Swimlane Timeline Feature Comparison

OnePager

Swimlane Timeline

Overview

	OnePager	Swimlane Timeline
Description	OnePager is a leading project reporting application that interfaces with Microsoft Project, Project Server, Project Online, or Excel. OnePager creates presentation-ready Gantt charts and timelines that can easily be shared in PowerPoint, PDF, or SharePoint.	Swimlane Timeline is a Visio plug-in that can import data from different Office applications such as Project or Excel. Swimlane Timeline's project reports are created as Visio diagrams.
Type of application	Installs as a standalone application, with the option to also launch from Microsoft Project or Excel as an add-in.	Visio add-in. Visio licenses must be purchased separately at an added cost in order to use Swimlane Timeline.

Compatibility

	OnePager	Swimlane Timeline
Standalone Application	OnePager can be run as a standalone application and can launch independently from Project or Excel. This is increasingly the preference of corporate IT departments, since certain add-ins can pose security risks. Organizations that prefer add-ins may continue to use OnePager as an add-in.	Swimlane Timeline only works as an add-in. While not a security risk itself, IT departments often blanket-disable add-ins for security reasons, which blocks Swimlane Timeline from running.
Internationally Compatible	OnePager works with all international and regional Windows configurations.	Only works on computers using English (US) Windows settings. International settings are not supported. If you want to run Swimlane Timeline successfully and are outside the US, you have to switch your computer into US settings.
Easy Upgrades	When a new version of OnePager is installed, all reports are automatically converted to the new version without any work required by the end user.	When upgrading Swimlane Timeline, users must manually create custom Visio styles to protect each and every timeline from corruption. For multi-page reports, this process must be performed for each page.

Speed and Performance

	OnePager	Swimlane Timeline
Single Small Project (50 lines)	7 seconds to create a new timeline	40 seconds to create a timeline from the same data, more than five times slower than OnePager.
Single Large Project (500 lines)	15 seconds to create a new timeline	314 seconds to create a timeline from the same data, more than 20 times slower than OnePager. In two of the three timed tests, Swimlane Timeline crashed Visio before it ever created a timeline.
Multiple Small Projects (3 plans at 25 lines each)	12 seconds to create a new multi-project timeline	62 seconds to create a timeline from the same three files, more than five times slower than OnePager.

Support and Training

	OnePager	Swimlane Timeline
Professional Support Ticketing	Submit a support ticket by phone, by e-mail, or online and receive a confirmed case number within minutes. All tickets have a guaranteed response time.	Not offered.
Online Training	FREE new-user orientations held multiple times per week.	Not offered.
Wiki Documentation	Searchable wiki with hundreds of in-depth articles covering basic to advanced features.	Not offered.
Support Videos	Available.	Available.
FAQs	Searchable FAQs updated with each release.	Not offered.
LinkedIn Users Group	Free to join.	Not offered.
Blog	Updated frequently with tips and tricks.	Not updated since 2013.

Data Connections

	OnePager	Swimlane Timeline
Microsoft Project	Import one or more Microsoft Project schedules quickly and easily. No need to pre-load anything into Microsoft Project first. OnePager does its import behind-the-scenes, so that users don't have to see the inner-workings of the application.	Swimlane Timeline requires that documents be opened in Microsoft Project before they can be read. This means that you either need to open your Microsoft Project plan(s) before starting Swimlane Timeline, or that Swimlane Timeline needs to do it for you. When Swimlane Timeline opens and imports plans from Microsoft Project, there is a lot of flashing of different windows open and closed, which can be jarring to end users.
Microsoft Excel	Supported.	Supported.
Seamless Multi-Project Support	Quickly and easily build a timeline from multiple Excel or Project plans. OnePager can import multiple files simultaneously with minimal disruption to the end user.	While multi-file reporting is technically supported, each file must be opened individually in Microsoft Project or Excel, which can take considerable time and system resources. In some cases, this can cause Project or Excel to crash because it runs out of memory due to having opened and closed too many files in rapid succession. Swimlane Timeline's need to read data through an active Microsoft Project/Excel session also means that windows are popping open and closed on the user's screen, which can be quite disruptive.
Microsoft Project Server	OnePager connects directly to your Project Server environment, eliminating the need to open one or more Project Server documents locally on the desktop before creating a report. OnePager uses Microsoft's latest Project Server APIs, meaning that OnePager can create Project Server reports even if Microsoft Project is not installed on the end-user's computer.	Swimlane Timeline can read Project Server data, but only if the data is passed through Microsoft Project first. This means that anytime a user wants to create or update a timeline, the Project Server document must be loaded into Microsoft Project. Depending on the size of the schedule, this can take considerable time and system resources.
Project Online	Direct connection to Project Online, just like Project Server. No local Microsoft Project installation is required.	Only reads Project Online data through Microsoft Project. This often requires a paid upgrade to later versions of Microsoft Project, since most earlier Project versions do not support Project Online connections, and therefore cannot be used by Swimlane Timeline.

