Capture a baseline
1
Open the Timeline
Open the project and choose the Timeline view.
2
Open the Baseline menu
Click Baseline in the Timeline toolbar and choose Capture baseline.
3
Name it
Enter a name, for example “Approved plan”, and confirm with Capture baseline.
Compare the Timeline with a baseline
Open the Baseline menu and switch on Compare with baseline. The Timeline compares against the active baseline unless you pick another one in the list.
Work items created after the baseline have no shadow bar. People who manage the project also see how many work items and milestones of the baseline no longer exist.
The comparison shows only the work items you can see on the Timeline. A work item you cannot see never appears in the comparison, not even as a count.
Choose, activate, rename and delete
Limits
- A baseline does not change when you move work items afterwards; capture a new one to freeze the new plan.
- Work items without start or due date have no shadow bar.
- A very large project is compared only in part, and the line under the toolbar says so.
Plan in a scenario
A scenario is a what-if plan of one project. It holds the dates, estimates and assignees you try out. The work items stay as they are until you adopt changes, nobody is notified, and capacity and reports do not change.Create and choose a scenario
1
Open the Scenario menu
Click Scenario in the Timeline toolbar and choose New scenario.
2
Name it
Enter a name, for example “Launch two weeks earlier”, and confirm.
Change dates, estimate and assignee
A bar or milestone the scenario has changed carries a coloured ring, and a shadow shows the live dates. The critical path and the baseline comparison use the dates of the scenario. In a scenario you cannot change anything else: status, assignment in the list, dependencies and new work items stay disabled, and a hint says so.
Review and adopt changes
Click Review changes in the band. The dialog lists every change with the live value, the value in the scenario and its state.
Choose the changes you want and click Adopt. Start and due date of a work item are adopted together, so choosing one chooses the other. Adopting writes the work items like any other edit and is all or nothing: if one change is refused, none is written. Changes you did not choose stay in the scenario. When the last change is adopted, the Timeline returns to the live plan.
Scenarios on a roadmap
A roadmap has scenarios of its own. They change the dates, swimlane and status of initiatives, use the same review dialog and follow the same rules. Learn moreRelated
Timeline
The project Gantt chart.
Dependencies
Dependencies and the critical path.