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Timeline

Get a bird's eye view of your campaigns and manage durations in the Communicate App.

#timeline #campaign-management #scheduling #organization

Timeline

A Bird's Eye View of Your Campaigns

The Timeline in the Communicate App provides a comprehensive overview of all your campaigns and their durations. It’s designed to give you a clear picture of when your campaigns are running and to allow for easy adjustments to both the campaigns and their associated communications.

1. Layout

The Timeline is structured to offer a broad, two-month view of your campaigns, making it easy to plan and adjust your communication strategy.

  • Columns:

    • Each column in the Timeline represents a single week, composed of seven smaller columns that each represent a day of the week.
    • The Timeline displays eight weeks at a time, providing a two-month view of your campaign activities.
    • Each week is labeled with its date range, while the smaller columns inside show the specific days of the week. The number of visible weeks remains fixed at eight, though the columns may shrink or expand depending on the browser window size.

  • Campaign Entries:

    • Campaigns are displayed as bars stretched across the Timeline according to their start and end dates.
    • Each campaign is color-coded according to the color assigned to it, making it easy to distinguish between different campaigns at a glance.
    • Campaigns can overlap; if this occurs, they stack vertically within the same timeline row.

2. Interacting with Campaigns

The Timeline is not just a visual tool but also allows for interactive adjustments to campaigns and their associated communications. There are four main ways to interact with campaigns on the Timeline:

1. Dragging Campaigns

  • Moving a Campaign:
    • You can click and drag a campaign to shift it forward or backward in time. The length of the campaign remains the same, but the start and end dates are updated based on the new position.
    • After dragging, a confirmation modal will appear, showing all associated communications and their new dates. You can then choose to accept these changes, which will save the new campaign and communication dates, or cancel to revert the campaign and communications back to their original dates.

2. Extending a Campaign

  • Lengthening a Campaign:
    • Click and drag the left or right edge of a campaign to extend its start or end date, thereby lengthening the campaign's duration.
    • A confirmation modal will appear, listing all the communications associated with the campaign. Since the current communications still fall within the campaign’s new date range, no updated dates are needed. You can then adjust the communications as needed on the Calendar or Campaign Page. If you cancel, the campaign and communications revert to their original dates.

3. Shortening a Campaign

  • Reducing the Campaign Duration:
    • You can also shorten a campaign by dragging its start or end edge inward. If shortening causes any communications to fall outside the new campaign date range, these communications will be automatically unscheduled and moved to the “unscheduled” bank within the Campaign Page’s Communications Calendar.
    • A confirmation modal will list any communications affected by this change. These communications will be set to draft mode and will need to be manually rescheduled. Canceling will revert the campaign and communications back to their original dates.

4. Clicking on a Campaign

  • Accessing Campaign Details:
    • Clicking on a campaign within the Timeline opens the Campaign Page, where you can view or update the campaign’s details and manage its communications. For more information about the Campaign Page, please refer to the Campaigns documentation (link to be added later).

3. Navigation

Navigating through the Timeline works similarly to the Calendar, with a few adjustments:

  • Weekly View Only:

    • Unlike the Calendar, the Timeline is always in Week Mode, providing a consistent overview of your campaigns.

  • Date Range Display:

    • The navigation bar shows the current date range you are viewing.

  • Scroll Buttons:

    • Use the single scroll button to move one week at a time, or use the double scroll button to jump the entire view (8 weeks) forward or backward.

  • Today Button:

    • Clicking the “Today” button brings the current week into view without resetting any active filters or settings.

4. Filtering

The Timeline offers filtering options similar to the Calendar, helping you focus on specific campaigns:

  • Filter Dropdown:

    • Clicking on the “Filter” button opens a dropdown with filtering options for Categories and Campaigns (Channels are not included in the Timeline filters since they relate to individual communications).
    • Activating a filter highlights the relevant campaigns while fading out others. You can still interact with faded-out campaigns, such as dragging, extending, or shortening them.

  • Layering Filters:

    • Multiple filters can be applied simultaneously, allowing for more precise control over what campaigns are visible.

5. Drafts

Managing drafts in the Timeline helps you control the visibility and status of your campaigns:

  • Draft Toggle:

    • The Drafts toggle is off by default. When turned on, all campaigns currently in draft mode will be visible on the Timeline.
    • Draft campaigns are hidden when the toggle is off, just like with communications in the Calendar.

  • Visual Indicators:

    • Campaigns in draft mode are indicated by a change in color, similar to communications in the Calendar. No additional visual indicators are provided.

Additional Resources

For more detailed guidance, explore our Documentation. If you have further questions, reach out to us at [email protected].

Start organizing your communications more effectively today.

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