The master timeline tool that replaces the quarter-grid spreadsheet. One row per milestone, deadline, decision or planning window β with honest dates: an exact day when you know it, a quarter when you don't. Zoom from years to weeks. Overdue computes itself.
One timeline. Every view draws from it. Not a task manager β a master timeline.
A major event is years of things that must happen in the right order. The old spreadsheet painted them into quarter columns; this tool holds each one as a row β milestone, deadline, decision point, programme start, planning window β with a phase, a focus area, an owner and a date. The core question it answers: what needs to happen when, across the full event journey.
Write the date you actually have. 15.9.2027 when you know the day. 9.2027 when you know the month. Q3 2027 when you know the quarter. 2027 when that's all anyone knows yet. The timeline draws each one at its real width β a quarter is a quarter, not a guessed day. Sharpen dates as the event gets closer; the Timing column (fixed / target / rough) says how much they are allowed to move.
IDs assign themselves per focus area (MKT-001β¦). Start date alone makes a point on the timeline β a milestone, a deadline. Start plus end makes a window β a planning period, a build window, the live days. Drag rows by β Ώ to reorder; drop a row on another phase's header to move it there. β§ duplicates, οΌ adds.
Getting started, Concept, Planning, Preparation, Implementation, Live, Wrap-up β rename them or add your own in β Phases. A phase's date range is computed from the items in it. The old sheet painted PLANNING into eleven cells and forgot two; here the phase is wherever its rows are.
πΊ Overview is the timeline the spreadsheet always wanted to be. Years, half-years, quarters, months or weeks β same rows, five zoom levels. Phases across the top, main events as gold markers, one lane per focus area, today as a red line. Windows are bars, key dates are diamonds; overdue is red because it computed red, not because someone remembered to colour it.
β Milestones filters the timeline down to the dates that matter: key milestones, internal and external deadlines, decision points, reporting deadlines, launches, handovers β month by month, with days-to counters. Update a status right there. Leadership items carry a gold β .
π§ Focus areas is the directory: rename areas, add your own, give each an owner. Each area shows its span, its open and late counts, and what's next in that lane β so the marketing team sees when marketing must start, without reading anyone else's rows.
βΆ Now / Next is the full-screen board for the steering meeting: overdue in red with days counted, decisions waiting, what starts in the next 45 days, what is live now, and the next key dates. Pick one focus area and the board becomes that lane. Start every steering meeting with it.
Not started, In progress, Done, Cancelled. Cancelling is one change: the row stays visible, struck through, out of every count. Anything past its date and not Done turns red with the days counted. The next 30 days turn gold. Nobody repaints anything.
οΌ column adds what your event needs β cost centre, rights-holder reference, venue. β Columns hides what you don't need today. The bar in the toolbar shows how much is done, the countdown shows days to your main event, and β counts what needs attention: overdue items, critical items with no owner, fixed items with unreadable dates.
Everything saves automatically in this browser. π My events holds all your events; β€ Save file / β€ Open file move an event between computers. The π Item library has the standard master-timeline items ready to add β ticket sales launch, volunteer recruitment, progress reports, final report; π₯ Paste items takes rows straight from your old sheet. π Share makes two view-only links: the table for the team, the visual overview for leadership.
Want the worked example as a reference? π My events β οΌ Example event. Your own events start clean.