Timeline view - can I generate a timeline without having to enter start/end dates for each issue?

Question

Can the Timeline View be configured to behave like project management software like MS Project?  i.e. by linking issues together via "depends on" and setting estimates (durations) for each task, the software will project a timeline of when each issue will be completed without having to manually enter each date.

Walter Buggenhout · Accepted Answer

Hi @Adam.Cole and welcome to the Community!

No, that is not possible. Estimations present the actual work or effort needed to complete a task, while the duration is based on the start and end dates. These are different things, not linked together.

Approaching these two concepts have the benefit that you can link estimated time also to logged hours and use that for tracking budget, which is usually not based on how long it takes.

In a practical example, if a task needs 8 hours of actual work, it may take effectively up to several days before it gets completed as the assignee might get sick, spend a lot of time at the coffee machine or get blocked as something he needs is missing.

Jira is not a tool like MS Project and it has not had the ambition to become that, so it does behave differently.

Hope this helps!