Gantt charts (timelines)

You can change the date range by dragging the ends of a calendar scale.

1. Select a calendar scale.
2. Drag one of the blue arrows on the ends of the scale. While you drag, the new date is displayed in a tooltip below the arrow.
3. When the tooltip shows the date that you want, release the mouse button. The chart updates to display the new date range.

When you drag a handle, the date changes in increments that correspond to the units of the selected scale. For example, if you drag a handle of the week scale, the date changes in one-week increments. To modify the date range faster, drag a handle of a scale with larger units—for example, a month or year scale.

To open the Calendar dialog, double-click a calendar scale. Alternatively, right-click a calendar scale to open the context menu, then select Open Calendar .

In the Calendar dialog, today's date is highlighted in red. The upper-right corner shows the start date and end date of the selected range in ISO date format, and the length of the range.

You can use the following actions to modify the date range. Changes to the selected date range appear immediately in the chart.

To close the Calendar dialog, select Close , or select the main PowerPoint window.

If you change the date range so that a timeline item is no longer visible, then expand the date range so that the item is visible again, thinkcell preserves any custom text and formatting for that item (see Timeline items).

To reset the date range so that all bars, process arrows, milestones, and brackets are visible (see Timeline items), right-click the chart to open the context menu, then select Fit Scale to Data .

To delete hidden timeline items, use the clean-up option Invisible and Off-Slide Content (see Clean up and sanitize).

If you manually add a calendar scale, thinkcell won't hide the scale automatically when you change the chart size or date range.

To manually add a calendar scale, select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar. Under Scales, select the scale that you want to add:

• Years
• Quarters
• Months
• Weeks
• Days

To manually remove a calendar scale, do one of the following:

• Right-click the scale that you want to remove. On the context menu, select Delete .
• Select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar. Under Scales, deselect the scale that you want to remove.
• Select the scale that you want to remove, then select Delete.

Change whether and how weekends appear in the chart.

1. Select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar.
2. On the Weekend Display menu, select one of the following:
   • Plain Weekends: Weekends appear in the chart without shading.
   • Shaded Weekends: Weekends appear in the chart with shading.
   • Hidden Weekends: Weekends don't appear in the chart.

Choose which days of the week correspond to the weekend.

1. Select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar.
2. On the Weekend menu, select one of the following:
   • Weekend: Thursday–Friday
   • Weekend: Friday
   • Weekend: Friday–Saturday
   • Weekend: Saturday–Sunday
   • Weekend: Sunday

Choose the day of the week that corresponds to the start of your week.

1. Select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar.
2. On the Week Starts On menu, choose the weekday that corresponds to the start of your week.

Change the date format of any calendar scale. For example, in the month scale, you can choose to display months as a two-digit numbers (01) or three-letter abbreviations (Jan), or you can display the full month name (January).

1. Select the calendar scale whose date format you want to change.
2. On the mini toolbar, in the Format box, do one of the following:
   • On the dropdown menu, select the date format that you want.
   • In the text box, enter the date format code that you want (see Date format codes).

The week scale has two possible date formats:

• Week number, as designated by the date format code w or ww. Weeks are numbered according to ISO 8601.
• The first date of each week, as designated by the date format code d or dd.

To learn more, see Date format control.

If a fiscal calendar is configured in the active style file, you can show time in fiscal rather than calendar years. To learn more, see Add fiscal calendar option to Gantt charts.

1. Select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar.
2. Select Fiscal Year.

If you manually add calendar scale separators, thinkcell won't hide them automatically when you change the chart size or date range, unless the separators can't fit in the chart.

To manually add calendar scale separators, select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar. Under Separators, select the separator type that you want to add:

• Years
• Quarters
• Months
• Weeks
• Days

Alternatively, right-click the scale for which you want to add separators. On the context menu, select Add Vertical Separator Lines .

To manually remove calendar scale separators, do one of the following:

• Right-click a separator of the type that you want to remove. On the context menu, select Delete .
• Right-click the scale for which you want to remove separators. On the context menu, select Remove Vertical Separator Lines .
• Select the chart or any scale to open the mini toolbar. Under Separators, deselect the separator type that you want to remove.
• Select a separator of the type that you want to remove, then select Delete.

To add a calendar scale label, right-click the scale to which you want to add a label. On the context menu, select Add Scale Label .

To remove a calendar scale label, do one of the following:

• Right-click the label that you want to remove. On the context menu, select Delete .
• Right-click the scale whose label you want to remove. On the context menu, select Remove Scale Label .
• Select the label that you want to remove, then select Delete.

By default, the label displays the calendar scale type. For example, when you add a label to the month scale, the label is Month.

