How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Saturday, January 21st 2023. | Sample Templates

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word – Timelines are among the most attractive types of visual communication because they are instantly recognizable. It’s easy to add them to many document types, and it’s even possible to create a timeline in Microsoft Word.

Note that we are not saying that we approve of it being done, but that it is possible. Once we’ve gone through the steps to create a timeline in Word, we’ll share some timeline templates that will make you think twice about using a word processing program for graphic design.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

With the Timeline Maker, you can create beautiful and attractive timelines that you can use to visualize projects or programs in your Word documents by simply importing them. And you can save even more time with the deployment of new smart templates.

The Best Timeline Maker For Every Type Of Project

There’s no doubt that Word is not a graphic design tool, but the program offers several ways to create simple timelines in your documents. The two methods are to create the timeline manually or using SmartArt graphics.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Manual processing takes longer, but you’ll get a more customized result from SmartArt graphics. In each process, we break down the steps and check the finished product.

As we said, it takes much longer to manually create a timeline by drawing a series of shapes and blocks of text in Microsoft Word and then adding the icons, but you’ll get a more customized and adjustable result.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Top Project Plan Templates For Excel

Type and format the title. In this case, we used one of the preset design themes in Word, but you don’t need to.

Fill the frame with your timeline entries. Go to “Insert” and add rectangular shapes. In this case, we chose to change up and down the line because that’s what we emulated in the original. The biggest advantage of this is that you can basically have twice as much content.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

In Word, the default is blue boxes with a black border, while text boxes are white with a black border by default. So you need to change them in Shape Format menu.

Project Timeline Template For Excel Free Download 2022

Add text boxes, add content, bold the date and part of the entry. Again, note that you will need to change the default style of the text box.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

From the Insert menu, add and size a circle by centering it inside the blue shape. Find the best option for each entry under “Insert” > “Icon”. This takes some precision as you have to set the icon not to wrap around the text and then set it to be in front of the text.

Add lines and circles to connect timeline entries in the center. Adjust everything to get the ideal alignment.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

How To Make A Timeline In Word

It took some hassle and manual adjustments, but the finished product is pretty close to the inspired design.

Word offers several timelines in its SmartArt stock gallery, and the process for creating SmartArt timelines is much shorter than for bespoke timelines. But the result leaves much to be desired.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

This is the same first step as in the example in the guide. Write and style your title as you wish.

Free Gantt Chart And Project Timeline Templates In Powerpoints, Excel & Sheets

Go to “Insert” > “SmartArt” and choose from a relatively limited gallery of available options for timelines. There are only two graphics made for timelines, although there are probably other SmartArt graphics that work.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Pull up the text panel at the top left of the SmartArt tab and type in all your points. While you can do some text editing, it’s difficult to adjust the size of the boxes to get them exactly where you want them.

You can make some of the text bold, but you’re pretty much locked into the size of the elements depending on the SmartArt timeline you choose.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

How To Make A Timeline In Word + Free Template

To place our icons, we first need to make room for them. You can’t delete preloaded circles, but you can select them and format them so that they don’t have any fill or outlines to make them invisible.

In the Insert menu, select the dropdown icon and search for the appropriate entries. You will need to change how they are aligned by placing them in front of the text in the graphic format menu. Change the color there too.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Besides not having a wide variety of icon options, having to do so many manual adjustments just didn’t make this SmartArt graphic smart enough for us.

How To Create A Timeline In Word [20+ Timeline Templates]

The result is difficult to read as the text automatically wraps to make room for each entry. It was a nice time saver to write the text and make it appear, but that time saver was completely wiped out by other adjustments we had to make.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Here’s the simple, updated timeline we’re trying to replicate. The manual route brought us much closer to this finished product, but in both cases the experience was cumbersome and time consuming and ultimately not as effective as this version.

If you’re looking for SmartArt-like functionality that lets you automatically add, resize, and move content, the new Smart Templates can help you save time creating a fully customized design.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Free Timeline Templates For Professionals

Before you start creating a timeline for Microsoft Word, you must determine where to place it in your document. If it fits on a page with other content, decide whether the events in the timeline will fit in a very horizontal layout.

On the other hand, if you have the freedom to let the timeline take up the entire page, use more space by creating a vertical timeline. Note that Word’s default features only give you about 600 x 800 pixels of usable space, taking into account size and margins.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Here are some Microsoft Word timeline templates to inspire you as you bring your vision to life.

How To Create The Perfect Project Timeline [template + Examples]

Keeping projects on track is crucial to the success of any organization. In some cases, even a day’s delay can be very costly. Project timelines can be used during the planning stages of projects and throughout the process to keep everything running smoothly.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Project timelines can contain specific dates, months, or weeks when certain tasks are expected to be completed. This requires project planning to be long enough that it is of course possible to note these dates.

If you don’t have specific dates or time zones yet, that’s fine. For informational or planning purposes, consider this free project timeline template to help all stakeholders understand the workflow.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Milestone Chart Templates

Timelines can also be used to catalog events around the world, including ancient and recent history. Such timelines are mostly used for content marketing purposes, but they can also be used for educational and informational purposes within Word documents.

Historical timeline templates can be useful additions to Word documents, especially when you want to make sure the person reading it has a basic level of knowledge.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

History timelines are not limited to world events or developments. This example shows how a personal history can be exported in a historical timeline that can be easily inserted into a Word document, such as a job application or resume.

Free Timeline Maker + Online Templates

Story timelines are also suitable for a vertical presentation (more on that in a moment). Since it basically takes up an entire Word page, it’s usually the best of both worlds.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Word documents are letter-size or 8.5 inches wide by 11 inches high by default. With a standard 1-inch margin around the page that leaves a vertically oriented rectangle on each page. When creating timelines for Word, consider those who make the most of portrait orientation.

This tech history timeline fits easily into any Word document thanks to its simple design and modern style.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Intuitive Timeline Template For Google Docs

Project timelines can run horizontally but are also a good match for portrait or portrait orientation. While this particular version is probably too long for your Word document, update it with your content and it will flow perfectly.

This colorful vertical timeline shows you how much personality and visual appeal you can add to the timelines you create for Word with the Timeline Maker from .

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

We’ve touched on this a bit already, but project managers are some of the most common users of timelines. Project management timelines are great additions to Word documents, especially proposals or contracts.

Project Plan Template For Word & Excel (free Download)

Project management timelines are easy to incorporate into contracts for client review or other Word-format planning documents. Include some pictures of your actual projects to further engage your team and clients.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

Keep all necessary tasks clear in the mind of the team with a project management calendar that lists the target completion date for each task.

Project plan timelines can be used in the early stages of a project before too much work is done. In fact, creating a project plan timeline for a Word document like a proposal or the first draft of a contract can help all parties see issues and make changes.

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

How To Create A Project Plan In 5 Simple Steps

Project plan timelines are useful before, during, and even after projects. Even before signing this major contract, it’s helpful to create a project plan timeline that outlines the ideal timelines for completing the various steps.

Add a light data visualization like this project plan timeline. Notice how each week is color-coded and how a new team or task is highlighted. This is useful for helping team members

How To Create A Project Timeline In Word

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