What is a Timeline?
A timeline is a powerful view for managing your campaigns across a calendar layout. It provides a comprehensive overview of all your campaigns and their durations, giving you a clear picture of when your campaigns are running and allowing for easy adjustments to both campaigns and their associated communications.
In the Communicate App, the Timeline displays campaigns as color-coded bars stretched across weeks, showing their start and end dates. Unlike the Calendar view which focuses on individual communications, the Timeline focuses on campaign-level planning and scheduling.
Why Does Timeline Matter for Church Communications?
Timeline matters because it provides a strategic, high-level view of your communication schedule. This view helps you:
- See the big picture: Understand how campaigns overlap and interact across time
- Plan strategically: Identify gaps, overlaps, or conflicts in your communication schedule
- Adjust efficiently: Quickly move or resize campaigns while maintaining communication relationships
- Manage campaign durations: Easily extend or shorten campaigns as plans change
The Timeline is essential for churches managing multiple campaigns simultaneously, as it helps prevent scheduling conflicts and ensures a balanced communication load across time periods.
How Does Timeline Work in Communicate?
In the Communicate App, the Timeline provides a two-month view (8 weeks) of your campaigns:
Layout:
- Each column represents a single week, composed of seven smaller columns (days)
- Campaigns appear as color-coded bars stretched across their date ranges
- Overlapping campaigns stack vertically within the same timeline row
- The Timeline respects your week start preference (Sunday or Monday)
Interacting with Campaigns:
- Quick Add Campaign: In the date row (under the week labels), click and drag a date range to open the Add Campaign modal with start and end dates pre-filled; create a new campaign without leaving the Timeline
- Dragging Campaigns: Click and drag a campaign to shift it forward or backward in time (the length stays the same)
- Extending Campaigns: Drag the left or right edge to lengthen the campaign's duration
- Shortening Campaigns: Drag the start or end edge inward to reduce duration (communications outside the new range are unscheduled)
- Clicking Campaigns: Opens the Campaign Page to view or edit details
Features:
- Filtering by Categories and Campaigns
- Draft toggle to show/hide draft campaigns
- Navigation tools to move forward or backward in time
- Confirmation modals when making changes that affect communications
When Should You Use Timeline?
Use Timeline for:
- Strategic planning: When you need to see how multiple campaigns fit together
- Campaign adjustments: When you need to move or resize campaigns quickly
- Conflict identification: When checking for overlapping campaigns or communication overload
- High-level overview: When you want to see campaign schedules without communication details
The Timeline is most useful when managing multiple campaigns, planning ahead, or making strategic adjustments to your communication calendar.
Related Terms
- Campaign - The items displayed and managed in the Timeline
- Calendar - A different view focused on individual communications
- Category - Used for filtering in the Timeline view
- Draft Status - Campaigns can be shown or hidden in Timeline based on draft status
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How is Timeline different from Calendar?
A: Timeline focuses on campaigns and their durations, showing a high-level view of when campaigns run. Calendar focuses on individual communications and their specific dates and channels. Use Timeline for strategic planning and Calendar for detailed scheduling.
Q: Can I see individual communications in Timeline?
A: No, Timeline shows only campaigns. To see individual communications, use the Calendar view or open a specific campaign page.
Q: What happens if I shorten a campaign and communications fall outside the new date range?
A: Communications that fall outside the new campaign date range are automatically unscheduled and moved to the "unscheduled" bank within the Campaign Page's Communications Calendar. They're set to draft mode and need to be manually rescheduled.
Q: Can I filter campaigns in Timeline?
A: Yes, you can filter by Categories and Campaigns. Channels are not included in Timeline filters since they relate to individual communications, not campaigns.
Q: How far can I scroll in Timeline?
A: There are no limits on how far you can scroll forward or backward in time, allowing you to plan or review campaigns across any date range.
Q: Does Timeline respect my week start preference?
A: Yes, the Timeline respects the same start-of-week setting as the Calendar. Update it in User Settings → Calendar Preferences, and the Timeline's weekly columns will update immediately.
Q: How do I create a campaign from the Timeline?
A: Use Quick Add Campaign: in the date row (the row of day letters under the week labels), click and drag across the dates you want for the campaign. When you release, the Add Campaign modal opens with start and end dates already set. Fill in the rest and save; you stay on the Timeline.