The week scale has two possible default labels, depending on the date format (see Change date formats):

• If the date format contains the week number, as designated by the date format code w or ww, the label is Week. Weeks are numbered according to ISO 8601.
• If the date format contains the first date of each week, as designated by the date format code d or dd, and does not contain the week number, the label is Week of.

You can enter new label text as needed, and you can change the format and style of the text (see Format and style text).

Bars indicate the duration of an activity.

Pentagons and chevrons, also known as process arrows, indicate the duration of an activity and can contain text.

Milestones indicate single-day occurrences. Add milestones that affect an individual activity to that activity's row. Add milestones that affect multiple activities below the chart.

You can add milestone lines to milestones (see Format and style milestones). Milestone lines span all activity rows in the chart.

Brackets label periods of time.

Shades indicate periods of time, such as holidays, that affect activities throughout the chart.

By default, when you insert a shade, a bracket with a date label is anchored to it (see Add and remove anchors). You can move the bracket vertically along the shade, remove the bracket's anchors to position it independently, or delete the bracket.

You can add any timeline item to the timeline area of a Gantt chart. Below the timeline area, you can also add milestones, brackets, and shades.

1. Move your pointer over or below the timeline area. Red crosshairs help you locate the date and activity row where you want to insert an item. A tooltip shows the date, weekday, and week number.
   

   

2. Right-click where you want to add the item. On the context menu, select the item that you want:
   • New Bar : Add a bar that starts on the date that you've selected.
   • New Milestone : Add a milestone on the date that you've selected.
   • New Bracket : Add a bracket that starts on the date that you've selected.
   • New Shade : Add a shade that starts on the date that you've selected.

   • New Pentagon/Chevron : Add a process arrow that starts on the date that you've selected.

     

The dates that you can select using the crosshairs depend on the chart's date range, the chart's size, and your zoom setting. If the date range is too compressed to select a certain calendar unit, the crosshairs snap to the next largest calendar unit. For example, if the date range is too compressed to select individual dates, the crosshairs snap to the first dates of weeks and months.

To duplicate a timeline item, hold down Ctrl and drag the item to a new position. A copy of the original item is added at the new position.

To delete timeline items, do one of the following:

• Right-click an item to open the context menu, then select Delete .
• Select multiple items. Right-click the selection to open the context menu, then select Delete .
• Select one or more items, then select Delete.

To delete timeline items outside of the selected date range (see Hidden timeline items), use the clean-up option Invisible and Off-Slide Content (see Clean up and sanitize).

To move timeline items into another activity row, drag one or more items into the row that you want (see Select objects).

When you drag a timeline item’s handle, the date changes but the item remains in the same row. To move an item into a different row, drag the item itself, not its handles.

To adjust the dates of timeline items, do one of the following:

• Drag one or more items to the date or date range that you want (see Select objects).
• Select a bar, process arrow, shade, or bracket, then drag its handles to the start and end dates that you want.
• Double-click an item, or select Open Calendar on the item's context menu. In the Calendar dialog, select the date or date range that you want (see Modify the date range).
  • For bars, process arrows, shades, and brackets, close the dialog after you've selected the date range that you want.
  • For milestones, the dialog closes automatically after you select a date.

If a bar’s start or end date falls outside the timeline’s date range, an arrow appears at the corresponding end of the bar.

To anchor one timeline item to another, follow these steps:

1. Select the timeline item that you want to anchor—for example, select a bar.
   

   

2. Start dragging the handle that you want to anchor—for example, the handle at the bar's start date. Available anchor points appear.
   

   

3. Drag the handle to the anchor point that you want to link to—for example, the anchor point of a milestone—so that a blue anchor icon appears.
   

   

If you want to position one timeline item adjacent to another item without creating an anchor, when you drag an item's handle, drag above or below the adjacent handle so that the blue anchor icon disappears.

To remove an anchor, follow these steps:

1. Select the timeline item from which you created the anchor. For example, if you anchored a bar to a milestone, select the bar.
   

   

2. On the timeline item to which you attached the anchor—for example, the milestone—drag the handle with the anchor icon up or down so that the anchor icon disappears.
   

   

When you add a label to a timeline item, the label initially contains either custom text or the item’s date or date range. You can add labels directly to bars, process arrows, milestones, and brackets. To label a shade, add a bracket.

Milestones and brackets have date labels by default. You can add to or replace the label content (see Edit timeline item labels).

Add custom labels

To add a label that contains custom text to a bar, process arrow, milestone, or bracket, follow these steps:

1. Select the timeline item to which you want to add a label.

2. When you start typing, thinkcell adds a label or overwrites existing label content. Enter the label text that you want.

Add date labels

Date labels contain date fields that show an item's date or date range. If you change an item's date, the date field updates automatically.

