When you need to show the plan over time, the timeline is your view. You'll learn how to read it, add milestones and phases, and link the work each milestone needs.
Open the timeline
Choose More › Timeline. The Solution Timeline draws every capability as a bar across the solution iterations, with milestones as diamonds.
Timeline by capability with three solution milestones.
View modes
By Capability / By PI Board: rows are capabilities with their features underneath, or PI boards with their features.
Iteration Dates / Item Dates: bars are placed on the solution iterations, or on the start and end dates set on the items. The first button carries your board's word for iteration and is switched off while the solution board has no iterations.
Group by: No Group, By Teams, Parent, Status, or a Jira / Azure DevOps field of the features (for example Project, Assignee, Area Path). Only the features under each row are grouped.
All PIs: show the rows of some PI boards only.
Completion (By Capability only): the % DONE column counts stories, story points or features.
Iteration / Months / Quarters / Fit and the zoom icons change the time scale; Milestones shows or hides the milestones.
Capabilities and features
Expand a capability to see one bar per feature, coloured by PI board and labelled with its completion. Features without a capability are grouped at the bottom.
K-1 expanded: features drawn in their iterations with % done.
Columns and display settings
Columns chooses the columns of the left table: Key, Title, Status, % Done, Children Count, Children by Estimate, Parent, Start Date and End Date, plus ALM Custom Fields when the PI boards sync with Jira or Azure DevOps. Title and % Done are shown by default.
The gear opens Display Settings: Feature Team Tags, Story Team Tags, Epic PI Tags and Bar Labels (ID + Title). With Item Dates on Azure DevOps boards you can also prefer the Iteration Path dates.
The timeline's Display Settings.
Milestones and phases
A milestone marks one date, such as a cutover or a code freeze. A phase covers a date range, such as a hardening period. Solution milestones belong to the solution board; PI milestones come from the linked PI boards.
On the timeline open the ⋮ menu on the Solution Milestones row; on the board click the + of the Solution Milestones row. Choose Create Milestone / Phase. Add Existing reuses a milestone that already exists elsewhere. Both need the Add/Remove Content right.
Enter a Summary (required, like the date) and choose the Type: Milestone with a Milestone Date, or Phase with a Start Date and End Date. Pick a colour for the diamond or bar.
Add a Description, Status and Responsibles, then Save.
Open the milestone again to use Activities (history and conversations), Linked Items and Relations, which become available after the first save.
The Solution Milestones menu.
Creating a milestone.
Every field can be edited later by clicking it. When you change a date, Kendis asks whether to keep the old date as a history tag under the field. On a solution board the ··· menu offers Unlink from this PI, which takes the milestone off this solution board after a confirmation, and Unarchive for an archived milestone.
Click a milestone or phase on the timeline to open it. The % Done column of the timeline stays empty for solution milestones; their progress is shown inside the milestone.
Link items to a milestone
Link the features and stories a milestone depends on, to see whether they will be ready in time.
Open the milestone, choose Linked Items and click + Link Items.
Open the Capabilities, Features or Stories tab. For features and stories pick the PI board in Select PI Board (shown when the solution has more than one). Search if needed and tick the items.
Press Save.
Linking two Web Store features to M-1 Payments platform cutover.
Linked items are listed with Key, Title, Status, Children Count, % Completion, Estimate (SP), Team and Sprint. Remove one with the × at the end of its row.
M-1 with two linked features and its progress bar at the top right.
The progress bar at the top of the milestone is calculated from its linked items. Click the % icon to choose how:
Option | Progress |
By Done Children (Estimate) | Story points of done children ÷ all story points of the linked items' children. |
By Done Children (Status) | Done children ÷ all children of the linked items. |
By Linked Items (Status) | Linked items in a Done status ÷ all linked items. |
How the milestone progress is calculated.
Share a milestone with other boards
The Relations tab shows where the milestone is used: Collections, Program Boards and Solution Boards, and also Strategic Themes, Batches and Timelines when it is related to those. Create Relationship shares the milestone with another collection, PI board or solution board, so it appears on their timelines too; the × removes a relation.
M-1 is shared with the Default Collection, the Web Store ART and the Retail Platform Solution Train.
ⓘ Relations are not dependencies
A relation only decides where the milestone is shown. To show what a milestone needs, use Linked Items.
Where milestones appear
Place | What you see |
Board, SM row | Solution milestones, in the sprint that contains their date (a phase sits in the sprint of its end date). Expand the row to see them; create or add milestones from its menu. |
Board, M row | One row per PI board with that board's milestones, read-only, shown when the PI board has milestones. |
Timeline | The pinned Solution Milestones group and a Milestones group per PI board, as diamonds (milestones) or bars (phases). |
Three switches under Board Settings › Milestones control what is shown: Show Solution Increment Bands on Timeline, Show Solution Level Milestones and Show PI Level Milestones.
Milestones and dependencies
Milestones and phases cannot be part of a dependency. Dependencies connect capabilities, features and stories (see Dependencies). To make a milestone depend on work, link that work to the milestone and follow its progress bar.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a capability bar grey?
Why is a capability bar grey?
Grey bars are the Features without Capability group. Assign those features to a capability from the capability popup.
Can I drag bars to change dates?
Can I drag bars to change dates?
No. A bar may move on screen when you drag it, but the change is not saved. Dates come from the iterations or from the items' own dates; change them on the PI board or in the item popup.
My milestone is not on the board.
My milestone is not on the board.
Check Show Solution Level Milestones (or Show PI Level Milestones) under Board Settings, and expand the SM or M row. The Solution Milestones row is only shown when the solution board has iterations. A milestone dated outside the board's range is pinned to the first or the last sprint.
What is the difference between Linked Items and Relations?
What is the difference between Linked Items and Relations?
Linked Items are the work the milestone tracks and drive its progress. Relations are the boards and collections the milestone is shown on.
Why can't I create a milestone?
Why can't I create a milestone?
Creating a solution milestone needs at least one linked PI board. Link a PI board first.
Does the timeline show dependencies?
Does the timeline show dependencies?
No. Use the dependency lines on the board or the Dependency Tracking page.