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Timeline with Generic Dates

Create a Gantt chart that shows generic dates instead of a firm start or finish.

Project plans typically track the exact start and finish dates for each task and milestone. In some cases, though, it's better to show the tasks with generic dates instead. This is useful when you aren't sure when a project will kick off, and you want to be able to plan based on a flexible start date instead of a firm start date. OnePager can help you create a Gantt chart with generic dates instead of specific days, months, or years.

Project Gantt chart with generic dates instead of specific start or finish dates.

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OnePager works with Microsoft Project or Excel to create Gantt charts that accurately display many different units of time by utilizing the time-axis.

Download a free OnePager trial and get started with these simple steps:

  1. Click on the OnePager button:

    OnePager button.

  2. When the OnePager start screen pops up, click NEW to build a new Gantt chart, and then point OnePager to your project plan:

    Start Screen

  3. Give your chart a name and then click Create new chart:

    OnePager Choices

  4. In the initial version of the chart, we have actual months and weeks displaying. We want to remove these and replace them with generic months and weeks instead:

    Gantt chart with months and weeks.

  5. With your OnePager Gantt chart open, go to Home > Chart Properties. This will open a window that holds the Time Axis options:

    Chart Properties.

  6. Click Time Axis > Middle Level, and confirm that the Tic units are set to Month. Once that is confirmed, you will then select Month 1, Month 2 ...(From Start) from the Label format dropdown. This date format shows a generic month like "Month 5" instead of a specific calendar month like "February"

    Once you have selected a generic date format for your months, you can go to the Bottom Level tab to pick a generic format for your weeks as well. Once finished, click OK:

    Time Axis menu.

  7. You will see now that the time axis at the top of your Gantt chart shows generic dates instead of precise months or weeks:

    Gantt chart with generic dates along the time axis instead of specific years, quarters, or months.

OnePager has many options for customizing the time axis in your Gantt chart. You can display time units from years down to seconds, with lots of different options to control the formatting and layout.

Get started today by downloading a free trial.

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