Key Features

	OnePager	Swimlane Timeline
Multi-Page Reports	Create multi-page project reports with an unlimited number of tasks. OnePager will automatically insert page breaks as needed, or you can customize where page breaks appear with an easy drag-and-drop interface. Advanced page scaling and fitting are also supported.	Swimlane Timeline dumps everything into a single-page Visio document. Users must export from Visio to another format in order to paginate a large document. Unfortunately, this means that: Users have no control over where page breaks appear Users cannot edit a multi-page document after it has been paginated, since it is no longer in Visio after exporting.
Point and Click Conditional Formatting	OnePager's patented conditional formatting engine lets users automatically control the color, shape, size, border, and font of items on the timeline, all based on existing Microsoft Project or Excel data. No programming experience is required thanks to an intuitive point-and-click conditional formatting wizard.	Swimlane Timeline requires users to write expert-level XML code in order to automate any timeline formatting. In many cases, such configuration requires the expertise of an expensive outside consultant, since it is not within the skillset of the average project manager.
Templates	Supported	Supported
Versioned History of a Project Using Snapshots	OnePager's patented snapshot capability allows a single timeline to have multiple versions at different dates. This allows for project managers to create an audit trail week-by-week or month-by-month, tracking project changes over time.	Not supported.
Instant Timeline Updates	With a single button click, OnePager will reimport data from Project or Excel and update any changes to the timeline in real-time. All updates are done quickly and seamlessly, so that the end user gets updates instantaneously.	Swimlane Timeline does allow for updating, but it is more involved than OnePager. As is the case with building a new Swimlane Timeline report, individual data files have to be reopened back in Microsoft Project or Excel before any updates can be made. This causes a good amount of back and forth between Visio and Project/Excel before updates are visible.
Standard Milestone Shapes	200+ shapes available	15 shapes available
Custom Milestone Shapes	Custom milestone shapes can be designed to meet end user specifications. Custom milestones can be added to OnePager at any time, and do not not require a major release cycle.	Not available
Graphics style	PowerPoint	Visio/CAD
Export to PowerPoint, E-mail, PDF, etc.	Yes	Yes
Display additional Microsoft Project or Excel data	Additional data columns can be displayed on the chart if users need space to annotate resource, status, or other text-based information.	Not supported.

Data Integrity

OnePager

Swimlane Timeline

Guaranteed reporting accuracy out of Microsoft Project and Excel

Supported by OnePager Pro Yes

Microsoft Project and Excel are the only data source driving a OnePager chart and cannot be corrupted.
Task/milestone dates are always be based on real data.
Percent complete values are always be based on real data.

Not Supported by Swimlane Timeline No

Visio documents can be unlocked and edited free-form, creating room for inaccuracies in the timeline.
Percent complete values can be dragged out of sync with the project plan.
The time axis can be overwritten manually instead of adhering to a strict calendar.

Protects against changes to Project or Excel data

Supported by OnePager Pro OnePager is 100% read-only and never makes any changes to the underlying Microsoft Project or Excel data. This ensures that the project plan remains a clean, consistent source of record.

Not Supported by Swimlane Timeline Before importing data, Swimlane Timeline makes noticeable changes to several key Microsoft Project fields. If the user were to accidentally save the project file, the changes made by Swimlane Timeline could potentially impact the accuracy of the core project data.

Most corporate IT departments disapprove of third-party applications making unauthorized changes to their data, no matter how trivial those changes may seem.

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Microsoft is a registered service mark of Microsoft Corporation. Product comparison made in October, 2016 between Swimlane Timeline 7.4 and OnePager Pro & Express v5.3. Feature comparison subject to change in future versions.

Swimlane Timeline Compared to OnePager