Timeline view

[qualquertipo]

Not sure if the below makes sense, or maybe something like this already exists and I’m overcomplicating things. So I thought I’d just post here and perhaps start a discussion.

WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND

A new View in Sets called “Timeline” (not sure about the name since, as explained below, this could have broader applications).

HOW COULD IT BE DONE

User can pick a numeric Relation that will be used as the “time” axis.
All entries would then show in a timeline based on that value.
Dragging/dropping/resizing should update the Relation values.

That mechanic would be similar to this (the below example is not exactly what I’m requesting - it’s just a helpful GIF I found that shows the general look/mechanics):

Note that for this to work Anytype must allow for multi-value Relations (for example, a numeric Relation called Duration, with Start and End times/dates). Ideally we could even have multiple durations within a single Relation, for events that start and stop more than once (ie. a Relation that contains multiple Durations).

I have a request for this here:

Add "Time" and "Duration" as types of relation (hours:minutes:seconds)

Edit: After I posted this I realized if you click on the header for the date relation you can choose to show time as well, which is great! However I’d like to keep my post for the time picker request, as well as the request for having a more complex/flexible way to specify “moments” and durations. I’d like to be able to add a Time or Duration relation which is not just numeric. It should limit the value to a valid time (ex. 13:12) or duration (ex. 2h 41m 1s) value, with a picker. Basically the …

For this to work, perhaps something like this would also need to be in place:

More robust system for Relations

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Relations are already quite powerful. This is a suggestion for improvement. (I’m quite new to AT, so let me know if this is already possible somehow.) Describe the solution you’d like When creating a new Relation, user would be able to either pick one of the pre-existing ones (as it is now - Text, Number, Status etc…), or create a new one from scratch (really). Creating from scratch would allow choosing several properties, such …

PS: possibly Timeline view could be based on a single-value numeric Relation - it could be shown as a fixed width block, for example. Resizing the block would turn the Relation into a “Duration” (or Span/Scope)

REAL WORLD USE CASES

Basic use would be a timeline view to easily view/manage Objects that have a time/duration, such as calendar appointments or historical timelines with events and so on.

But the same system could also be used to visualize/compare Objects based on any non-discreet uni-dimensional numeric Relation, such as price, height etc.

Pipe dream: allow for a 2nd dimension (and maybe 3rd)?

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT

Note this is different than the below request (the title of which seems a bit misleading):

Calendar view & Timeline view

Any plan to introduce calendar and timeline support, with keywords for teams?

I think that FR is more focused on calendar/tasks, which would be one application for timeline view, but not the only one.

Edit: added the word “numeric” (as a Timeline view can only be based on numeric Relations)

[sambouwer]

I think the kind of view you share in your example video is often referred to as “Gantt” Gantt chart - Wikipedia, so that might be helpful to add to make this topic easier to find. As Anytype seems to like their own terminology, I think “Timeline” communicates well what the View can be used for .

[Erindale]

Notion has timeline views in their databases and they’re extremely useful, especially for longer term project roadmaps and when working in teams. When AnyType does expand to support team collaboration, something like that will be very important to gain traction in the professional workplace.

Timeline view – Notion Help Center

[qualquertipo]

One more thing to add: overlapping durations within a same row should be stacked.

For example, let’s say we have a Set for organizing tasks among team members.
Each row is a team member.
If a team member happens to have two or more tasks with overlapping durations, these should show one on top of the other (vertically), within that team member’s row.

This is how it shows in the example GIF in my original post. However I wanted to reiterate this, and explain how I see it happening within Anytype’s system.

[Erindale]

@qualquertipo

overlapping durations within a same row should be stacked

That sounds like a fundamental difference to how Notion handles timeline view.
Over there, each row is a database entry and so they never get overlaps.

Is your proposal that you’d define a grouping like we do for Kanban in sets?
How would it handle multiple members? Or you could limit it to only work on Status relations so it’s specifically one per group.
Would the objects all just be auto fitted into the “timeline” or do you still have sorts?

[SirCaptain]

I’m not sure if what I’m suggesting merits it’s own FR, but I think if this timeline view FR is “general” my additions can be posted here.

I’d add that the axis relation need not be numerical, continuous or even have an implied ordering or “duration”. My proposal for extension to these cases is as follows:

If the relation is discrete, then simply place the relation’s values along the axis in the implied order (eg in increasing order). If there is no implied order, then group objects by relation in any order, and allow the user to define the ordering in some way, such as by clicking and dragging the object groups.

In the case where duration or numeric range is not applicable, the objects should be presented along the axis as shown in this office template:

[qualquertipo]

@Erindale

Is your proposal that you’d define a grouping like we do for Kanban in sets?

I don’t think so! My suggestion is simpler, I think.

Lets say Bob has 2 tasks assigned to him, Task A and Task B.
Task A starts on Day 1 and ends on Day 5.
Task B starts on Day 3 and ends on Day 7.
The way they are assigned to Bob is through a Relation called Tasks (which takes one or more Duration Objects - in this case, Tasks), within the Object Bob.

Lets say for the Timeline Set, I want to be able to see the Tasks Relation for all People tagged as co-workers (Bob and others).

Bob’s row in the Timeline Set will need more than one “level”, since his tasks intersect.

Does that make sense?

[qualquertipo]

Lots of good ideas!

Indeed it makes sense to allow for non numerical values as well.

Alternative Timeline views (like the one in the image you added) is a good idea too, for cases where you definitely don’t need (and don’t plan) to specify a Duration .

[iammanirk]

Exactly, what I was looking for.
Timeline view will also help us with planing our travels.

[isle9]

@qualquertipo Hey, is it fine to merge this with the Calendar and Timeline View FR?