SheetTimeline

SheetTimeline User Guide — view your Excel project plan as a timeline

Version 1.0.0 · Last updated 2026-07-12

SheetTimeline — User Guide

Version: 1.0.0 · Last updated: 2026-07-12

A plain-language guide to using SheetTimeline: how to load your Excel plan, read the screens, make light edits, and export your updated plan. Written for project people, not developers.

© 2026 K. Qadir. All content, screenshots, and documentation are the property of K. Qadir and may not be copied, redistributed, or reused without written permission.

1. What is SheetTimeline?

SheetTimeline turns your Excel project plan into a clear, day-by-day timeline you can actually work from. You upload your plan .xlsx once, and the app shows it as:

  • a weekly board (what's happening each day this week),
  • a day list (everything on a single day), and
  • a timeline (project-wide, grouped by stage).

You can tick tasks off, adjust dates, add notes, and mark milestones — then export a new copy of your Excel file with your edits written back in. The rest of your spreadsheet (formulas, formatting, other sheets, other columns) is left exactly as it was.

Your file never leaves your computer. There is no login and no upload to a server. Everything runs in your browser.

Figure 1 — Home screen with the three starting options
Figure 1. The empty-state home screen: Load plan, Download template, Try sample data, User guide.

2. Getting started

When you open SheetTimeline for the first time you'll see the home screen with three ways to begin.

2.1 Try sample data (fastest)

Click Try sample data to load a small example plan. Nothing is downloaded and nothing touches your real files — this is a safe way to click around and see how everything works. You can leave this session at any time by pressing End session in the top-right, which returns you to the home screen.

2.2 Download template

Click Download template to save a ready-made Excel file (task-viewer-template.xlsx) to your computer. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets and fill in your own plan. The file has two sheets:

  • Tasks — one row per task. Only three columns are required:

    • ID — a unique code for each task (e.g. T-001).
    • Title — a short name.
    • Status — one of five values: NOT_STARTED, IN_PROGRESS, BLOCKED, DONE, DEFERRED.

    Every other column (Stage, Workstream, Description, Owner, Depends_on, Critical_Path, Milestone, Notes, Epic, Start, End) is optional. If you leave a column out, the app quietly hides the parts of the screen that would have used it.

  • How to use — a plain-English reference sheet inside the template that repeats the column rules so whoever fills the plan in has it at hand.

Save your file, come back to SheetTimeline, and click Load plan.

2.3 Load plan

Click Load plan and pick your .xlsx from your computer. SheetTimeline reads it in your browser and drops you straight into the weekly board.

If your file doesn't match the template exactly (different column names, different sheet name, different status labels), the Mapping wizard opens automatically so you can point out which of your columns is the ID, which is the Title, and so on. Section 8 walks through the wizard in detail.

Figure 2 — Mapping wizard on first load of a custom file
Figure 2. The mapping wizard opens when SheetTimeline can't auto-match your columns.

2.4 User guide

Click User guide at any time (from the home screen, or from Settings → User guide once a plan is loaded) to download a copy of this document as a self-contained HTML file you can read offline.

3. Reading the screen

Once a plan is loaded, the screen has four fixed strips at the top and a switchable view underneath.

Figure 3 — Full app screen after loading a plan
Figure 3. The full workbench: KPI cards, Stage strip, Milestones strip, filters, then the current view.

3.1 The KPI cards (Summary strip)

Six small tiles across the top summarise the whole plan:

  • Remaining — how many tasks aren't done yet.
  • Done % — share of tasks marked DONE.
  • Critical path % — of tasks flagged as on the critical path, how many are done. (Only shown if your plan has a Critical_Path column.)
  • In progress — how many tasks are currently IN_PROGRESS. Click this tile to filter the list to just those tasks. Click again to clear.
  • Behind — how many dated tasks are overdue or have a late start. Click this tile to filter to just the behind tasks. Click again to clear.
  • Next milestone — the next upcoming milestone task and how many days away it is. Click it to open that task. (Only shown if your plan has a Milestone column.)

3.2 The Stage strip

Under the KPI cards. Shows one chip per Stage in your plan (e.g. 1 — Discovery, 2 — Design). On top of each chip you'll see the stage's completion percentage. A dash — means that stage has no active work with dates yet.

The chip covering the current date has a small "WE ARE HERE" label above it, so you always know which stage the project is in.

Click any stage chip to focus the schedule on that stage: the list filters to just those tasks and the calendar/timeline jumps to the earliest dated task in that stage. Click Clear (or click the same chip again) to remove the focus.

Figure 4 — Stage strip with a stage selected
Figure 4. Selecting a stage focuses the list and jumps the calendar to the stage's start.

3.3 The Milestones strip

Under the Stage strip (only shown if your plan has a Milestone column). Shows every milestone task as a coloured pill with the milestone's date. Overdue milestones come first and are shown in red. Click any milestone to open its task panel.

