If you’re managing projects in Jira, you’ve likely come across the Timeline view. It's a powerful tool for visualizing how tasks, teams, and entire projects come together. But how exactly does it work?🚀
What is the Jira Timeline?
Jira’s Timeline view is a visual tool designed to help teams see the bigger picture by mapping out tasks, issues, and sprints over time. Essentially, it provides a Gantt chart-style view that makes it easier to plan, schedule, and track progress across your projects.
Why Use the Timeline?
Visualize how tasks fit together.
Track deadlines.
See dependencies between tasks and avoid bottlenecks.
Manage multiple projects or sprints in one place.
How to Create a Timeline in Jira
Creating a timeline in Jira, especially if you're using the Premium or Enterprise plans, allows you to visually map out your project’s tasks and milestones in a Gantt chart-style format. Here’s how to create and optimize your timeline view in Jira:
1. Access the Advanced Planning Feature
To start, you'll need access to Jira's Advanced Roadmaps, which is available on the Premium and Enterprise plans. If you’re on a Free or Standard plan, you will stick to the limited Timeline view available in the left-side panel or you can consider using a third-party app like Planyway (more on that below).
2. Set Up Your Timeline
Add Epics and Tasks. Select the epics and their associated child tasks that you want to display on the timeline. Jira will automatically place them on the timeline based on their start and end dates.
Define Start and End Dates. Make sure to add or update the start and end dates for each issue. This will ensure that they appear in the correct position on the timeline.
View Dependencies. If you have task dependencies, link tasks using the "Dependencies" option. This will create visual connectors between related tasks to highlight the sequence of work and potential bottlenecks.
3. Customize Your Timeline View
Jira allows you to customize how the timeline is displayed to better suit your team’s workflow.
Group by Team or Project. If you’re managing multiple teams or projects, use the "Group by" feature to sort issues by team or project, making it easier to track parallel workstreams.
Adjust Timeframes. Zoom in or out to view the timeline in more granular detail (e.g., days or weeks) or at a higher level (months or quarters).
Filter Issues. Use filters to only display certain issue types, priorities, or statuses, helping you focus on the most relevant tasks for your team.
4. Monitor Progress and Capacity
Once your timeline is set up, you can use it to:
Track Progress. Visual indicators like progress bars or color-coded statuses will give you an at-a-glance view of how your epics and tasks are progressing.
Manage Team Capacity. Advanced Roadmaps allows you to allocate resources and check team capacity directly from the timeline, ensuring that no one is overburdened and deadlines are realistic.
5. Share the Timeline with Stakeholders
Once your timeline is ready, you can share it with your team or stakeholders:
Export the Timeline. Jira offers options to export the timeline view as a PDF or image, making it easy to share progress reports during meetings or presentations. More about it here.
Collaborate in Real-Time. Stakeholders can view the timeline directly in Jira if they have the appropriate access, enabling real-time collaboration and adjustments as the project evolves.
Free/Standard vs. Premium/Enterprise: What’s the Difference?
Now, here’s the crucial part: Timeline functionality differs across Jira plans:
Free and Standard Plans. These plans do not offer access to the Advanced Planning (Plans). This means your timeline view will be limited to Epic bars and issues shown underneath.
Premium and Enterprise Plans. These tiers unlock full access to the Advanced Roadmaps feature. You get all the bells and whistles like task dependencies, multiple timeline views, and cross-functional work, such as a program or initiative.
Feature | Free/Standard | Premium/Enterprise |
Timeline View | ✅ | ✅ |
Task Dependencies | ❌ | ✅ |
Cross-Project Planning | ❌ | ✅ |
Team Capacity Management | ❌ | ✅ |
Alternative: Planyway App
If you're on the Free or Standard Jira plan and find the lack of a Timeline frustrating, look no further than Planyway. It’s one of the best Jira marketplace apps that fills in all the gaps of Jira’s Timeline feature—and then some.
Advantages of Planyway:
Available for All Jira Plans. Whether you're on Free, Standard, or Premium, you get a timeline view at the same cost (it even goes FREE if you are free in Jira).
Drag-and-Drop Interface. Intuitively drag and drop tasks, stories, and epics across the timeline.
Any Issue Type Support. Jira’s Timeline might skip the nitty-gritty details, but Planyway lets you visualize every issue and subtask on a timeline.
Custom Views. Want to see your timeline by team, project, or even personal tasks? Planyway lets you customize views to suit any work style.
Resource Management. Keep track of your team’s workload and capacity directly within the timeline.
Cross-Project Timelines. Manage multiple projects within one timeline.
Extra Features at the Same Price. Apart from the Timeline view, Planyway allows you to toggle between Calendar, Workload, Time Tracking and Reports views for maximum flexibility.
Why Choose Planyway?
For teams that want advanced timeline functionality without being restricted to Premium or Enterprise Jira plans, Planyway is an excellent alternative. It gives you everything you need and even more features like wonderful time tracking and resource management—without the added cost of upgrading to higher-tier Jira plans.
Final Thoughts
Jira’s Timeline feature is a solid tool for managing tasks and projects—if you're on a Premium or Enterprise plan. However, for users on the Free or Standard plans, options are limited, and that's where apps like Planyway come in.
So, why settle for less? Give Planyway a try and see how it transforms your Jira experience.
Got questions or experiences to share about Jira’s Timeline or Planyway? Drop a comment below—we’d love to hear from you!😎
