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Using the timeline

Scheduling and timeline

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This page discusses the usage of Portfolio for Jira live plans. If you're using the redesigned planning interface, see the following pages instead:

The timeline shows the results of resource calculation and forecasting, and these results are based on the data in your plan. The timeline essentially provides visibility into your plan's forecasted release dates, as well as how your teams, members, and other resources are allocated across your work items. Epics and stories are scheduled accordingly on the timeline, and details and bottlenecks are highlighted as well.

In the sample Quarter 3 plan below, note the following details:

  • The work items are displayed by the epic hierarchy level
  • The schedule view settings are configured to display:
    • the sprints in Jira
    • work items grouped by person — in this case, grouped by Bob


1The orange dashed line indicates the current day, which is 4th January 2018
2
  • The number of issues displayed in the timeline, depending on how the grouping is set in the schedule view settings
  • In the example, since the schedule view settings have work items grouped by person or Bob, the timeline only shows the four work items assigned to Bob
3

Sprints in Jira, which are PERF sprint 1 and PERF sprint 2

4
  • Dark blue work items are estimated, and are thus scheduled by the automatic scheduling mechanism in Portfolio for Jira.
  • In this case, PERF-1 has an estimate of 10 story points, which is why the work item is displayed in dark blue shade.
  • Note that when you click a work item on the timeline, the start and end dates for that item will display.
5
  • Light blue work items are unestimated, but are scheduled because these have either a sprint, a release, or targets dates assigned to them.
  • Note that when you click a work item on the timeline, the start and end dates for that item will display.
6

Light blue bars on work items indicate dependencies between work items in the backlog:

  • if the light blue bar is at the beginning of an issue, that issue is dependent on another issue

  • if the light blue bar is at the end of an issue, that issue is a dependency for another issue
7
  • The period during which a member of the team is absent or out of office, and won't be able to do any work
  • In the example above, the schedule view settings have work items grouped by person or Bob. Since Bob will be out of office from 24th to 26th January, then this period is blocked off in the timeline.
8

This is the release line, which spans the time period during which the work items in your plan are scheduled.

  • If the release line is solid green, then the release is going as planned. There's no overbooking for that release, and work is expected to finish on time.
  • If it's red, then the release is overbooked. This means that you've assigned more work to the release, than the work that can realistically be done in time for the release end date.

Show more details...
  • If the release line appears as hollow or dashed (not solid), this is what's known as a buffer. A buffer is a period between the calculated date and the manually fixed date.
    In the example above, the calculated release date for 2.0 is 31 Jan 2018. However, there's a manually fixed release date, which is set on 2 Feb 2018. The green dashed line between 31 Jan and 02 Feb is your buffer — no work is planned between 31 Jan and 2 Feb, since work for the release is calculated to be completed by 31 Jan 2018.
  • If the release is going as planned:
    • calculated release dates are represented by white balls, with green border
    • manually fixed release dates are represented by green balls, with white border
  • If the release is overbooked:
    • calculated release dates are represented by white balls, with red border
    • manually fixed release dates are represented by red balls, with white border

Configuring the schedule settings

When viewing items in the schedule view, you can use additional settings so you can view only the items you need in your plan.

The following table discusses the available schedule settings in a plan:

Line
  • Global: to see all work items along a single timeline
  • Projects: to see multiple timelines, one for each project
GroupingGroup work items by teams, people, labels, or components
Coloring

Choose to show work items in a single color, or by the colors assigned to themes

ZoomZoom in and out accordingly
Empty releasesShow or hide empty releases
SprintsDisplay the timeline as filtered by sprint color. When you click the sprint name, you'll see the sprint capacity availability and usage. Learn more about the capacity view.
DependenciesShow indicators on work items that have dependencies


To configure schedule settings:

  1. In your plan, go to the Scope, Teams, or Releases view. This will display the timeline of the plan, according to the view selected.
  2. Next to the Schedule dropdown, click to display the schedule settings.
  3. Configure the schedule settings as needed.

Updating the timeline

Whenever you make changes to your plan, we recommend you click Calculate so that these changes are reflected in your plan. If you're happy with the changes made, make sure to commit these changes back to your Jira instance.

Troubleshooting

I don't see sprints in the timeline

The teams in the plan must be assigned to boards as issues sources.

  1. Go to your plan > Teams > select the board you want to use as an issue source.
  2. Click Calculate to refresh the timeline.
  3. In the schedule section, click > Sprints checkbox.


Last modified on Apr 5, 2020

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