3.4 Filters and the view switcher

Below the strips is the search + filter bar (covered in section 5) and, in the top-right of the header, the view switcher: This week, Day, Timeline.

4. The three views

Use the buttons in the top-right of the header to switch between them. Your filters, search, and selections carry over.

4.1 This week

The default view. Seven columns, one per day. Each task appears as a card on every day it covers. If a task spans past this week, its final visible card shows "⟶ N ongoing" so you know it continues. Click a card to open the task; click the small ✓ on a card to mark it done.

Click a day header to jump to the Day view for that specific day.

Figure 5 — Weekly board with a spanning task
Figure 5. This week: cards per day. The "⟶ N ongoing" chip means the task continues into next week.

4.2 Day

A single day, top-to-bottom, with all its tasks. Use the arrows or the date picker at the top to step through days. Back returns you to This week.

4.3 Timeline

A project-wide horizontal timeline, grouped by Stage (and by Epic inside a stage, if your plan has an Epic column). Each task is a bar from its Start to its End. A star marks a milestone; a flag marks a critical-path task. A vertical today line shows where "now" is.

Scroll left/right to move through time. Click a bar to open its task.

If your plan has no dates at all, the timeline is replaced by a friendly "This plan has no dates" message — the other two views still work.

Figure 6 — Timeline view with today line, star, and flag
Figure 6. Timeline: bars grouped by Stage. Star = milestone, flag = critical path, vertical line = today.

5. Finding things

The filter bar sits between the strips and the current view.

  • Search — matches by task ID or title.
  • Filters — narrow by Workstream, Owner, Stage, Status; toggle Critical only and Behind only (dated tasks that are overdue or have a late start).
  • Hide completed — hides DONE and DEFERRED tasks. On by default.
  • Colour by — toggle between Status colours (default) and Workstream colours so cards and bars recolour to match how you're thinking today.
  • Compact — a denser card layout when you have a lot on screen.
  • Legend — a small key so you can see what each colour means at a glance.

Under the filter bar the counter reads "Showing N of M tasks" so you always know when a filter is in play.

6. Working with a task

Click any task card, milestone pill, or timeline bar to open the task panel on the right.

Figure 7 — Task panel with badges and edit fields
Figure 7. The task panel: read-only fields on the left, editable fields on the right.

6.1 Reading a task

The panel shows every field the plan has for the task: ID, Title, Description, Stage, Workstream, Owner, Depends_on, Critical_Path flag, Start, End, Notes, and status. Two badges may appear at the top of the panel:

  • overdue — the task's End date has passed and it isn't DONE.
  • late start — today is past the task's Start date but the task is still NOT_STARTED.

6.2 Editing a task

You can edit a small, well-defined set of fields directly in the panel:

  • Status — the dropdown at the top. Changing it re-colours the task everywhere.
  • Start and End — pick new dates. The task moves on the week/day/timeline immediately.
  • Notes — free text. On export, your note is appended to whatever was already there — the original note is never overwritten.
  • ⭐ Milestone toggle — mark or unmark the task as a milestone. Milestones show up in the Milestones strip.

Everything else (title, description, stage, workstream, owner, dependencies, critical-path flag) is read-only on purpose. If you need to change those, do it in Excel and re-load the plan.

6.3 Jumping to dependencies

If the task depends on other tasks, each dependency ID appears as a small clickable chip. Click a chip to open that task instead — a fast way to walk a chain of blockers.

6.4 The quick-complete ✓ and Undo

Every card has a small ✓ you can click without opening the task, to mark it DONE in one step. A toast pops up at the bottom of the screen with an Undo button — click Undo within a few seconds to revert the status back to what it was.

7. Saving your work

Your edits are remembered automatically in your browser as you make them, even across reloads. When you're ready to write them back into Excel, use the two controls in the header:

7.1 The Changes tray

Click Changes (the icon shows a small number badge with your edit count). A tray slides in from the side listing every change you've made: which task, which field, from what to what. Handy for a last sanity check before you export.

Figure 8 — Changes tray listing edits
Figure 8. The Changes tray: every edit you've made, ready to review before exporting.

7.2 End session

Click End session (or End session & export if you have edits) in the header. You'll get one of three outcomes, depending on the state:

  1. No edits made — a confirmation dialog explains nothing will be written. Confirm to return to the home screen.
  2. Edits made, and this plan was loaded normally — a confirmation dialog says how many rows will be updated. Confirm to download a new copy of your original .xlsx with only your edited cells changed. Formulas, formatting, other sheets, and any columns you didn't touch are left alone. Notes are appended, never overwritten.
  3. Edits made, but this plan was loaded before write-back existed — you'll see an amber banner at the top asking you to re-load the file once. Until you do, End session will offer a changes .csv download instead: a small spreadsheet listing every edit you made, ready to apply by hand in Excel.

After a successful export the session ends and you're returned to the home screen. Your edits are now in the file you just downloaded — the app's local memory is cleared for the next plan.