To add date labels to bars, milestones, or brackets, follow these steps:

1. Select one or more timeline items to which you want to add a label.
2. Right-click your selection to open the context menu, then select Add Date Label . Alternatively, if you've only selected one timeline item, select F2.

To add date labels to process arrows, follow these steps:

1. Select one or more process arrows to which you want to add a label.
2. Do one of the following:
   • On the mini toolbar, on the Label Content menu, select the date content that you want.
   • Right-click your selection to open the context menu, then select Add Text .
   • If you've only selected one process arrow, select F2.

Add labels to shades

By default, shades include a bracket with a date label. If you delete the bracket, you can add it again as follows:

1. Add a bracket (see Add timeline items).
2. Anchor the start and end dates of the bracket to the start and end dates of the shade (see Add anchors).

Brackets have a date label by default. You can add to or replace the label content (see Edit timeline item labels).

To remove a label from a bar, milestone, or bracket, do one of the following:

• Right-click the timeline item whose label you want to remove. On the context menu, select Remove Date Label .
• Right-click the label that you want to remove. On the context menu, select Delete .
• Select the label that you want to remove, then select Delete.

To remove a label from a process arrow, right-click the process arrow. On the context menu, select Remove Text .

To remove a label from a shade, remove the bracket that's anchored to the shade (see Delete timeline items).

You can enter any text in a timeline item label. If a timeline item label contains a date field, you can add text or replace the date fields with your own text. To replace existing text in a timeline item label, select the item, then start typing.

Gantt charts support large, multiline labels. Activity rows and process arrows automatically adjust their height to fit label contents. If possible, thinkcell matches the heights of all process arrows.

To format and style text in timeline item labels, see Format and style text.

Edit date field content

Choose which date information to show in a label's date field. For example, you can show an item’s date range, start date, or end date.

To change the date format, see Date format control.

To change date field content, follow these steps:

1. Select the label whose date field content you want to change.
2. On the mini toolbar, open the Label Content menu, then select the date information that you want:
   • For bars, process arrows, and brackets, select one of the following:
     • Date Range (default)
     • Start Date
     • End Date
   • For milestones, select one of the following:
     • Date (default)
     • Previous Day (default if anchored to the end date of a multiday timeline item; see Milestone position)

Restore date fields

To restore a date field after you've deleted it, follow these steps:

1. Select the label to which you want to add the date field.
2. On the mini toolbar, open the Label Content menu and select the date information that you want to show.

By default, thinkcell automatically chooses the position of timeline item labels based on the chart's layout.

When you manually position a label, thinkcell keeps this position, even if the chart's layout changes. To manually position a label, follow these steps:

1. Hover over or select the label that you want to move.
   

   

2. Start dragging the move icon at the bottom-right corner of the label. Available label positions appear on or around the timeline item.
   

   

3. Drag the label to the position that you want.
   

   

Restore automatic label placement

To restore automatic label placement, do one of the following:

• Right-click the label to open the context menu. Select Enable automatic placement .
• Drag the label to Drag here for Automatic on the left side of the slide.
  

  

You can change the fill and outline of bars.

1. Select one or more bars to open the mini toolbar.
2. On the mini toolbar, select any of the following:
   • Shape Style: Select a default style that's defined in your style file (see Style files), or another bar style that you currently use in the chart.
   • Fill: Select a fill (see Fills).
   • Outline Color: Select an outline color (see Change the outline color).
   • Line Style: Select an outline style.

You can change the fill and outline of process arrows.

1. Select one or more process arrows to open the mini toolbar.
2. On the mini toolbar, select any of the following:
   • Shape Style: Select a default style that's defined in your style file (see Style files), or another process arrow style based on what you currently use in your chart.
   • Fill: Select a fill (see Fills).
   • Outline Color: Select an outline color (see Change the outline color).
   • Line Style: Select an outline style.

You can change the marker shape and color of milestones, and add milestone lines that span activities throughout the chart.

To change the marker shape and color of milestones, follow these steps:

1. Select one or more milestones to open the mini toolbar.
2. On the mini toolbar, select any of the following:
   • Marker Style: Select a marker shape.
   • Marker Color: Select a marker color (see Fills).

Add and remove milestone lines

To add milestone lines, follow these steps:

1. Select one or more milestones.
2. Right-click your selection to open the context menu, then select Add Milestone Line .

To remove milestone lines, do one of the following:

• Select the milestone lines that you want to remove, then select Delete.
• Select the milestones whose milestone lines you want to remove. Right-click your selection to open the context menu, then select Remove Milestone Line .

You can change a shade's fill.

1. Select one or more shades to open the mini toolbar.
2. On the mini toolbar, open the Fill menu, then a fill (see Fills).