Smartsheet Project Scenario Comparison Timeline

Easily compare two scenarios from a Smartsheet project, like this:

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If you don't already have OnePager, click the button above to download a free trial. Then, follow these instructions to get started comparing different scenarios from Smartsheet:

1. Start with your project in Smartsheet. To model multiple scenarios, the best practice is to create a pair of start and finish dates for each scenario.

   We've done this by creating a pair of date columns called Scenario 1 Start and Scenario 1 Finish for the first project scenario, followed by a second set of columns called Scenario 2 Start and Scenario 2 Finish for the second project scenario:

   

2. Adding a checkbox field called OnePager lets us include certain rows from Smartsheet in the timeline while still keeping things at a high level:

   

3. Save your Smartsheet project, and then click the OnePager button on your desktop:

   

4. On the OnePager start screen, choose New to start building a new scenario comparison timeline from Smartsheet:

   

5. On the import wizard, choose Select > BROWSE Smartsheet:

   

   If this is your first time connecting OnePager to Smartsheet, Smartsheet will ask you for your username and password, and whether you want to allow OnePager to have read-only access to your Smartsheet project for the purposes of building your scenario comparison timeline.

6. Select your Smartsheet project and click OK:

   

7. Back in the import wizard, give your Smartsheet scenario comparison timeline a name, and click Next:

   

8. Here, we can map the start and finish dates for each Smartsheet scenario to the OnePager timeline. We will map Scenario 1 Start and Scenario 1 Finish at the top, with Scenario 2 Start and Scenario 2 Finish at the bottom, repurposing the baseline fields:

   

9. Click Create New Chart. OnePager will import your project from Smartsheet and build an initial timeline, starts by showing Scenario 1:

   

10. To display the second scenario side-by-side with the first scenario, we need to enable the second set of dates that we imported from Smartsheet. Go to Home > Chart Properties > Task Bars and check the box to display Baseline Markers:

    

11. To format the tasks and milestones from the second scenario, click on the Baseline Properties button to the right of the checkbox from the previous step. A form will pop up where we can change the style of the bars for the second scenario:

    

    In this example, we're going to format the tasks and milestones from the second scenario as green instead of blue.

12. Click OK and OnePager will update the timeline so that the first scenario is on top in blue, with the second scenario below it in green:

    

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Comparing Additional Project Scenarios from Smartsheet

OnePager lets you display any two scenarios side-by-side, and makes it easy to change which scenarios you're displayig. For example, the original timeline displayed Scenario 1 vs. Scenario 2 from Smartsheet, but suppose you want to also compare Scenario 1 to Scenario 3, and that you've already established the third scenario in Smartsheet using a set of fields called Scenario 3 Start and Scenario 3 Finish.

You can swap which Smartsheet scenarios OnePager displays by going to Home > Chart Properties > Field Mappings, and picking your dates for the third scenario instead of the second:

You can then return to the Task Bars tab, click the Baseline Properties button again, and change the color for Scenario 3 from green to orange:

Click OK, and OnePager will update your Smartsheet timeline to compare Scenario 1 (blue) and Scenario 3 (orange):

Get started today by downloading a free trial.

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