8. Using your own plan format (advanced)

If your Excel plan doesn't match the template's column names, sheet name, or status labels, the Mapping wizard opens on first load so you can teach SheetTimeline how to read your file. You can reopen it any time from Settings → Re-map columns & statuses.

The wizard has three steps:

8.1 Choose the sheet and header row

Pick which sheet in your workbook holds the tasks (e.g. Sheet1, Backlog, Plan_v3), and which row in that sheet is the column headers (row 1 by default). SheetTimeline shows a small preview so you can confirm you picked the right row.

8.2 Match your columns

For each of SheetTimeline's canonical fields (ID, Title, Status, Stage, Workstream, Owner, Start, End, and so on), pick which column in your file it maps to. Only ID, Title, and Status are required — you can leave the others as "— none —" and the app will hide the matching parts of the screen.

If your plan has no ID column, tick Use row numbers as IDs and SheetTimeline will use the row number in your sheet as each task's ID.

8.3 Match your status names

If your plan uses status labels like In Review, To Do, or On Hold, map each one to one of SheetTimeline's five categories: NOT_STARTED, IN_PROGRESS, BLOCKED, DONE, DEFERRED.

8.4 Save as a profile

At the end of the wizard you can save the mapping as a profile with a name (e.g. Acme Roadmap). Next time anyone on your team loads a file with the same shape, they can pick the profile from Settings and skip the wizard entirely.

Profiles can also be exported as .json files from Settings and imported on another computer — so the team maps the format once, then shares the profile around.

9. Settings

Click the ⚙ Settings icon in the header to open the settings popover.

Figure 9 — Settings popover
Figure 9. Settings: app name, timezone, current plan, profiles, workstream colours, and the User guide download.

  • App name — the label shown in the header. Defaults to SheetTimeline; change it to anything you like (e.g. Acme Roadmap) — the browser tab and monogram follow.
  • Timezone — SheetTimeline uses this to decide what "today" means, which day a task shows up on, and whether a task is overdue. Defaults to your browser's timezone. Change it if your team is in a different one than the computer you're on.
  • Current plan — a shortcut to Re-map columns & statuses if you want to change how the current file is interpreted.
  • Plan profiles — the list of saved mapping profiles for your team. Rename, delete, or export each one; import a profile from a file with the small upload button.
  • Workstream colours — one colour swatch per workstream in the current plan. Click a swatch to override the automatic colour; click reset to go back to the default palette colour.
  • User guide — downloads this document as a self-contained HTML file.

10. Your data & privacy

Everything you do in SheetTimeline stays on your computer.

  • Your Excel file is read in your browser. It is never uploaded to a server.
  • Your edits, your mapping profiles, your app-name and colour choices are stored in your browser's local storage on this computer, so they survive a refresh. They are not synced to any cloud.
  • If you clear your browser's site data for SheetTimeline (or use a private/incognito window), everything the app remembers is wiped. Export your session first if you want to keep your edits.
  • The public SheetTimeline website tracks anonymous visit counts (unique visitors, sessions) so we can show honest usage numbers on the landing page. Nothing derived from your plan or your edits is ever sent.

11. Troubleshooting & FAQ

My file won't import. SheetTimeline needs three columns to work: an ID, a Title, and a Status. Make sure at least those exist on the sheet you're pointing the wizard at, and that the header row you picked is the one with the actual column names — not a title row above it.

My statuses aren't recognised. SheetTimeline has five status buckets: NOT_STARTED, IN_PROGRESS, BLOCKED, DONE, DEFERRED. If your plan uses different words (like In Review or On Hold), reopen the wizard from Settings → Re-map columns & statuses and map each of your labels to one of the five.

Tasks show up on the wrong day, or something looks wrongly overdue. This is almost always a timezone mismatch. Open Settings and set the Timezone to the one your project is planned in. The screen refreshes immediately.

A stage shows — instead of a percentage. That stage has no tasks with dates yet, so there's nothing to complete a percentage against. Add Start/End dates to at least one task in the stage and it will populate.

I clicked a stage but the calendar didn't move. That stage has tasks but none of them have dates. The list still filters; the calendar just has nowhere to jump to. A small toast at the bottom of the screen tells you this when it happens.

Where did my edits go after reload? Nowhere — they're saved in your browser. If they've truly disappeared, either your browser's site data was cleared, or you opened SheetTimeline in a different browser or a private window. There's no way to recover them without the exported file.

The exported file looks unchanged. By design: SheetTimeline only overwrites the specific cells you edited. If you scroll to the tasks whose Status/Start/End/Notes/Milestone you actually changed, you'll see the new values there. Everything else — formulas, formatting, other sheets, other columns — is untouched on purpose.

© 2026 K. Qadir. All content, screenshots, and documentation are the property of K. Qadir and may not be copied, redistributed, or reused without written permission.

Changelog

Version Date Notes
1.0.0 2026-07-12 Initial guide covering SheetTimeline as of spec 2.4.0 (feature set unchanged).