A timeline view in a task or project management software enables high-output planning for teams looking to streamline their work. Such deadline-driven teams often use the timeline view to order the tasks or projects chronologically. Seeing scope and deadlines in one view enables you and your team to stay as agile as possible and to adjust when things go awry.
Some users may wonder why use a timeline when there is a Gantt chart. While both have their uses, the timeline builds on the Gantt chart and allows greater customization and flexibility.
With this, we come to the automation part that is introduced through the Set Relative Timeline application developed by monday.com. Let’s take a look at how to set it up and use it properly to give yourself the flexibility your project or work requires and utilize the timeline column to its fullest potential.
What is a Set Relative Timeline?
Automating certain tasks may have to do more with freeing up one’s time than with trying to avoid human error. With Set Relative Timeline, both of these objectives can be easily achieved. Namely, the app allows you to define a timeline that will be set at a later time (e.g., when a task changes its status). This change will be defined relative to the time the trigger fires.
The application is developed by monday.com power users and is available through the marketplace. Once downloaded, the app will be in trial mode (10 days); however, users can unlock the app through the Excellent Team shop at any time.
More details
The support for months, weeks, days, working days, and hours as input is all there; users can even use negative values (in the past) when defining relative start and end dates. Note that the business days definition follows the monday.com standard, five days per week, reading weekend settings from your account settings.
It’s worth mentioning that the timeline column in monday.com only supports dates without time; this means that the definition of hours has an effect when the trigger fires X hours before midnight.
Automation
When it comes to automation, the app itself doesn’t contain recipes, but will be present as an action in any possible monday.com custom automation. This is in no way limiting, as it offers users maximum flexibility when it comes to defining the trigger and combining the action with other actions.
How to install Set Relative Timeline?
To install the application, you will have to go into the marketplace, and the quickest way to reach it is by clicking on the puzzle piece icon on the left-hand side of your dashboard.
In the marketplace’s search box, type in “Set Relative Timeline.” Next, click on the app to add it to your account, and select to which workspace it will be applied (or to all workspaces) and click install.
During the installation process, the required permission for the app will be displayed. The app does not store access tokens, but the monday.com platform will grant permission for 60 seconds to the app during the installation process. All actions will be performed with the user credentials of the user that installed the app.
How to configure Set Relative Timeline?
As mentioned earlier, the app does not have its internal recipes, but shows up as an action in the custom automation builder.
You can configure the action using the usual way on monday.com by clicking the highlighted words to configure the action part of your custom automation recipe.
- Timeline: pick your timeline column provided in the dropdown
- relative start: enter a number and pick the unit from the dropdown list for the start date
- relative end: enter a number and pick the unit from the dropdown list for the end date
Added value
While the application offers a free trial of 10 days to test it out if you’re unsure whether it fits your needs, the actual pricing is a one-time payment. The app currently costs $34 regardless of the number of automated triggers. This represents good value compared to how much return on investment you can have, depending on the number of items that use the timeline column (especially in the PMO environment).
The 10 day trial kicks off once the first action is used, unless you purchased the Excellent Team app in the shop. If you wish to use the action block after the trial period ends, you can purchase the app through the Excellent Team shop. Once you purchase the app, it will be available instantly, with all of the configurations you have made previously.
You will receive a notification on monday.com that indicates that the app is in trial mode, and a few days before the end of the trial period, you will receive another notification. If you no longer wish to use the app after the trial period, you can safely remove the app from your account.
Finally, users get a detailed PDF guide on installing, configuring, and using recipes for automated processes.
Conclusion
Set Relative Timeline is a cheap and great solution for users that utilize time management and timelines in specific. Per default, the solution based on a specific trigger that will utilize automation to reach the desired goal does not exist on monday.com, which makes the app much more useful.
Installation and configuration are simple and easy to do, making the app accessible to novices and experienced users alike.
