How to add breaks in the Timeline view?

[Tamara Almeida]

Hi fellow Jirians! One of my initiatives was started in Nevember, paused in December and resumed in January. How can I make this break visible in the Timeline view? It'll will look like we've spent 3 months on the initiative but it was actually 2.

[Maria · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tamara Almeida 

It's Mary from Planyway

To reflect the accurate duration and account for the pause in your initiative within JIRA's Timeline view, you can employ a couple of strategies to visually represent the break. These methods ensure that stakeholders have a clear understanding of the project's timeline and actual work period. Here's what you can do:

1. Split the Initiative into Two Phases:

   • Create two separate initiatives: One for the work before the pause (November to December) and another for after the pause (January onwards).
   • Use Epics or Versions to represent each phase: If your workflow or project structure doesn't allow for multiple initiatives, consider using epics or versions to signify the distinct phases of work. This way, you can clearly demarcate the pause and resume points.

2. Add a Milestone or Marker for the Pause:

   • Use a custom field or a label: Create a custom field or label to mark the start and end of the pause. Although this won’t visually split the timeline, it provides a clear reference point for when the initiative was on hold.
   • Incorporate milestones: If your JIRA setup includes the use of milestones, you can add a milestone at the pause point and another at the resume point to indicate the break period.

3. Leverage JIRA's Advanced Roadmaps (if available):

   • Adjust the dates manually: In Advanced Roadmaps, you can manually adjust the start and end dates of initiatives to reflect actual working periods, effectively "shortening" the initiative to exclude the pause.
   • Dependencies and Annotations: Use dependencies to link the two phases of the initiative and annotations to note the pause period, providing context to viewers of the roadmap.

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Tamara Almeida 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

That is not an available feature of bars in the timelines.

The bars are intended to show the span of time from start of work to end of work, not the actual, quantifiable time spend doing the work.

[Svitlana Samotis]

Hi @Tamara Almeida

I recommend exploring ActivityTimeline add-on.

With ActivityTimeline, you can effectively split a single initiative into multiple segments to accurately represent periods of active work. This means if your project was active in November, paused in December, and resumed in January, you can configure the timeline to display exactly that.

If you have any questions or need clarification on using ActivityTimeline, I'm here to help. Also, I'd be happy to arrange a quick call to discuss this further. 

Regards, 

Svitlana, ActivityTimeline team