The Timeline Widget allows you to display records as events placed along a time scale directly on a Dashboard. It brings the full power of a Timeline View into a flexible, shareable dashboard component.
With the Timeline Widget, you can:
Visualize projects, tasks, milestones, or events across time
Interact with records directly from a Dashboard
Control editing, display options, and scale
Link the widget to Filter Widgets
Share timeline-based insights with your team
The Timeline Widget is designed to match the capabilities of the main Timeline View experience.
What Is the Timeline Widget?
The Timeline Widget displays records as events placed on a timeline scale . Each record appears as a time-based bar or event positioned according to its date field(s).
You can add it to any Dashboard to monitor:
Project schedules
Campaign timelines
Audit cycles
Risk review periods
IT change windows
Regulatory deadlines
Resource allocations
It supports resizing, expanding, inline editing (optional), and record drill-down behavior.
Adding a Timeline Widget to a Dashboard
Open your Dashboard.
Click Add Widget.
Select Timeline View under the Views category .
Click Add.
Configure the widget settings.
Click Confirm.
Once added, the widget will appear on the Dashboard canvas. Newly added widgets are displayed at the end of the widget list.
Configuring the Timeline Widget
When editing the widget, you’ll see two tabs:
General
Visibility
General Tab
The General tab includes four configuration sections:
Heading
Source
Appearance
Settings
1. Heading Section
This is the standard widget header configuration.
You can set:
Title
Description
Caption (not currently implemented)
Use this section to clearly label the purpose of the timeline, such as:
“Q1 Risk Assessments”
“IT Change Calendar”
“Customer Onboarding Schedule”
2. Source Section
The Timeline Widget uses a Record Selector as its data source .
This allows you to:
Select the Solution and Table
Choose a specific saved View
Apply filtering logic
Control which records appear
If you already have a Timeline View configured in your Table, you can base the widget on that view configuration.
3. Appearance Section
The Appearance section allows you to define the default time scale for the widget.
Default Scale Options
Hours
Days (default)
Weeks
Months
Choose the scale that best fits your use case:
Hours: Detailed scheduling, service windows, shift planning
Days: Task-level execution
Weeks: Project planning
Months: Strategic roadmaps
4. Settings Section
You can toggle several behavioral settings:
Allow Inline Edit
Default: Enabled
When enabled:
Users can drag events to reposition them.
Users can resize events to change duration.
When disabled:
Events cannot be repositioned or resized.
This is useful if you want the Dashboard to be view-only for timeline structure.
Display Toolbar
Default: Enabled
When enabled:
Timeline view controls are visible (scale switching, navigation, etc.).
When disabled:
View controls are hidden.
Only changes made by Dashboard owners are saved to the backend .
Display Records Listing
Default: Enabled
When enabled:
A Record Listing button appears in the widget.
Clicking it opens a side panel listing the records shown in the timeline.
When disabled:
The Record Listing button is hidden.
This is helpful when users need quick access to the underlying records in list form.
Allow Users to Open Record Details
Default: Enabled
When enabled:
Timeline events are clickable.
Clicking an event opens the full Record Page.
When disabled:
Timeline events are not clickable.
This setting is useful for executive dashboards where detailed record access may not be required.
Working With the Timeline Widget
Once added to a Dashboard, users can:
Navigate across time
Switch time scales (if toolbar is enabled)
Drag to adjust dates (if inline editing is enabled)
Open record details (if enabled)
View a record listing panel (if enabled)
The Timeline Widget supports the same timeline functionality as the main Timeline View.
Resizing and Layout
The Timeline Widget:
Is resizable
Is expandable
Supports viewer edit configuration
Width
Default: 2 columns
Max: 4 columns
Min: 2 columns
Height
Default: 432 px
Minimum: 304 px
When the widget width becomes less than 3 columns, the Scale control is automatically displayed as a dropdown instead of full controls. This ensures usability in narrower layouts.
Linking to a Filter Widget
You can connect a Timeline Widget to an existing Filter Widget .
This allows dashboard viewers to:
Dynamically filter timeline events
Adjust displayed records without editing the widget
Create interactive timeline dashboards
Example use cases:
Filter risks by severity
Filter projects by owner
Filter IT changes by environment
Sharing
The Timeline Widget supports Dashboard sharing.
When a Dashboard is shared:
Recipients can interact with the timeline based on their record permissions.
Record access is governed by app-level permissions, not dashboard permissions.
Permissions and Data Behavior
Dashboard Permissions
If a user can edit the Dashboard:
Widget setting changes are saved immediately .
If a user cannot edit the Dashboard:
The widget settings button is not available.
Changes to grid settings are not sent to the backend .
Record Permissions
Record actions do not depend on Dashboard permissions.
Instead:
Record-level access is determined by the user’s permissions within the underlying App .
Users can only view, create, edit, or delete records if they have permission in the Table.
This ensures consistent governance across Solutions.
Best Practices
Use Timeline Widgets for:
Executive reporting dashboards
GRC compliance calendars
IT service windows
Project milestone tracking
Audit schedules
Resource allocation visibility
Optimize Performance By:
Filtering large data sets
Linking to a Filter Widget
Selecting appropriate time scales
Using focused saved views as the source
Example Use Cases
GRC: Risk Review Timeline
Display all risk reviews by due date.
Allow inline edit for risk managers.
Link to a Filter Widget for business unit filtering.
ITSM: Change Calendar
Display approved changes on a weekly timeline.
Disable inline editing for executive dashboard.
Allow record detail access for service managers.
Project Management: Program Roadmap
Display all major milestones across quarters.
Use Month scale by default.
Allow users to open full project records.
Summary
The Timeline Widget brings time-based visibility into your SmartSuite Dashboards.
It allows you to:
Display records along a time axis
Control interaction and editing behavior
Connect to Filter Widgets
Share insights securely
Maintain record-level governance
By combining the flexibility of Dashboards with the structure of Timeline Views, you can create powerful, interactive timeline experiences tailored to your team’s workflow.
If you need help configuring your Timeline Widget, contact SmartSuite Support or explore additional View documentation in the Help Center.