dependencies appear in a darker grey, whereas minimum dependencies are a showing as dashed line.

Click and drag the white circle of the event you'd like to connect with another, and hover over the event to connect it with. The first event you select will be the parent of the dependency, and the second will be the child.

The line will snap to either the start or the end of the child event. You'll see a line connecting the two events. The arrow denotes the way in which the dependency is structured, and which event is dependant on the other.

You can create four types of dependencies:

Right-click on the dependency row to view a handy tooltip detailing exactly what is dependant on what will appear.

If your dependency line shows red, that means there's a conflict (you've drawn a dependency that isn't currently working). We don't automatically make assumptions about how to resolve the conflict for you, we'll just call it out to tell you so you can fix it the way you want to.

However, when you start changing dates of an event with a conflicted dependency, we then take that to mean that the event you're editing is the one you want to dictate the relationship - and we'll resolve that conflict for you then

To make things even smoother, it might be handy to share this timeline with your client via a link or download as PDF.

Clicking "Share" will open the client version of the timeline with some instructions.

Within the Client View, you're able to customise the client-friendly version of the Job Timeline by hiding/removing Phases or Items from the view and deciding to show or hide Dependencies or Item Statuses. Once the changes are made, you're able to Preview and copy a client-friendly link to the Timeline.

The Client Preview version of the Timeline can be accessed by anyone with the link. It will include the Timeline Legend, Zoom options, Job Start and End dates, and even your company logo. Neat huh!

You have a few options when it comes to exporting the Timeline as PDF.

A downloadable version of your Timeline aka the Gantt chart 🤩 Select between the Internal (full job plan, the source of truth) and the Client Versions (if changes have been made to the Client-facing Timeline).

A PDF version of of your Job timeline with Phases, Items and key dates organised as a structured document. Select between the Internal and the Client Versions for data visibility.

Hello there, raw job data 👋 Upon popular request, you're able to export the Internal or the Client-friendly versions of the job plan, its dates and dependencies. This would allow you to make further customisations and changes, if required.

Head here to watch a full overview of the Timeline capabilities in our most recent webinar with Isobel, Poli and Jake 👫