Timeline Settings

You can customize the look and behavior of your timelines in a variety of ways using the Settings link above your timeline.

Here's an overview of each setting and its impact on your timeline:

Design: Theme

The theme settings let you adjust the color and overall layout of your timeline. Learn more about Preceden's Theme Settings

Design: Font

Font Name

The font name lets you select the name of the font to use for your timeline and the list of events below it.

Design: Date Format

Language

The language you chose here will determine what language the event date picker will use when selecting a date for an event. It will also determine the language used for the dates displayed on the timeline and the list below the timeline.

When you sign up for an account, Preceden automatically sets this based on your browser's language settings. When you create a new timeline, we'll use the same language you used for the last timeline you worked on.

Date Picker Format

Preceden will use this format for the date picker and when you change an event's dates with drag and drop.

Display Format

Preceden will use this format when displaying an event's dates on the timeline, as well as in the list below the timeline.

By default, the "Use the same format you specified for the event" option will cause Preceden to use whatever format you used when you set the dates for the event. However, you may wish to format it differently when displaying it on the timeline. For example, instead of displaying the full date like "May 18, 2021" you may want to display it as "May 18" or "5/18".

We recommend choosing an option other than the default option to ensure dates are formatted consistently on your timeline.

Approximate Format

For approximate dates, whether to display them on your timeline with a leading "Approx. " or "~":

Approx. March 3, 2021
~March 3, 2021

Quarter Format

This setting determines whether quarters are displayed as months (January, April, July, October) or Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4.

Fiscal Year Start

This setting determines whether the Fiscal Year starts in January or some other month. For example, the US federal government's fiscal year runs from October 1 of one calendar year through September 30 of the next.

Week Start

This setting determines, when your timeline displays events using a weekly scale, whether the weeks start on Sunday or Monday.

Design: Date Range

Date Range

By default Preceden will automatically adjust the dates on the timeline so that all of the timeline's events are visible on the timeline. If you'd like to zoom in to a portion of the timeline or have the dates be relative to today's date, these settings let you do just that. Learn more about zooming.

Scale

By default Preceden will automatically figure out the best scale to use to display your timeline based on its content. If you'd like to manually set the scale (because, for example, Preceden thinks weeks is best but you want months) then you can set the scale here.

Note that Preceden won't always be able to display your timeline at every scale. For example, a timeline that spans years won't be able to be displayed with the scale set to days because it would result in hundreds of axes. When this happens Preceden will display a notice on your timeline and give you an option to change the scale back to automatic. Learn more about resolving scale issues.

One other tip: sometimes the axes might extend far into the future. For example, your last event might take place in 2020, but your timeline shows dates across the top going out to the 2060s. The reason for this is likely because you have some events with long names and Preceden has to extend the dates to make sure those names are completely displayed. To address this, you can simply shorten the names of the events which will make it so Preceden needs less room to display them.

Design: Event Layout

Event Position

Checking this option will automatically flatten the timeline, placing as many events per row as possible. Learn more in our Reposition Events with Drag and Drop guide.

Bar Name Position

Controls how Preceden deals with event names that don't fit within its colored bar. More info with examples in this support doc: Change the Bar Name Position.

Bar Color

This setting determines how the color you select for an event with a start and end date is applied to that event.

Solid means the bar will be entirely that color and and Horizontal Gradient means a subtle horizontal fade is applied.

Corners

This setting affects how the shape of the corners of events that contain a start and end date.

Note that if you specify either the start or end date is approximate for the event, Preceden will display the corners for that event a slightly round regardless of what setting you choose here.

Past Events

If you're using Preceden to plan a project, you may want to display past events in gray to make it clear that they're complete. Rather than adjust each event color manually as the event finishes, you can use this setting to automatically display those events in gray.

Content: Events

Details to Display on the Timeline

This section lets you choose whether you want to display the event dates, durations, percent completes, and/or images on the timeline.

Date and Duration Position

If you choose to display the event details on the timeline, you can choose where you want those details to be displayed relative to the event names: below, to the right (default), or left.

Content: Axis

Content: Position

These settings allow you to specify where you want the axis to be displayed: at the top of the timeline (default), at the top of each layer, and/or at the bottom of the timeline.

Being able to display the scale at the top of each layer and at the bottom of the timeline comes in handy with timelines that contain a lot of events by providing a quick reference without forcing you to scroll back to the top of the timeline.

Gridlines

By default Preceden displays vertical gridlines, but you can turn this off by unchecking this Show axis gridlines setting.

Event Lines

This setting lets you display lines from the start of each event to each of the visible axes:

Current Date

Preceden provides you with a way to display a thick vertical line at today's date by checking the Display a vertical line on today's date setting:

Weekends

Checking this setting will cause Preceden to darken weekends on your timeline:

This setting has no impact at larger scales (like years and decades) or very small ones (like minutes).

Content: Legend

You can add a legend for any event colors to indicate the meaning of the colors you've chosen.

Content: Logo

You can upload a logo for each timeline you create. The logo is displayed when you share a link to your timeline or when the timeline is downloaded as a PDF file.

Permissions: Visibility

These settings allow you to control who can see your timeline.

Learn more about Preceden's Visibility Settings

Permissions: Collaborators

This feature allows you to work with others on your timeline. Learn more about how collaboration works.

Misc: Import

The import feature lets you quickly add events to your timeline by uploading either a CSV or Excel file.