Excel Timeline Template

© 2005 Vertex42 LLC

Title: Events in the Life of Benjamin Franklin
Year Born in Boston Event [42] Height Axis Label
Born in Boston
1706 (1/17/1706) 10 1706 (1/17/1706)
1718 Apprentices at Printing Shop -20 1718 Apprentices a
1724 Moves to London -10 1724 Moves to Lon
1728 Opens Printing office in PA 25 1728 Opens Printing
1732 Poor Richard: An Almanack 15 1732 Poor Richard:
1737 Appointed Postmaster of Phil. PA 8 1737 Appointed Pos
1751 Book on Electricity Published in London -20 1751 Book on Electr
1752 Famous Kite Experiment -10 1752 Famous Kite
1769 Elected Pres. of Amer. Phil. Society 25 1769 Elected Pres.
1776 Declaration of Independence -30 1776 Declaration o
1778 Treaty of Alliance with France -22 1778 Treaty of Alli
1782 Treaty of Peace with Great Britain -15 1782 Treaty of Peac
1783 Sees Montgolfier Brothers 1st to Fly in Balloon 18 1783 Sees Montgolfi
1787 Delegate to Constitutional Convention 10 1787 Delegate to C
1790 Dies in Phil. PA (4/17/1790) 5 1790 Dies in Phil.
10 0 0
-20 0 0
Events in the Life of Benjamin Franklin -10 0 0
25 25 25 0 0
15 0 0
18
15
8 0 0
-20 0 0
10 10
8 -10 0 0
5
25 0 0
-30 0 0
1700 1710 1720 1730 1740 1750 1760 1770 1780 1790 1800
-22 0 0
-10 -10 -15 0 0
18 -15 0 0
-20 -20 10 0 0
-22
5 0 0
-30
 http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelArticles/create-a-timeline.html

Instructions
1. Do not insert or remove entire rows (This will mess up
the labeling order in the chart).
2. Edit the yellow cells. You can copy and paste, delete,
insert, and sort, as long as you do not insert or delete
entire rows.

To change the x-axis scale

1. Right-click on the x-axis and select "Format Axis..." or
use the Chart toolbar to edit the axis properties.
2. In the Scale tab, choose specific minimum and
maximum values.

To delete an event
1. Delete the Year and Event in columns B and C,
respectively.
2. If the timeline includes 0, make the Year be a value off
the X-Axis scale.
- Or -
1. Delete the year and event.
2. Move all the other events up.
3. Modify the data series so that the last events in the
column are not included in the graph.

To add an event
1. Do not insert a row. Just copy the last row of the table
down as many rows as you need.
2. Modify the data series to include the additional rows.
3. Edit each new data point label, referencing the correct
1800 cell in column G. This is done by clicking on the data
points in the chart. Then click on the specific data label
that you want to edit (this should highlight just the single
data point). Then, with the data point selected, type "="
then select the cell containing the Label (in column G).

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelArticles/create-a-
timeline.html
Project Timeline Template
© 2005-2009 Vertex42 LLC
Title: Project Timeline
Date Task Days Height Axis Label
1/3/2009 Project Proposal Due 45 39816 Project Proposal Due
1/10/2009 Project Funding Granted 37 39823 Project Funding Granted
1/10/2009 1. Main Task 75 27 39823 1. Main Task
1/10/2009 1.1 Subtask 23 39823 1.1 Subtask
2/9/2009 1.2 Subtask 17 39853 1.2 Subtask
3/1/2009 1.3 Subtask 10 39873 1.3 Subtask
1/30/2009 2. Main Task 68 -20 39843 2. Main Task
1/30/2009 2.1 Subtask -30 39843 2.1 Subtask
3/1/2009 2.2 Subtask -35 39873 2.2 Subtask
3/31/2009 2.3 Subtask -40 39903 2.3 Subtask
Project Timeline
3/31/2009 3. Main Task 100 35 39903 3. Main Task
45 3/31/2009 3.1 Subtask 30 39903 3.1 Subtask
4/30/2009 3.2 Subtask 23 39933 3.2 Subtask
375/30/2009 3.3 Subtask 10 39963 3.3 Subtask
35
4/20/2009 4. Main Task 100 -25 39923 4. Main Task
30
274/20/2009 4.1 Subtask -30 39923 4.1 Subtask
25
235/20/2009 4.2 Subtask 23 -35 39953 4.2 Subtask
6/19/2009 4.3 Subtask -40
20 39983 4.3 Subtask
17
6/19/2009 5. Main Task 80 25 39983
15 5. Main Task
6/19/2009 5.1 Subtask
10 10 20 39983 5.110
Subtask
7/19/2009 5.2 Subtask 15 40013 5.2 Subtask
8/18/2009 5.3 Subtask 10 40043 5.3 Subtask
7/9/2009 6. Main Task -10 40003 6. Main Task
39814 39844.5 39875 39905.5 39936 39966.5 39997 40027.5 40058
7/9/2009 6.1 Subtask -15 40003 6.1 Subtask
8/8/2009 6.2 Subtask -20 -10 40033 6.2 Subtask
9/7/2009 6.3 Subtask -25 -15 40063 6.3 Subtask
20 0 0
-20 -20
10 0 0
-25 -25
-20 0 0
-30 -30 -10 0 0
-35 -35
-40 -40
 http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelArticles/create-a-timeline.html

Instructions
Project Proposal Due 1. Do not insert or remove entire rows (This will mess up
Project Funding Granted the labeling order in the chart).
2. Edit the yellow cells. You can copy and paste, delete,
insert, and sort, as long as you do not insert or delete
entire rows.

To change the x-axis scale

1. Right-click on the x-axis and select "Format Axis..." or
use the Chart toolbar to edit the axis properties.
2. In the Scale tab, choose specific minimum and
maximum values. You can enter a date as "1/1/2009" and
it will automatically convert to the date serial number.

To delete a Task
Delete the Date and Task in columns B and C,
respectively.

To add a Task
1. Do not insert a row. Just copy the last row of the table
down as many rows as you need.
2. Modify the data series to include the additional rows.
3. Edit each new data point label, referencing the correct
10 cell in column G. This is done by clicking on the data
points in the chart. Then click on the specific data label
that you want to edit (this should highlight just the single
40058
data point). Then, with the data point selected, type "="
then select the cell containing the Label (in column G).

Moving Labels
You may need to move the labels around to get
-20 everything positioned just right, especially if you include
-25 duration lines.

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelArticles/create-a-
timeline.html