Import dependencies into Office Timeline

Overview

Office Timeline Pro+ lets you import dependency data from Microsoft Project and Smartsheet along with your tasks and milestones. The steps are very similar whichever of the two tools you want to import from. This guide will explain how it works.

You’ll learn:

A) How to import a timeline with dependencies

B) How to bring in dependency data into an already imported timeline

Read the full guide or use the links above to jump to the section you’re interested in.

A) How to import a timeline with dependencies

Start the usual Office Timeline import steps (for a reminder, see the Project import steps here and Smartsheet import here.
In the map columns step, make sure to map the Predecessors header to the relevant column in your source file that contains your dependency data (in our example below, our source column in Project is named “Predecessors” as well):

Notice that mapping the Predecessors column will automatically enable dependencies for your resulting timeline:
Continue the usual import steps and, once done, Office Timeline Pro+ will generate your timeline with dependencies:

B) How to bring in dependency data into an imported timeline

If you have a timeline imported from Project or Smartsheet where you didn’t bring in your dependency data when first importing it, here’s how you can do it later:

For Smartsheet imports

From your timeline slide, go to Refresh Data and select Change file, so you can then remap your columns: refresh-data-change-file

Choose the same Smartsheet file used for the initial import, and in the “Map your columns” step, make sure to map your Predecessors column and also check that the Dependencies toggle is on (green). refresh-data-smartsheet-bring-in-dependencies-later

Finish refreshing, and Office Timeline Pro+ will bring dependencies into your imported timeline.

For Microsoft Project imports

Currently, remapping columns when refreshing Project imports is not possible. Therefore, to bring in dependency data from Microsoft Project into a previously imported timeline, you will need to reimport your timeline and make sure to map the Predecessors column, as described in chapter A.

If you want to reuse the customizations you’ve already made to your current timeline, you can save it as a custom template first with Expert Edition, and then reimport your data straight into the custom template.

import-into-custom-template (1) If you have any questions about importing dependencies into Office Timeline Pro+, don't hesitate to contact us at support@officetimeline.com.